Participants in a qualitative research study about adaptation to physical disability described the difficult process of reconstructing former habits and developing new habits. The five women, aged 50–60, discovered that ability for activity was connected to design and application of adaptive habits. Steps of habit formation and influences on intentional habits were identified. Occupational integration evolved through practice, repetition, and reinforcement of patterned performance. Participants stressed the need for health care professionals to recognize the importance of habit structures and the ways in which they continue to change over time.
MacdonaldK. C. (1998). Adaptation to physical disability: The experiences of five women aged fifty to sixty. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, New York University.
