Model (conceptual)

Theories, models, and frameworks provide the foundation for occupational therapy education, research, and clinical practice. While most have a systems approach focus, other factors, such as societal influences and structural inequities, also contribute to health. Using a cross-sectional design, this study identified the gaps in occupational therapy models of practice and presents a novel approach, the PAIRE (Recognize Privilege, Acknowledge Injustice, and Reframe Perspective to Reach Equity) Model.

This model consists of three dynamic interacting dimensions: exacting (experiences of everyday occupation exceeding one’s actual skills), flowing (experiences with a reasonable match between skills and challenges), and calming (experiences of low challenge, relaxation, boredom, or apathy. These dimensions have different relationship with one another. All of them and their relationships are important to achieve balance in occupational life, and to promote health and well-being.

This model of the PECO focuses on how children develop their occupations. It describes the process stages in which children go through as they initiate new occupations and continue cease or transfer current ones. Each stage is represented in rectangles. Within the pathway, the arrows indicate the direction of the process, which can go either way depending on children’s behaviors. The pathway starts from exposure and innate drive, then no initiation/initiation, to cessation/continuation, eventually ends with re-initiation/ transformation.

This model presents a hierarchy of family-therapist involvement in occupational therapy services, with associated attitudes, specific knowledge, and skills that enable therapists to operate at each level. 

The first level, no family involvement, outlines the traditional medical model of intervention. This level focuses on technical skills which are expected of entry-level therapists, with no awareness of the role of the family and client’s social context. It provides the basis for alternative types of family involvement. 

This model suggests that occupational therapists working with older adults with low vision should extend beyond compensatory techniques (e.g., modifying physical environmental and providing technology) to the community for social integration. Occupational therapists can accompany clients to nearby grocery stores, places of worship and community centers. Occupational therapists can also make recommendation to owners to eliminate environmental barriers and encourage clients to self-advocate.

This model aims to conceptualize children’s underlying skills and behavioral elements characteristic of play, as well as the influences that both individual and environmental factors. Embedded in the play environment and cultural and familial milieu, this model includes developmental play capacities (cognitive, physical and social play skills) and individual play style (internal control, freedom to suspend reality and intrinsic motivation) that make up the child’s contribution to the play transaction. Play reflects the child’s cognitive, motor, language and social skills.

This model consists of a continuum with five steps, each facilitating change for subsequent stages of mental health in families that are socially isolated. The five steps are (1) developmental casework, (2) mutual support, (3) coalitions of mutual interest, (4) pro-active community participation, and (5) social movements. Development casework is an individual therapy focusing on occupational behavior and role acquisition through participating in daily activities.

This model is symbolized as an infinity symbol, which emphasizes that independence is a continuum without a start or an end. An individual’s independence can exist at any point within this continuum. Inside the symbol, there are two sides representing two themes, they are personal factors and environmental factors. The lighter (left) side of the model represents personal factors, which consists of personal attributes.

This model focuses on resilience in daily occupations of the mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder, which consists of four categories: (1) creating and re-creating accepting conditions, (2) finding solutions, (3) striving for balance among daily occupations, and (4) thinking about her child’s future. Resilience serves to help the clients in finding solutions to problems and strive for balance among daily occupations. First, creating and re-creating accepting conditions forms a solid base for the client’s resilience in daily occupations.

This model aims to assist practitioners in understanding decision-making process of people with stroke in community participation. It is depicted as a scale with the fulcrum in the middle, with the facilitators and barriers placed on either end with different amount of the impacts (factors placed further from center represents higher impact on decision making). The balance scale represents the concept of weighting thought, desire, or request for going out into the community that from oneself, caregiver, or significant others.