Occupation as described by occupational therapy students in Sweden: a follow-up study

This study is the second in a series of studies carried out in Sweden concerning the dimensions of the concept occupation. The specific aim of this study was to explore new and confirm previously found dimensions of the concept of occupation in the context of occupational therapy. Occupational therapy students, a few weeks from their completion of studies, were asked to write down spontaneously what they personally considered to be occupation. Forty-two women and three men, aged between 25 and 33 years, participated. Grounded theory with the constant comparative method was used to analyse the data. A coding scheme of 40 codes was used to compare new data with previously found data concerning the concept of occupation as described by occupational therapy students. Six new codes concerning occupation expanded the dimensions of the concept. Five of those were found within the doing and context dimensions. These codes defined occupation as something that depends on who is performing the occupation and where the occupation is performed. Thus, occupation is not a permanent state but also very much depends on subjective experience. Additional studies with experienced occupational therapists have been planned to further expand these findings and aim to give a stronger foundation to the concept of occupation built on empirical grounds.