Reflections on … Well-Being and Occupational Rights

Abstract

Background. Although claiming that engagement in occupations influences well-being, the occupational therapy profession has largely failed to acknowledge and address the relationships between well-being, occupation, and human rights.Purpose. This paper supports the premise that the focus of occupational therapy should be on the right of all people to participate in meaningful occupations, and proposes allegiance to occupational rights: the right of all people to engage in meaningful occupations that contribute positively to their own well-being and the well-being of their communities.Practice implications. The connection between well-being and human rights would be made explicit, occupational rights would be recognized as a political issue and the profession's confinement within health-care services would end. This commitment to occupational rights would bring our practice into line with our espoused belief in the relationship between occupation and well-being, and enable us to state, unequivocally, what occupational therapy contributes to humanity.