Abstract Introduction Increasingly, occupational therapists and scientists across the globe are calling for a shift away from individualised western medical approaches, to working with communities and collectives, and in the social field. This signals the growing motivation to engage in socially responsive and transformative practices that address political structures and oppressive colonial systems. Objective The purpose of our Community of Practice (CoP) was to explore and describe the epistemologies, vocabularies, and understandings that underpin community development and social occupational therapy within diverse global contexts to advance theoretical perspectives and practices. Method As a CoP of occupational therapy and science scholars situated in four countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, and South Africa), we met virtually bi-monthly from March 2020 to January 2023. Scholarly work involved critical narrative literature reviews, reflexive presentations, group dialogues, and individual and collective reflections and analyses. Results Individual narratives, four thematic threads, and a selection of vocabularies and epistemologies are presented. The thematic threads were: Connecting and making space for decolonial praxis, Questioning the disconnect between occupational therapy practice and contexts, Examining vocabularies that shape contextually relevant practice, and Engaging a reflexive stance to work towards equity, justice and social rights. Conclusions Generating knowledge that supports ways of knowing, being and doing reflective of multiple languages, sciences, and contexts will strengthen occupational therapy. Maintaining the pluriversal and resisting ‘one size fits all’ approaches to human occupation/everyday life is essential. This paper offers practitioners a catalyst for initiating decolonising praxis for learning across global contexts.

Resumo Introdução De modo crescente, terapeutas ocupacionais mundialmente estão discutindo mudanças das abordagens médicas ocidentais individualizadas para o trabalho com comunidades, coletivos e no campo social. Isto sinaliza uma motivação crescente para se engajar em práticas socialmente responsivas e transformadoras que abordem estruturas políticas e sistemas coloniais opressores. Objetivo Explorar e descrever epistemologias, vocabulários e entendimentos que sustentam a teoria de desenvolvimento de comunidades e da terapia ocupacional social, em diversos contextos globais para avançar em perspectivas teóricas e práticas. Método A partir de uma Comunidade de Prática de terapeutas ocupacionais e acadêmicos situados em quatro países (Austrália, Brasil, Canadá e África do Sul), nos reunimos virtualmente bimestralmente de março de 2020 até janeiro de 2023. Nosso trabalho envolveu revisões narrativas críticas da literatura, apresentações reflexivas, diálogos em grupo e reflexões e análises individuais e coletivas. Resultados Foram escolhidos quatro fios temáticos e uma seleção de vocabulários e epistemologias: Conectando e abrindo espaço para a práxis decolonial, Questionando a desconexão entre a prática da terapia ocupacional e os contextos, Examinando vocabulários que moldam a prática contextualmente relevante e Engajando uma postura reflexiva para trabalhar em direção à equidade, justiça e direitos sociais. Conclusões A geração de conhecimento reflexivo que sustente formas de saber, ser e fazer requer múltiplas linguagens, ciências e contextos que fortalecem a terapia ocupacional. É essencial manter a pluriversalidade e resistir a abordagens únicas para trabalhar com a ocupação humana/vida cotidiana. Este artigo oferece um catalisador para iniciar uma práxis descolonizadora de aprendizado em contextos globais.

Resumo Introdução A terapia ocupacional crítica visa promover a justiça ocupacional, abordando os determinantes sociais da saúde e as estruturas sociopolíticas que afetam o envolvimento ocupacional das pessoas. Objetivo Descrever e examinar a pedagogia aplicada ao currículo de Práticas de Desenvolvimento Comunitário, na Universidade da Cidade do Cabo (UCT), África do Sul. Método foram usados múltiplos métodos para a construção do caso. Isso incluiu a revisão de documentos e artefatos associados e uma discussão de grupo focal com acadêmicos que ensinam no programa. Esses acadêmicos também escreveram diários reflexivos que foram incluídas em nossa análise. Os dados foram analisados por meio de uma síntese interpretativa crítica. Resultados Um tema abrangente emergiu, a saber: “Modelagem de processos de desenvolvimento em uma aliança de ensino e aprendizagem”. Este tema identificou nossa abordagem pedagógica chave, ilustrando como uma práxis decolonial, abrangendo ações pedagógicas particulares, facilitou mudanças em direção à terapia ocupacional crítica. Essas ações pedagógicas foram refletidas em três categorias: “Parcerias para trazer nosso eu criticamente reflexivo e autêntico”; “O trabalho de desenvolver processos individuais e sistêmicos de luta” e “comprometer-se a enfrentar juntos as incertezas”. Conclusão Nossa interpretação sobre a nossa abordagem pedagógica dentro do currículo demonstra como as pedagogias decoloniais abrem caminhos que promovem o tipo de aprendizagem dialógica que é importante para a terapia ocupacional crítica. Essas pedagogias decoloniais são importantes para o desenvolvimento de uma profissão voltada para a justiça.

Abstract Introduction Critical occupational therapy aims to promote occupational justice through addressing the social determinants of health and the socio-political structures that affect peoples’ occupational engagement. Objective This paper reports on two objectives from a case study, namely: To describe the teaching and learning practices in South Africa, University of Cape Town Occupational Therapy, Community Development Practice curriculum, and the pedagogy informing it. Method Multiple methods were used as data in the construction of the case. These included the review of curriculum documents and a focus group discussion with academics who teach on the programme. These academics also wrote reflective journal entries which were included in our analysis. Data was analysed using a critical interpretive synthesis. Results An overarching theme emerged, namely “Modelling a development processes in a teaching and learning alliance”. This theme identified our key pedagogical approach, illustrating how a decolonial praxis that involves consciously resisting coloniality in the design and implementation of the curriculum occurred. This was made possible through pedagogical actions embedded in the approach and reflected in three categories: “Partnering to bring our critically reflexive and authentic selves”; “The labour of working with individual and systemic processes of struggle” and “Being committed to facing uncertainty together”. Conclusion Our interpretation of our pedagogical approach within the curriculum demonstrates how decolonial pedagogies open up pathways that promote the kind of dialogic and transformative learning that is important for critical occupational therapy. These decolonial pedagogies hold significance for addressing health inequities and developing a justice-oriented profession.

BACKGROUND: Amidst the Covid-19 lockdown that commenced in March 2020, while the profession and service-users were coming to terms with its vast implications, the Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa initiated a Webinar series that stimulated provocative discussions and difficult dialogues. The authors of this paper deliver a commentary, critically engaging with the challenges of cogently articulating the contribution of occupational therapy services across various sectors of service delivery during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. The challenges of on the one hand, negotiating the abrupt cessation of rehabilitation services, especially in the public sector and, on the other, advancing the reasoning for accessible, community-based services, are consideredAIM: The commentary draws from presentations at and reflections on the webinar hosted on 24 June 2020 titled 'Ethical and Moral Challenges for Occupational Therapy'. In this paper, the competing ethical and moral issues arising from being urged to adopt different ways of thinking and doing occupational therapy during the Covid-19 lockdown are outlinedPROPOSITION: It is suggested that experiences emerging from this pandemic are urging the profession to rethink its positionality in the health sector. Two main considerations deserve attention: The first is rethinking how we use occupational therapy knowledge to act from and in relation to local contexts, viewing people who are marginalised as knowledge and action partners through generative disruption. The second is to revisit what it entails to foster a posture that acknowledges human dignityCONCLUSION: Generative disruption includes a continuous and unabashed critical reflection of and on the limits of our practice and knowledge at hand. It means that we need to include service users and community partners in taking necessary steps to render services in local contexts most needed in recalibration toward social and occupational justice. In our knowledge-making partnerships, it is also imperative to revisit the posture of acknowledging human dignity

INTRODUCTION: Residential-based rehabilitation programmes were introduced by the Western Cape Department of Health in 2008 to relieve the burden of long-term hospitalization in South Africa. In South Africa, more men than women of working age require long-term support from public mental health services. Most of these healthcare users live in communities characterised by poverty and unemployment. There is limited research on male mental health service users' perspectives on the impact that residential-based rehabilitation programmes have on their community integration. The aim of the study was to inform the continuum of care for people with serious mental disorders to better align residential-based rehabilitation and primary care public mental health services with the recovery needs of mental health service usersMETHOD: An instrumental case study design was applied, and five male participants were identified through purposive sampling. Observations, semi-structured interviews, community maps and document analysis were used to collect data. Thematic cross-case analysis of qualitative data was doneFINDINGS: The theme, It's a catch-22 situation, describes the participants' ambivalence towards the residential-based rehabilitation programme's contribution to their community reintegration after discharge. Three categories, namely 'It's not just what you call it', 'There's no one size for all', and 'It's tricky choosing between places to go and things to do', capture how the perceived inflexibility of the programme curtailed their adjustment to community livingCONCLUSION: Participants proposed co-constructing their recovery plan with mental health professionals so that it is more personalised in supporting them as they adapt to emergent occupational challenges. It is recommended that a seamless continuum of support between different levels of care should be implemented

Resumo Introdução No Brasil, aproximadamente 20% das mulheres são trabalhadores domésticas. O trabalho doméstico tem uma natureza restritiva, que pode resultar em privação ocupacional e marginalização ocupacional. Esse é possivelmente o caso das trabalhadoras domésticas brasileiras que moram no local de trabalho. Objetivo Identificar quais são as experiências cotidianas de participação em ocupações destas mulheres. Método Um estudo qualitativo, de abordagem fenomenológica foi desenvolvido, 5 participantes foram selecionadas no Plano Piloto, em Brasília, DF, Brasil. A coleta de dados foi realizada por entrevistas e analisadas usando Systematic Text Condensation. Resultados A análise dos dados levou a um tema e duas categorias. O tema ‘agarrada em ser empregada doméstica’ descreve as constantes confrontações e tensões vividas em suas vidas cotidianas. Essas experiências de lutas em ser empregada doméstica constituem as duas categorias: (i) ‘pertencendo ao papel de trabalhadora’ e (ii) ‘exceções, uma tática de negociação de empregadores’. Conclusão Nosso trabalho contribui para uma perspectiva crítica da ocupação. Nosso foco em como fatores históricos, sociais e políticos contribuem para criação de ambientes opressivos que resultam em um processo de marginalização da condição de empregada doméstica.

Abstract Introduction In Brazil, nearly 20% of women in the country are domestic workers. Domestic work has a restrictive nature that can lead to occupational deprivation and occupational marginalization. This may be the case of live-in domestic workers in Brazil. Objective Our research question was: What are Brazilian domestic workers' experiences in participating in their occupations in everyday life? Method A qualitative phenomenological was carried out and thought purposive sampling 5 participants were selected in the Plano Piloto region, Brasilia, DF, Brazil. Data was collected through face-face interviews and analyzed using Systematic Text Condensation. Results The data analysis yielded one theme and two categories. The theme, Grappling with being a domestic worker, described the domestic workers ongoing confrontations and tensions experienced in their daily lives. This experience of wresting with the influence of being a domestic worker was constituted through two categories, namely a sense of 'Belonging to the labor role' and 'Exceptionalism: a employers' negotiation tactic'. Conclusion Our work contributes to a critical perspective of occupation. We focus on how historical, social and political factors contribute to creating oppressive environments that influences domestic workers as people who are part of a marginalized group. This occurs in the way that their occupations are constructed in their doing in every-day life.

BACKGROUND: Street trading is one of the largest sub-categories in South Africa's booming informal economy. RESEARCH PROBLEM: The scarcity of occupational science/therapy literature around informal economy occupations limits the profession from understanding their implications for well-being and development. RESEARCH PURPOSE: Contextually relevant conceptions of survivalist occupations such as street trade will inform occupational therapy practice for social change and development. RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to describe women street traders' experiences of street trading and well-being. The objectives were to identify the positive and negative well-being outcomes of engagement in street trading and to identify the social, economic and political factors that influence the well-being of women street traders. RESEARCH DESIGN: An ethnographic inquiry was carried out with four women survivalist street traders identified through purposive sampling. RESEARCH METHODS: Participant observation and in-depth one-on-one ethnographic and photo elicitation interviews were carried out with each participant. DATA ANALYSIS: Audio recordings were transcribed for inductive and thematic cross case analysis. FINDINGS: The qualitative essence of street traders' experiences of navigating a livelihood in the fluid and unstable context of the informal economy was captured in one theme, 'Togetherness: steering against the current towards a better life'. The theme comprised three categories: 'Taking the helm', 'Facing tough conditions' and 'We're in the same boat'. DISCUSSION: Street trading is a valued means for taking action towards economic survival and well-being. The contextually situated nature of this occupation translated to both adverse and advantageous experiences, resulting in a nuanced sense of well-being as thriving while surviving. CONCLUSION: Women's well-being as street traders is primarily determined by the quality of their collective camaraderie, social connectedness and personal drive.

Social and political contexts are known to influence people's opportunities to engage in occupations. Occupational therapy in the domain of community development practice addresses the social determinants of health by contributing towards social transformation. Socially IH transformative practice refers to occupational therapy practice that strives to and addresses the social determinants of health and social Π I injustice through drawing on critical perspectives. Educators applied an autobiographical form of study, data were generated firstly through keeping a written reflective journal and audio recorded reflections on practice. Secondly, written comments and feedback to students ~\ during their community development practice placements were also included in the data set. Data were thematically analysed, yielding (/) I a theme and two categories. The theme: Towards socially responsive practice revealed the value of adopting a critical and collaborative approach to practicing occupational therapy in various domains of practice. Working towards social transformation was demonstrated as possible through the categories of being able to See and Feel the invisible and enabled as Equals working for change. The findings suggest that critical reflexivity together with implementation of participatory practices are necessary requirements towards addressing the conditions of people's health and occupational well-being.

This paper has the dual aim of first presenting an understanding of school dropout as an occupational transition and second, to suggest how this occupational transition may be navigated successfully. School dropout is of concern to occupational therapy as it limits peoples' full social inclusion. We draw on data from a biographical inquiry into the nature of occupational engagement of men in a low socioeconomic, South African community who dropped out of school. In this study, narrative data were generated from 3 men, followed by a narrative analysis and thematic analysis. The findings reflected that two of the men established stable occupational trajectories after dropping out of school, contrasted with the third man who was unable to do this. The interpretations suggest that a successful occupational transition for these two participants occurred through establishing anchoring occupations as a result of chance encounters with individuals who acted as 'champions'. These champions ensured the successful negotiation of available opportunities. Through offering these insights, this paper provides an illustration of how concepts interpreted and discussed in occupational science, such as occupational transitions, have relevance to occupational therapy. With regards to the occupational transition of dropping out of school, it is recommended that occupational therapists consider how they might promote access to champions of opportunities that lead to the development of anchoring occupations.

BACKGROUND: Domestic work is a common form of work in South Africa that is known to place the workers' health at risk. Subsequently, research has focused on this form of work from the workers' perspectives, emphasising the changes needed in employment conditions in South Africa. PURPOSE: This paper draws on a research study that explored the lived experiences of employing a live-in domestic worker. The data from this research is used to consider the role that employers' experiences might play in creating particular work conditions for domestic workers. METHODS: The research applied a qualitative, phenomenological design and six participants were purposively selected. Each participant participated in two interviews. A thematic data analysis was initiated between and following the interviews. Subsequently a second level analysis was conducted which stayed close to the first level of analysis but ensured that the essence of the findings were presented with more clarity. FINDINGS: A single theme "You need them, but they are working on your nerves" and two categories, "caught in a conundrum" and "compelled to be benevolent" emerged. A significant aspect emphasised in the theme and categories was the way that the relationship between the employers and domestic workers left the employers feeling weighed down, which led to tensions that shaped their actions in this work context. DISCUSSION: Understanding the experiences of employers calls attention to the relationship between the occupational engagement afforded to the employers in relation to their domestic workers. The lived experiences of employers, who are from a privileged part of society, and the possible bearing this has on domestic workers who continue to serve from a marginalised position is highlighted and discussed.

Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) is a cogent conceptual tool to guide thinking about, observations of and analyses of what people do. This article offers an introduction to the basic tenants of CHAT. It describes how CHAT can be applied as a meta-theory in a case study, which explores the processes by which a group of occupational therapists designed a new occupational therapy intervention for caregivers of HIV positive children living in low-income conditions in South Africa. Drawing on CHAT this paper proposes that occupational therapy intervention design could be viewed from a collective and also a historical and socio-cultural perspective. This allows for the discovery and analysis of the potential enablers and limits to innovative, relevant and critically considered occupational therapy interventions in the South African context.

Mothers and other caregivers of children with disabilities are usually the main advocates for the rights of their children. For them to effectively advocate for the inclusion of their children with disabilities (CWD) into their communities, they need to be empowered to ensure that their rights are respected. Support or self-help groups are modalities which may facilitate processes promoting their empowerment. This article describes the factors which influence the functioning of a parent support and self-help group in an impoverished community in Cape Town. An action research study was conducted to explore the barriers influencing the achievement of desired advocacy and support goals of this parent support and self help group. Data were gathered through a series of focus groups. The study yielded three themes, namely: "Tensions with becoming a self-help group", "I versus We" and "The process". The themes highlighted that women experienced missed opportunities, multiple roles, negative habitual behaviour and time poverty as consequences of their socio-political and socio-cultural environment. These impacted on the efficiency with which they could address their self-help goals, more particularly they compromised their contribution to community development. The implications of this for occupational therapy practice are identified.