Abstract
In occupational therapy, a therapist and client engage in shared activities that they perform collaboratively during therapeutic sessions. An important part of this joint performance involves providing the client with the opportunity to make short-term decisions on the activities they wish to perform. Analyzing 15 occupational therapy encounters at psychiatric outpatient clinics, the chapter explores the functions of these small-scale decisions. The analysis demonstrates that therapists (1) make room for the client’s proposals by shaping the activity context and (2) make proposals themselves on the ways the performance should be accomplished. To summarize, clients are given decision-making power over the content of the activity, whereas therapists use their decision-making power to assist the client’s performance. The analysis shows how small-scale decisions can be employed to construct the occupational performance as shared endeavors and to position the clients as active subjects rather than objects of the professionals’ performance.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Arendt, H. (1958). The human condition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Beitinger, R., Kissling, W., & Hamann, J. (2014). Trends and perspectives of shared decision-making in schizophrenia and related disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 27(3), 222–229.
Bergmann, J. (1990). On the local sensitivity of conversation. In I. Markovà & K. Foppa (Eds.), The dynamics of dialogue (pp. 201–226). Hemel Hempstead: Harvester.
Charles, C., Gafnv, A., & Whelan, T. (1997). Shared decision-making in the medical encounter: What does it mean? (or it takes at least two to tango). Social Science and Medicine, 44(5), 681–692.
Creek, J. (2014). The knowledge base of occupational therapy. In W. Bryant, J. Fieldhouse, & K. Bannigan (Eds.), Creek’s occupational therapy and mental health (pp. 27–47). Edinburgh: Elsevier.
Epstein, R. M., Franks, P., Fiscella, K., Cleveland, G. S., Meldrum, S. C., Kravitz, R.L., & Duberstein, P. R. (2005). Measuring patient-centred communication in patient-physician consultations: Theoretical and practical issues. Social Science and Medicine, 61(7), 1516–1528.
Fasulo, A., & Monzoni, C. (2009). Assessing mutable objects: A multimodal analysis. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 42(4), 362–376.
Hakulinen, A., Vilkuna, M., Korhonen, R., Koivisto, V., Heinonen, T. R., & Alho, I. (2004). Iso suomen kielioppi. [Extensive Finnish grammar] Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. http://scripta.kotus.fi/visk.
Hammell, K. R. (2014). Belonging, occupation, and human well-being: An exploration. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 81(1), 39–50.
Harra, T. (2014). Terapeuttinen yhteistoiminta: Asiakkaan osallistumisen mahdollistaminen toimintaterapiassa [Therapeutic collaboration: Enabling client participation in occupational therapy]. Rovaniemi: Acta Universitatis Lapponiensis.
Heritage, J. (2011). Conversation analysis: Practices and methods. In D. Silverman (Ed.), Qualitative research: Theory, method and practice (pp. 208–230). London: Sage.
Hibbard, J. H., & Greene, J. (2013). What the evidence shows about patient activation: Better health outcomes and care experiences; fewer data on costs. Health Affairs, 32(2), 207–214.
Honkasalo, M. (2013). Katveessa. Pieni toimijuus kriittisenä avauksena toiminnan teoriaan [In shades. Small agency as a critical opening to the activity theory]. Tiede & Edistys, 1, 42–61.
Kielhofner, G. (2002). A model of human occupation. Theory and application. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
Parsons, T. (1937). The structure of social action. New York: The Free Press.
Sidnell, J., & Stivers, T. (Eds.). (2013). The handbook of conversation analysis. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Stevanovic, M. (2012). Establishing joint decisions in a dyad. Discourse Studies, 14(6), 779–803.
Sumsion, T. (2006). Overview of client-centred practice. In T. Sumsion (Ed.), Client-centred practice in occupational therapy: A guide to implementation (pp. 1–19). Philadelphia: Elsevier.
Taylor, R. (2008). The intentional relationship. Occupational therapy and use of self. Philadelphia: Davis.
Weiste, E. (2018). Relational interaction in occupational therapy: Conversation analysis of positive feedback. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 25(1), 44–51.
Weiste, E., Voutilainen, L., & Peräkylä, A. (2016). Epistemic asymmetries in psychotherapy interaction: Therapists’ practices for displaying access to clients’ inner experiences. Sociology of Health & Illness, 38(4), 645–661.
WFOT. (2012). Definition of occupational therapy. www.wfot.org.
WHO. (2010). User empowerment in mental health—A statement by the WHO Regional Office for Europe. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/113834/E93430.pdf.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Weiste, E. (2020). Co-constructing Desired Activities: Small-Scale Activity Decisions in Occupational Therapy. In: Lindholm, C., Stevanovic, M., Weiste, E. (eds) Joint Decision Making in Mental Health. The Language of Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43531-8_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43531-8_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-43530-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-43531-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)