A Phenomenological Study of the Art of Occupational Therapy

Authors

Shelley Williams, Queen's UniversityFollow
Margo Paterson, Queen's University

Abstract

If research evidence is to guide practice, the literature must reflect the art as well as the science of Occupational Therapy practice. The purpose of this research was to provide insight into the phenomenon of professional artistry and its meaning to Occupational Therapists. A phenomenological approach was used to collect data from three Occupational Therapists using in-depth interviews. Moustakas's method was employed to analyze the data. Interview data described practitioners' views of professional artistry of Occupational Therapy practice, how it developed, and how it was manifested in different roles. Analysis demonstrated that professional artistry formed the very heart of Occupational Therapy through a key role in the establishment of therapeutic relationships, which in turn imparted deep satisfaction to the Occupational Therapists' practice.

Keywords

Phenomenology, Professional Artistry, Therapeutic Relationships and Occupational Therapy

Acknowledgements

The first author wishes to acknowledge the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program, the R. S. McLaughlin Fellowship and the QUIPPED project at Queen’s University for financial support during this research. Preliminary research findings were presented at CAOT Conference: Evidence and Occupation: Building the Future, Montreal, Canada, June, 2006. Poster presentations of preliminary findings were presented at WFOT Conference, Sydney, Australia, July, 2006, and the IIQM Conference: Advancements in Qualitative Methods, Brisbane, Australia, July, 2006. Final results were presented at The Qualitative Health Research Conference, Banff, Alberta, October, 2008.

Publication Date

12-4-2009

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2009.1374

Recommended APA Citation

Williams, S., & Paterson, M. (2009). A Phenomenological Study of the Art of Occupational Therapy. The Qualitative Report, 14(4), 688-717. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2009.1374