FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS — More than 150 occupational therapists from around the world will attend an institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, bringing strategies used to address wide-ranging social and disability-related challenges.
The Fourth International Institute on the Model of Human Occupation will take place Oct. 23 and 24 at the IUPUI Campus Center, 420 University Blvd.
The opening keynote session of the institute is free and open to the public. Registration is requested for other sessions.
The opening session features seven presenters, including Patricia Scott, institute co-chair and associate professor of occupational therapy in the IU School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at IUPUI. The panelists are from England, Australia, Hong Kong and Chile as well as the U.S.
Scott is the founder of an international coalition to develop a cross-culturally valid measure of participation.
Topics to be addressed by the panelists include social problems faced by people who struggle to overcome challenges related to addiction, participation, poverty, disease, disability, aging, and other social and disability-related factors.
The institute will showcase the latest developments in Model of Human Occupation research, education and clinical application.
The model explains how people are motivated to perform occupations and repeat their performance over time. That process unfolds within a social and physical context that facilitates occupational engagement.
“The model approaches people who have lifestyle problems with the idea that when people are acting in a way that supports their values and interests, it results in a positive trajectory,” Scott said. “When people experience disability, illness or other life changes, their habits and routines are disrupted. That interferes with their ability to do what they did well before. The occupational therapist needs to work with them to establish new routines and perform activities in which they can excel and feel good about themselves or restore the capacity to do the things they were doing before.”
The institute will also feature presentations by two occupational therapy students at IUPUI and a recent IUPUI occupational therapy graduate.