Child

The Intentional Relationship Model (IRM) aims to facilitate practitioners in understanding the impact of therapeutic use of self and to provide useful approaches for maximizing the positive power of the social environment in order to facilitate occupational engagement. Therapeutic relationships comprise of an interaction between client, therapist, desired occupation, and interpersonal events that occur during the interaction.

This model aims to describe the symbiotic relationship between occupation and the brain, as a chaotic, self-organized, and complex system. It assumes that changes in human condition do not follow a linear path. The model views occupational therapy as a complex intervention and a result of dynamic integration of several factors and unpredictable outcomes. The concept of neuro-occupation is complex and holistic, and aims to help occupational therapists to apply the non-linearity principles.

Occupational Adaptation Model (OAM) is proposed as a frame of reference that aims to integrate the two main domains (occupation and adaptation) for occupational therapy. It defines occupation as self-perceived meaningful activities that require active participation and lead to a product.

This model is a developmental model of three basic dimensions of self: biological self (starting when an infant first feels the need for food and warmth), social self (starting when an infant begins to perceive persons other than self), and temporal self (starting when an adolescence’s thoughts and aspirations for the future begin to motivate thinking and behavior).

The Value and Meaning in Occupations (ValMO) aims to address the absence of theoretical structures to aspects of value and meaning in existing models of occupations. It adopts a person-task-environment triad, where occupation is viewed as the result of the transaction. It includes the role narrative in structuring an individual’s experiences embedded in daily occupation, which contributes to an ongoing personal story.

The Meaning Perspectives Transformation Model is characterised by three phases: the trigger phase, the changing phase, and the outcome phase. These three phases move the process of meaning perspective transformation in the physical, emotional, cognitive, or spiritual dimensions. Critical self-reflection acts as a catalyst and represents as a moment of “readiness of change”. This allows clients to identify their assumptions, question meaning, and develop alternative ways of performing.

This framework places spirituality as the core of the person. It regards an individual’s spirit as one’s being, unharmed by injury or illness, rather than as a component. In this framework, spirituality is depicted as two concentric circles surrounding the center. The first circle depicts human center and the second circle depicts personal worldview. The center is defined as the core, the heart, or what is means to be human.

The compensatory frame of reference (FOR) aims to increase occupational performance and facilitate independence by utilizing compensatory techniques. It is used to compensate dysfunction in desired occupations, e.g., using assistive device or equipment such as Ergonon/Reflex knife during meal preparation, to compensate difficulty with using traditional knife. This FOR also includes environmental change, e.g., altering layout of living environment or using splints.

Rehabilitative frame of reference (FOR) considers rehabilitation as the process of facilitating patients in fulfilling daily activities and social roles with competence. This FOR is used with clients whose underlying impairments are unlikely to remediate and be considerable permanent, or the clients who lack motivation to participate in remediation. The theoretical basis of this FOR is that the client must focus on the remaining abilities, despite of any disabilities, to attain his/her highest level of functioning in the desired occupational performance.

The theoretical base of biomechanical frame of reference (FOR) is considered as a remedial approach focusing on impairments that limit occupational performance. This FOR assumes clients are able to acquire the voluntary motor skills necessary to perform the desired human occupation, meaning that the underlying impairment is amenable to remediation. It also assumes that engaging in occupation and therapeutic activities has the potential to remediate the underlying impairment, and results in improvement in occupational performance.