Social occupational therapy
Feature
Social transformation through occupation
Lindsay Truran talks about joining international colleagues in Paris to encourage critical dialogue .
I
n August 2022 , thousands of OTs attended and presented at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists International Congress in Paris ; a platform where the contemporary paradigm of social occupational therapy was a powerful theme .
The International Social Transformation through Occupation Network ( ISTTON ) is a world-wide multi-sectoral group of people concerned with using occupation to restructure practices and systems so as to ameliorate occupational and social inequities .
Two meetings with international colleagues from ISTTON during the WFOT Congress made the socially transformative nature of occupation a reality .
Hélène Clavreul , a French occupational therapist currently based in Belgium , arranged visits to social transformation projects or ‘ ecosolidaire ’ during the Congress period . Together with Heloise Poulain , an occupational therapist based in Marseille , they spent their own time liaising with a range of organisations in Paris to provide visiting international occupational therapist with the opportunity to learn more about social transformation projects in the city .
We joined international colleagues to visit two sites : Les Amarres and La Ferme du Rail . Both visits were informal and included an introduction to the organisation and networking with other OTs .
Les Amarres , in the 13th district of Paris , is a riverside building formally owned by a port management organisation that has been converted to welcome men and families in vulnerable situations .
Up to 300 people use the facility daily and it provides day support including workshops and training . A number of spaces on the site are used to provide access to occupations , such as yoga .
There was also a café on site where you could ‘ pay forward ’ to buy someone a coffee the next day .
La Ferme du Rail is based in the north of Paris and is described as an ‘ agri-urban space ’. Its aim is to welcome , train and integrate people in a sustainable way . Shelter is provided to homeless people and there is a restaurant using produce grown in the onsite allotment . Residents are supported to work in the restaurant to pay for their lodgings .
The dialogue between international colleagues espoused by the sites was transformative and unlikely to have been achieved via participation and engagement in the WFOT Congress alone ; these social meetings allowed us to talk about what occupation looks like in different countries , how national policies impact on occupation and what matters to the profession in other cultures .
The conversations were invaluable in supporting international relationships and engaging in dialogue that critically reflects on the contemporary practice of occupational therapy .
We found that meeting in a social , co-operative project supported conversations about how OTs work in these contexts and the broader landscape of occupational therapy , particularly for displaced people .
It felt important to understand Paris , its culture and its social issues when visiting and not remain isolated in the protected environment of a conference centre . The social spaces we experienced , and which exist for people to enact basic human needs for shelter , food and compassion when living ‘ on the margins ’ ( Pollard and Sallekariou , 2017 ) exist internationally .
Yet , the explicit role of occupational opportunities and social transformative potential they afford is an ongoing project of ISTTON ( van Bruggen et al 2020 ).
42 OTnews April 2023