Social participation in occupational contexts : in schools, clinics, and communities

Social participation naturally occurs in everyday life in combination with daily occupations, such as when people interact while eating, playing, carpooling, and working. Throughout "Social Participation in Occupational Contexts: In Schools, Clinics and Communities", Professors Marilyn B. Cole and Mary V. Donohue explain how social interactions and environments can facilitate occupational performance or can create barriers to participation from an occupational perspective. In Sections One and Two of the text, an overview of theoretical foundations of social learning, social capital, and social development from childhood to maturity provides a backdrop for a clearer understanding of the interplay of occupation and socialization in natural community groups. Also covered are opportunities for development of social participation in professional education that illustrate theory application in classroom, fieldwork, and community settings across the lifespan. Parameters for evaluating social participation situations, contexts, skills, and norms are discussed in Section Three, along with a variety of tools relevant to the assessment of social participation from client and contextual perspectives, including critiques of these evaluation instruments. Lastly, in Section Four, occupational intervention approaches designed to foster social skills and remove barriers will enable practitioners and students to facilitate social participation and development across the lifespan. Following are the features: Occupational focus is emphasized as an extension of ICF and Practice Framework; Role playing scenarios are provided as participatory learning techniques; Thought provoking questions and learning activities; Reviews of theories from several fields are applied to occupational contexts; Evaluations and interventions to address social participation issues are provided; and, International sources in the theory and research of the concept of social participation are used. Whether you're an occupational therapy practitioner across lifespan populations, student, health professional, teacher, or community group leader, the benefits and knowledge you'll acquire from "Social Participation in Occupational Contexts: In Schools, Clinics and Communities" are endless.