Voluntarism as Occupation
- 1 December 1998
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy
- Vol. 65 (5), 279-285
- https://doi.org/10.1177/000841749806500505
Abstract
An exploratory, single-case design was conducted to explore and describe the personal experience of a voluntarism occupation for one individual with schizophrenia who resides within the community. Non-participant observation and in-depth interviewing were utilized to explore the voluntarism experience of this individual. The findings suggest that voluntarism is both a meaningful and purposeful occupation for this individual. Volunteering is perceived to be a valued and socially acceptable occupation which allows for the individual to contribute to, and be a productive member of society. In addition, John (a pseudonym) perceived that his participation in a voluntarism occupation helped him to construct a socially acceptable identity and to maintain his preferred view of himself, as a competent individual, not as a mental health consumer. These findings suggest that participation in a voluntarism occupation may benefit some consumers of mental health services. While these findings were based upon the experiences of one person, occupational therapists are encouraged to consider voluntarism as therapy and as a means of enabling the occupational performance of their clients. Implications for further research are suggested.Keywords
This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- Profile of Occupational Therapy Practice in CanadaCanadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 1996
- The Person-Environment-Occupation Model: A Transactive Approach to Occupational PerformanceCanadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 1996
- ICIDH‐PR: A potential model for occupational therapyOccupational Therapy International, 1995
- The Active InterviewPublished by SAGE Publications ,1995
- Naming and Framing Occupational Therapy: A Lecture Dedicated to the Life of Nancy B.Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 1992
- Everybody's Got a Little Mental Illness: Accounts of Illness and Self among People with Severe, Persistent Mental IllnessesMedical Anthropology Quarterly, 1991
- How I Perceive and Manage My IllnessSchizophrenia Bulletin, 1989
- Self, Identity, and Subjective Experiences of Schizophrenia: In Search of the SubjectSchizophrenia Bulletin, 1989
- The Long InterviewPublished by SAGE Publications ,1988
- The Practice of Psychiatric Rehabilitation: Historical, Conceptual, and Research BaseSchizophrenia Bulletin, 1986