Mobilizing Critical Occupational Therapy Praxis to Promote Structural Justice, Equity, and Rights.

Area of Science:

• Occupational therapy
• Social justice
• Health equity

Background:

• Societal structures perpetuate injustices, compelling occupational therapists to act against oppression.
• Global North social structures create conditions for privilege and oppression.
• Critical occupational therapy praxis is essential for addressing systemic inequities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore why occupational therapists should integrate structural justice, equity, and rights.
• To identify occupational therapy's potential as a structural justice-oriented profession.
• To outline how occupational therapy can mobilize critical praxis for justice, equity, and rights.

Main Methods:

• The study is a lecture-based exploration of critical occupational therapy praxis.
• It examines the integration of justice, equity, and rights into practice.
• It focuses on occupational participation, critical consciousness, and collective action.

Main Results:

• Occupational therapy is embedded in systems of injustice, necessitating the integration of justice, equity, and rights.
• Occupational participation, critical consciousness, and collective action position OT as a justice-oriented profession.
• Critical reflexivity, justice-based lenses, and resistance to oppressive systems mobilize critical praxis.

Conclusions:

• Occupational therapists have opportunities to exercise moral imagination and courage.
• Mobilizing critical praxis is key to promoting structural justice, equity, and rights.
• Therapists can individually and collectively advocate for a more just and equitable practice.