The Importance of People

And we come to our final week of Areas of Occupation: Social Participation.

While this can be considered a part of many of the other areas of occupation, OT's recognize that, because social participation is so important, it deserves its own category.

Humans are, by nature, social beings. Some of us may not always think of ourselves as social. I, for one, would much rather stay in and watch a movie and eat cheese puffs, than go out clubbing on a Friday night. But just because we enjoy periods of solitude does not mean that we are necessarily anti-social, and it especially does not mean that we do not need socialization at any time ever. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I think that all of us can admit that, while there might be moments where we wish there were no other people in the world, that to be alone without human contact would be incredibly lonely and debilitating, in many ways.

The American Occupational Therapy Association breaks social participation down into three parts: community, family, and peers/friends. Therefore, as OT's, we concern ourselves with how our clients are able to socialize in these three areas, and what we can do to facilitate that socialization, if it is lacking in any way.

This is significant, because we work with people who are experiencing, or recovering from an illness, or have a disability. And, so often, these are the individuals who are forgotten, or separated from friends or family, or unable to get out in the community to visit and socialize. Think about someone in the hospital, and after a while, people visit them less and less frequently. Or an elderly person who is unable to drive, and therefore cannot leave their home to visit their friends. Or a child with Autism who does not have the social skills their peers have, and are consequently left out and ignored.

I don't this to be a downer, but I do want you to think about the importance of having people who care in your life! Which, we all know, and it's super cliche, but sometimes it's good to take a moment and think about it. Especially a week before Thanksgiving.

Anyway, here's the great part. Helping the people in each of these situations is part of an OT's job! (Like you needed me to tell you that.) OT's recognize the importance, and the healing benefits, of social participation. Thus, we can organize group activities for individuals during long-term hospital stays, giving them opportunities to socialize and make friends. For those who struggle with getting out in the community, we can help them find alternate ways, such as using public transportation, or helping them organize it so that their bridge club meets at their own apartment. For a child who struggles with social skills, we can develop a program to help them practice, and figure out strategies for recognizing social cues.

Aaaaand, that's all the time we have for today, folks! My busiest week ever is drawing to a close, and tomorrow my group and I will present the results of our year-long research project. Cheers until next week!

All Social Participation occupation area information borrowed & adapted from: Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (3rd Edition). American Journal of Occupational Therapy 2014;68(Supplement_1):S1-S48. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2014.682006.T