Play in Occupational Therapy
Play can be defined as ‘activities that are intrinsically motivated, internally controlled and freely chosen and that may include the suspension of reality’ (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2020, p34). It is the primary occupation of childhood (World Federation of Occupational Therapists, 2012; Royal College of Occupational Therapy, 2021) and as a result forms a significant part in occupational therapy interventions with children and young people.
Most importantly, play is an occupation a child chooses to do for fun. For lots of children this is internally driven and freely chosen, but for some, it can be more difficult to initiate play.
Play is SUBJECTIVE and while Occupational Therapists use play to assess, promote function or as a motivator, the child may not perceive it as play.
Play in Occupational Therapy interventions:
1. Play as a means to an end
2. Play as a primary occupational outcome
3. Play as a reward
(Moore and Lynch, 2018)
How do we at Participate Children’s Therapy ensure we meet these evidence-based guidelines in practice?
We recognise play in all three ways detailed above. We endeavour to obtain the child’s perspective on their play and advocate for play to be present within the goals we set by explaining its importance to families. The goals we set ALWAYS reflect attendance (frequency of taking part) and the child’s involvement (experience of taking part) in play – we often refer to this as participation. Finally, we take time to reflect on the individual social and environmental context when setting and evaluating goals.
Want to find out more about the recommendations? You can read the Occupational Therapy and Play Practice Guideline by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Guidelines here.
REFERENCES:
American Occupational Therapy Association (2020) Occupational therapy practice framework: domain and process: fourth edition. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(Suppl. 2), 7412410010p1–7412410010p87.
Moore A, Lynch H (2018) Play and play occupation: a survey of paediatric occupational therapy practice in Ireland. Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy, 46(1), 59–72.
Royal College of Occupational Therapists (2021a) Professional standards for occupational therapy practice, conduct and ethics. London: RCOT. Available at: https://www.rcot.co.uk /publications/professional-standards-occupational-therapy-practice-conduct-and-ethics
World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2012) Definitions of occupational therapy from member organisations. 2018 revision. [s.l]: WFOT. Available at:
https: //wfot.org/resources/definitions-of-occupational-therapy-from-member-organisations
