COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS & Family Health and Wellness

COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Because the goal of OT services is to help individuals engage in activities of daily living, work, education, leisure, play, and so- cial participation, OT practitioners may develop programs to keep clients and communities healthy. Such programs focus on wellness and prevention of disability, and they help those with disabilities and chronic conditions integrate into the commu- nity and contribute to society (e.g., vocational rehabilitation programs).

Advances in health care have enabled individuals to sur- vive many conditions that interfere with functioning. Policy- makers and consumers have begun to realize the benefits to helping individuals remain active in their communities. OT practitioners facilitate health and wellness in communities through educational programs and services to individuals and groups. Providing services to the community promotes wellness and quality of life. For example, programs such as adapted powerlifting or taekwondo programs, dance and theater, and arts groups can all be adapted so everyone can participate.

An individual’s quality of life is based on many things, including liveable wages, community, choice in occupation, freedom, self-expression, happiness, racial equity, and access to goods and services. Therefore helping people access health care, social groups, transportation, and daily living activities can increase their quality of life. For example, OT practitio- ners may consult with a group of older persons about the benefits of physical activity or speak to support groups on a variety of topics, including safety at home, driving tips, cook- ing modifications, and medication management.

OT practitioners may design programs to increase wellness in the community or to address a specific concern, such as childhood obesity. They may work in the commu- nity to address the needs of the unhoused, migrant workers, or victims of disaster. OT practitioners might also work with communities as consultants to ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities (e.g., playgrounds and public buildings). OT practitioners are beginning to play an in- creasing role in designing preventative programs. Further- more, OT practitioners may have an important role in helping clients manage chronic disease.

Family Health and Wellness

The needs of families are emerging as an area of interven- tion as OT practitioners move from individual approaches toward community- and population-based care. Gerlach et al. (2018) express the need for a critical reframing of

individualistic occupations as a core theme of the profes- sion from a Western or Global North perspective. The Global South has endured “inequalities of power, wealth, and cultural influence due to the dominance and ongoing impact of European colonialism and North American im- perialism” since the 1980s . Families should choose their occupations and determine how and when they engage desired occupations without dominant cultural norms and systems overshadowing their occupa- tional possibilities.

Family structures, incomes, lifestyles, and concerns are shifting in many directions as wealth gaps, opportunity, and barriers continue to develop internationally (Orban et al., 2014). As the inclusion of social and clinical practices out- side of the Global North and White dominance disrupts preset norms, the field will need to explore concepts such as interdependence, interconnectedness, and perceived oc- cupational experiences to effectively ensure the well-being of families . From family-based routines to family leisure, OT practitioners can imagine a future of learning and co-creating strategies for collective health and well-being. OT students and practitioners will need to re- search, practice, and acknowledge the social determinants of health that predict inequities and affect how families live, worship, work, learn, play, age, rest, and more. Social determinants of health for families include “early childhood development, education, employment, food security, housing, transport, economic status, social support, and access to health care”. Topics such as parenting, adoption, fostering, pediatric stroke, obesity, and management of diabetes are growing concerns among families.