Convergence of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy: Updates on OTJR’s Occupational Science Section

The State of Relationships Among Occupational Science And Occupational Therapy: A View From 2022 Conferences

As an established academic discipline for more than 30 years, occupational science has continued to evolve in ways that excite both newcomers and long-time contributors (Aldrich, 2021). The three conferences referenced above each highlighted different facets of the discipline’s evolution, including its relationships with the profession of occupational therapy. The inaugural World Occupational Science Conference, which was held in Vancouver, Canada from August 18 to 20, 2022, and included presenters from 36 countries, provided opportunities for presenters and attendees to explore, critique, and envision epistemological foundations, knowledge generation and mobilization approaches, and applied practices in occupational science and occupational therapy (Journal of Occupational Science, 2022). Some presentations echoed familiar claims about the importance of occupational science as a foundation for occupational therapy education and practice; other presentations forged new connections between occupation and issues ranging from inclusion and citizenship to community livability and design. The World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress, which was held in Paris, France from August 28 to 31, 2022, and included presenters from more than 60 countries, also showcased the value of occupational science as a foundation for occupational therapy education and practices (WFOT Congress, 2022). Occupational science presentations were evident across many Congress streams, including those focused on occupational justice/human rights/equity/social inclusion; transformative occupational therapy education; history of occupation and occupational therapy; occupational therapy theory/models; implementation science/knowledge translation; and professional development and capacity building. The Society for the Study of Occupation: USA Conference, which was held in San Diego, USA from October 20 to 22, 2022 and included a record number of attendees and presenters from seven countries (K. McCarthy, personal communication, December 7, 2022), addressed the theme, “Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy: Tension and Fit.” The theme of this 20th annual meeting suggests that relationships among occupational science and occupational therapy continue to be a generative and productive scholarly focus (Society for the Study of Occupation: USA, 2022).

As I attended and presented at these conferences, I was struck by the number of people I met who identified as “new” to occupational science. Whether students engaged in undergraduate, professional, or research education or colleagues at various career stages, I was heartened to see so much enthusiasm for occupational science and the varied contributions it makes to occupational therapy education, research, and practice. I was also encouraged by the interest and excitement I received when I mentioned OTJR’s Occupational Science Section as a publication destination.

Progress Report for OTJR’s Occupational Science Section

When OTJR launched the Occupational Science Section in October 2019, I noted that the journal had historically been a home for occupational science publications (Aldrich, 2019). My rationale for creating an OTJR section focused explicitly on occupational science was twofold: first, I wanted the Journal to continue its legacy of showcasing occupational science work, and second, I wanted the Journal to help create new opportunities for incubating and accelerating works that translate occupational science knowledge into occupational therapy practices. Although the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted my plans for publicizing OTJR’s new Occupational Science Section, submissions to the Occupational Science Section have grown steadily as authors have become aware of its existence. Since 2020, OTJR’s Occupational Science Section has received 10 submissions and accepted four articles, with a number of occupational science articles also being published in OTJR outside the Section. Although there are still some procedural elements to work out—including encouraging authors to tag their submissions to the Occupational Science Section in the submission process—the immediate and positive response to the Occupational Science Section over the past few years suggests it is a welcome addition to the occupational science publication landscape.

Three years on, the focus of the Occupational Science Section remains relevant. The Occupational Science Section publishes articles that “highlight how understandings about occupation and/or humans as occupational beings influenced the development, implementation, or analysis of empirical or intervention research” (Aldrich, 2019, p. 187). The Occupational Science Section also provides a home for “novel or innovative data-driven scholarship that describes proof-of-concept projects or early-stage knowledge translation efforts designed to stimulate longer term research trajectories” (Aldrich, 2019, p. 187). A brief look at the OTJR volumes and issues published from 2020 to 2022 shows a number of articles that align with these descriptions.

The Future of OTJR’s Occupational Science Section

Looking forward, the future for OTJR’s Occupational Science Section appears bright. Viewed through the lens of 2022 occupational science and occupational therapy conferences, the nexus of occupational science and occupational therapy continues to be a space of intellectual and empirical interest. At each of the conferences I attended, presentations addressed relevant aspects of OTJR’s aims and scope, including “the relationship of occupation to health, well-being and/or quality of life; the influence of body systems or body function on occupational performance and/or social participation; the influence of the social, built, or natural environments on occupational performance; qualitative or mixed methods research from occupational science . . . that provide insight into how humans engage, participate and interact within their cultures and society” (OTJR, 2022), “how understandings about occupation inform intervention development, and . . . how occupation-based intervention outcomes can extend occupational science theories and concepts” (Aldrich, 2019, p. 187). These enthusiastic responses of conference attendees to my mention of the Occupational Science Section suggest great potential for the pages of OTJR to be filled with increasingly diverse voices as the Journal continues growing and moves forward under its original name to “keep pace with dissemination of occupational therapy and occupational science research” (Wolf & Knott, 2023, p. 1).

In this moment of the Journal’s renewed commitment to its legacy and future, occupational science is playing a key role. Thus, I am confident that my handover of the Occupational Science Associate Editor position to Dr. Janet Njelesani at the end of 2022 left the Occupational Science Section in good stead. Dr. Njelesani is an accomplished occupational therapy and occupational science researcher, scholar, and educator, with many years of experience as a clinician, consultant, and knowledge mobilization collaborator. I know that Dr. Njelesani will bring new energy and ideas to OTJR and the Occupational Science Section and look forward to seeing it flourish under her stewardship.

The Call for Occupational Science Research: Reflections From 2022 Conferences

As Dr. Aldrich highlights in the above commentary, several significant conferences that focused on occupational therapy and occupational science were held across the globe this past year. My return to in-person conferences began at AOTA’s INSPIRE 2022 Annual Conference and Expo and continued through participation at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress and then the Society for the Study of Occupation: USA Conference. At each of these conferences, many presentations could readily fall under one or more facets of the Journal’s scope that link to the Occupational Science Section. Although each conference had a unique program that brought together different audiences, unifying themes were apparent, particularly across the keynote addresses and lectureships. Each of the speakers illuminated novel ways forward for our profession, with many of their points complementing the aims of the Section. Across the keynote addresses, the call for more diverse and critical perspectives to inform occupational science research that builds theory and informs occupational therapy practice was obvious. For example, at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress, Dr. Malfitano’s keynote address spoke of key concepts within occupational science (e.g., occupation, human activity) as the locus and purpose of occupational therapy practice (Malfitano, 2022). She argued for the need for different perspectives that consider diverse realities, in particular, work by scholars from the Global South, to have greater diversity in conceptual development and to better understand the context of where practice is occurring. This call to consider diverse realities was also apparent when Dr. Patten spoke of the need to work within a strengths-based paradigm and shift occupational therapy practice in their Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture at AOTA INSPIRE 2022 (Patten, 2022). At the Society for the Study of Occupation: USA Conference, we had the opportunity to hear two Dr. Ruth Zemke Lectures in Occupational Science. Dr. Josephsson made a very inspiring call, urging scholars to not only use existing theory to underlie our work but to build new occupational science theory through greater research (Josephsson, 2022). Dr. Whiteford’s lectureship spoke of how the critical turn in occupational science has led to greater epistemic depth and diversity (Whiteford, 2022). Also central to her address, that directly aligns with the focus of the Section, was stressing how occupational science generates knowledge about occupation that occupational therapy practitioners use to know how to enable participation.

From time spent at these conferences, I heard from fellow attendees an excitement for learning more about occupational therapy and occupational science perspectives from around the world, and a further commitment to engage in scholarship that will address the dearth of knowledge centered on persons historically underrepresented in occupational therapy and occupational science literature. I also heard an acknowledgment among attendees of the power that occupational science research and knowledge holds to underpin evidence for important policy and practice shifts. We have the responsibility to take these learnings from the conferences and continue the work, while reflecting on who holds the power to move forward theory, research, and practice, and how local and diverse perspectives are included in this work.

The Future of OTJR’s Occupational Science Section

From the work showcased across the many conferences held in 2022, I am certain OTJR’s Occupational Science Section will see many new submissions as a result of the relevance of the its focus, Dr. Aldrich’s publicizing efforts, and the ongoing work of the Editor, Associate Editors, Review Board, and Fellows. I am excited to be a new addition to the editorial board as OTJR returns to its roots of connecting closely to the occupational therapy profession and focusing on disseminating occupational therapy and occupational science research (Wolf & Knott, 2023). This greater connection to the occupational therapy profession will be achieved in part through the Occupational Science Section’s publication of high-quality occupational science research that provides evidence on occupation-based, client-centered, and contextual practices, thus advancing the founding vision of the field of occupational therapy (AOTA, 2020). As the new Associate Editor of the Occupational Science Section, I bring my commitment of advancing the mobilization of occupational science knowledge to inform occupational therapy practices (Njelesani et al., 2021) through collaborations with communities (Njelesani et al., 2012) and prioritizing the perspectives of people from historically underrepresented groups (Njelesani et al., 2022). I look ahead to the continued growth of the Occupational Science Section and am excited about the new work and novel ideas that scholars bring forward in 2023 and beyond.