Abstract
This AOTA Position Statement articulates the principles, values, and beliefs that guide the practice of occupational therapy. The document provides a foundation for entry-level education and supports advocacy.
This AOTA Position Statement articulates the principles, values, and beliefs that guide the practice of occupational therapy, provides a foundation for entry-level education, and supports advocacy.
The purpose of this Position Statement on the philosophical base of occupational therapy is to articulate the principles, values, and beliefs that guide the practice of occupational therapy. This document provides a foundation for entry-level education and supports advocacy.
Occupations are everyday activities that bring meaning and purpose to people’s lives. They enable individuals, families, communities, and populations to participate fully in society. All people have an innate need and right to engage in meaningful occupations throughout their lives (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2020b). Participation in occupations influences development, health, and well-being across the lifespan. Thus, participation in occupations is a driver of health and leads to adaptation.
Occupations occur within diverse contexts that include environmental and personal factors. The quality of occupational performance and the experience of each occupation are unique in every situation. This is due to the dynamic relationship among various factors. These include elements within the person, group, or population, such as performance patterns, performance skills, and personal factors. The characteristics of the occupation and the context in which the occupation occurs also play a key role.
The focus and outcome of occupational therapy is to help people engage in meaningful occupations that support their personal goals and well-being. These goals may include improving their occupational performance, promoting prevention, and enhancing health and wellness. Occupational therapy also aims to improve quality of life, participation, and role competence, and it promotes occupational justice (AOTA, 2020a, 2020b). Occupational therapy practitioners provide services in a variety of settings and conceptualize occupations as both a means and an end in therapy; that is, there is therapeutic value in occupational engagement as a change-maker, and engagement in occupations is also the goal of therapy.
Occupational science supports the practice of occupational therapy through studying the relationship between occupation, health, and well-being and the influences that shape occupation (Backman et al., 2021). Occupational scientists explore concepts that affect a person’s engagement in occupation, such as occupational justice and injustice, identity, time use, satisfaction, engagement, and performance, as they relate to one’s participation in occupation.
Occupational therapy is based on the belief that occupations are fundamental to health promotion and wellness, remediation or restoration, health maintenance, disease and injury prevention, and compensation and adaptation. The use of occupation to promote individual, family, community, group, and population health is at the core of occupational therapy practice, education, research, and advocacy.
Authors
Erika Kemp, OTD, OTR/L, BCP, FAOTA, Chairperson
Angela Atkins, OTR
Theresa Delbert, OTD, OTR/L
Megan Edwards Collins, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, CAPS, CFPS
Beth Ekelman, PhD, JD, OTR/L
Bryan Gee, PhD, OTD, OTR/L, BCP, CLA
Lenin C. Grajo, PhD, EdM, OTR/L, CLA
Constance Messier, OTD, OTR/L, CLA
Efekona Nuwere, MPH, EdD, OTR/L
Kenyatta Richardson, BS, OTA/L
Michelle Saksa, OTD, OTR, CHT, GTS
Rebecca L. Simon, EdD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Mikayla Simons, OTD, OTR
Neil Harvison, PhD, OTR, FNAP, FAOTA, AOTA Staff Liaison
Adopted by the Representative Assembly Coordinating Council for the Representative Assembly, April 2025.
Note. This revision replaces the 2017 document “Philosophical Base of Occupational Therapy,” previously published and copyrighted in 2017 by the American Occupational Therapy Association in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(Suppl. 2), 7112410045P1. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2017.716S06
Citation. American Occupational Therapy Association. (2025). The philosophical base of occupational therapy. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 79(Suppl. 3), 7913410200. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2025.79S301