Occupational Justice

Occupational justice is a concept I have learnt about during various courses offered throughout this occupational therapy degree. In occupational therapy this concept concerns us as; it is “an evolving concept that describes a vision of society in which all populations have the opportunities, resources, privilege, and rights to participate to their potential in their desired occupations” (Wilcock & Townsend 2004, as cited in Whiteford & Townsend, 2011, p. 65). In relation to my topic I believe this principle therefore means that regardless of where you live you should have the same opportunities to access occupational therapy services. Therefore if you live in a remote area or an urban hub you should receive the same treatment and occupational therapy services. 

In reality this may not happen due to the accessibility to these services. There are many contributing factors for the reasons why occupational therapy services are inaccessible. These may include:

• No service within a particular geographical location
• The service is limited to a geographical area making it inaccessible to people outside of these boundaries
• Lack of occupational therapists in an area
• Lack of funding to allow services to meet the needs of people in remote areas
• Inability to make a way to occupational therapy services

These barriers are just some of the things that cause occupational injustice. As occupational therapists, by removing these barriers we are able to contribute to occupational justice being obtained.

Whiteford, G., & Townsend, E. (2011). Participatory occupational justice framework (POJF 2010): Enabling occupational participation and inclusion. In F. Kroneberg, N. Pollard, D. Sakellariou (Eds.), Occupational therapies without borders: Volume 2. Towards an ecology of occupation-based practices (pp. 65-84). Edinburgh, UK: Churchill Livingstone.

Definitions and Meanings

As this blog is talking about Occupational Therapists working in rural and remote areas it is important first to define these.

Rural (2012), “in, relating to, or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town”.

Remote (2012), “(of a place) situated far from the main centres of population; distant”.

The definitions of these words are quite similar in some ways, yet the interpretation of these can be quite different and individual to various people. To one person they may consider being in a rural location when there are farmlands or other natural geography in that area, to another it could be considered rural when there is simply no access to a fast-food outlet. In comparison another may consider rural as being a three or more hour drive from the nearest hospital. All of these situations may be referred to as remote locations as well depending on the individuals interpretation of the word and it is for that reason that throughout this blog these two words will be interchangeable.

To understand the reason for these different interpretations of rural and remote it is important to consider ‘worldview’. Worldview is “a philosophy of life or conception of the world” (Worldview, 2012), that therefore has influence on how people see or interpret things resulting in these variations among different individuals.

In occupational therapy the term rural or remote is likely to vary significantly also, based on the worldview of therapists, organisations, and even countries. This may also be a result of the size of the country, region that services are offered in and the number of services available in a particular area.

Personally, I would historically have considered rural and remote to be the countryside and of a distance from a main township or CBD. This was definitely influenced by my experience of growing up and living in New Zealand. This view of mine has definitely altered over time to consider rural as being a lot further away from major amenities, to an extent that it could be a few hours to a few days drive to reach any major township or services such as a hospital. This has been influenced by my travels, the experience of my parents as nurses in remote places of Australia, and literature that I have found.

Remote. (2012). In Oxford dictionaries. Retrieved June 12, 2012, from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/remote?q=remote

Rural. (2012). In Oxford dictionaries. Retrieved June 12, 2012, from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/rural?q=rural

Worldview. (2012). In Google dictionary. Retrieved June 12, 2012, from https://www.google.co.nz/#hl=en&q=worldview&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=vo4PPU7ALPCTiAf794F4&sqi=2&ved=0CFkQkQ4&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=e406f5e9e17aa29b&biw=1366&bih=639

An Introduction

My name is Nancy Sheridan and I am a third year occupational therapy student, as part of the final year I am to complete a presentation at the student conference. This blog will identify some aspects within occupational therapy that I have learnt during my training and how this is specific to occupational therapists working in rural and remote places in different parts of the world.

The reason I have chosen this as the topic of my blog is that it is an area of interest to me once I have graduated, it is also similar to the current occupations of some of my family members which involve working in rural and remote areas.