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Dirette, Diane Powers

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy 
Volume 13 
Issue 1 Winter 2025 Article 1 
January 2025 
State of the Journal: The Importance of Human Occupation 
Diane Powers Dirette 
Western Michigan University - USA, ot-ojot@wmich.edu 
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Recommended Citation 
Dirette, D. P. (2025). State of the Journal: The Importance of Human Occupation. The Open Journal of 
Occupational Therapy, 13(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.2430 
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State of the Journal: The Importance of Human Occupation 
Keywords 
human occupation, positionality 
Credentials Display 
Diane Powers Dirette, PhD, OTL, FAOTA 
Copyright transfer agreements are not obtained by The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy 
(OJOT). Reprint permission for this Letter from the Editor should be obtained from the 
corresponding author(s). Click here to view our open access statement regarding user rights 
and distribution of this Letter from the Editor. 
DOI: 10.15453/2168-6408.2430 
This letter from the editor is available in The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/
ojot/vol13/iss1/1 
State of the Journal 
As we begin the new year, I would like to take a moment to celebrate the state of The Open Journal 
of Occupational Therapy (OJOT) and to focus on the importance of human occupation as the central 
concept of the occupational therapy profession. First, I would like to express my personal gratitude for the 
ongoing support of Drs. Barbara A. Rider and Fred Sammons who continue to provide not only financial 
but also professional, emotional, and personal support to the editors of OJOT. Because of their support, 
Dr. Barbara A. Rider will be a permanent sponsor of OJOT, and you will see her beautiful, smiling face 
on the cover of every issue. For details about these amazing people, their lives, and their contributions to 
the profession of occupational therapy, please read the Sponsor Profile.  
Thanks to their support, as well as the support of the other OJOT sponsors, editors, advisory board 
members, editorial review board members, and the many authors who submit their work to OJOT, the 
state of the journal remains strong and continues to grow. Because of these devoted individuals who work 
tirelessly to make the journal strong, OJOT continues to grow in readership, add new categories of 
publication, and become more selective in its publications. At this time last year, the journal had just 
reached the milestone of 1 million full-text downloads. In the past year, there have been another 200,000 
full-text downloads, making it the most highly read year since the publication of the first issue in 2012.   
Defining Human Occupation  
In addition to having the privilege of being the editor-in-chief of OJOT, I had the pleasure this year 
of co-editing a book about human occupation with a renowned group of occupational therapists from 
around the globe, including the wonderful lead editor, Dr. Ted Brown, and co-editors Dr. Stephen Isbel, 
Dr. Lousie Gustafsson, Dr. Sharon Gutman, Dr. Bethan Collins, and Dr. Tim Barlott. The core concept of 
the book is human occupation. While human occupation has varied definitions and conceptualizations, the 
World Federation of Occupational Therapists’ (WFOT) definition is generally accepted. WFOT (2012) 
defines occupation as “the everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families, and with 
communities to occupy time and bring meaning and purpose to life. Occupations include things people 
need to want to and are expected to do” (para 2).   
Human occupation is not a static concept but a dynamic force at the center of the occupational 
therapy profession. In the forward to this book on human occupation, Dr. Karen Jacobs and Dr. Liat Gafni-
Lachter (2025) state 
 
In the ever-evolving tapestry of human existence, a phenomenon has captivated thinkers, scholars, 
and curious minds for centuries: Human occupation. It is a subject that not only delves into the 
intricacies of our daily lives but also unravels the threads of power, privilege, diversity, and 
inclusion that weave through the fabric of society. (p. xxxi).  
 
Occupational therapy aims to address disruptions in human occupation and to use human occupation to 
develop and restore occupational performance and participation.  
Overview of the Book  
Human Occupation: Contemporary Concepts and Lifespan Perspectives (see Figure 1) is an 
international collaboration that provides readers with an overview of key human occupation concepts from 
various perspectives, including over 100 authors from 16 countries. The book has 40 chapters and is 
divided into five sections: Section 1: Overview of Human Occupation, Section 2: Contemporary 
Perspectives on Human Occupation, Section 3: Principal Concepts, Section 4: Human Occupation across 
1
STATE OF THE JOURNAL: HUMAN OCCUPATION
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the Lifespan and Life Course, and Section 5: Domains/Types 
of Human Occupation. The editors’ purpose is to provide a 
comprehensive scope of human occupation across the 
lifespan that can be used to guide occupation-based, person-
centered practice. Human occupation is the thread that binds 
us together in the profession of occupational therapy and the 
discipline of occupational science. This book is not intended 
to be the end of a discussion. Rather, we hope the ideas 
presented in this book will spark further scholarly work 
focused on human occupation.  
Positionality  
In Human Occupation: Contemporary Concepts and 
Lifespan Perspectives, the authors intentionally focus on 
positionality statements to heighten the awareness with 
which we process our points of view and our discussions. In 
addition to these personal positionality statements, I think we 
all, as occupational therapists, have positionality statements 
about human occupation and our choices to enter the 
profession of occupational therapy. As an occupational 
therapist, I entered this profession because I believed in the 
power of occupation to restore, maintain, and promote 
health. This position was developed early in my upbringing. One of my most vivid memories of my 
grandmother is her insistence on reciprocating the care that I provided to her because she did not want to 
feel useless. She frankly said to me that if I kept doing everything for her, then she may as well die. She 
needed a purpose in her life to maintain meaning, and she fostered that through participation in human 
occupations, such as gardening, cooking, and beating me at board games. Each of you probably have your 
own story about human occupation and how you believed in participation in occupations as a means and 
occupational participation as an outcome, even though, like me, you may not yet have been able to 
articulate the concept. It is not only the core of the profession but also the core of who we are as 
occupational therapists in the interdisciplinary landscape.  
Human Occupation Publications in OJOT 
Because human occupation is the core concept of occupational therapy, all of the articles published 
in OJOT relate to occupation as a focus of the intervention process or as an outcome. However, research 
focusing on the concept of human occupation in particular is greatly encouraged. Some examples of 
publications in OJOT that focus on human occupation include those in the category of Applied Research 
(Grajo et al., 2018; Stav & Herman, 2022), Topics in Education (Bednarski, 2016; Mahoney & Kiraly-
Alvarez, 2019), Guidelines for Practice (Psillas & Stav, 2021), and Opinions in the Profession (Cezar da 
Cruz, 2023). As a profession, we still seem to struggle to define the concept of human occupation 
(Molineux, 2025). Therefore, the editors of OJOT encourage more research and scholarly discussion on 
this topic.  
In conclusion, we wish you a Happy New Year from the OJOT Editors! We hope you all enjoyed 
the holiday season, and we look forward to another year of publishing your scholarly research, clinical 
solutions, and educational resources.  
Figure 1  
The Cover of Human Occupation: Contemporary 
Concepts and Lifespan Perspectives 
2
THE OPEN JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY – OJOT.ORG
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/ojot/vol13/iss1/1
DOI: 10.15453/2168-6408.2430
 
 
 
 
 
References 
Bednarski, J. A. (2016). An elective course exploring 
occupational justice through occupational storytelling and 
story making. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 
4(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1165 
Cezar da Cruz, D. (2023). The promise of occupational therapy: 
Occupational engagement. The Open Journal of 
Occupational Therapy, 11(3), 1-6. 
https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.2111 
Grajo, L., Boisselle, A., & DaLomba, E. (2018). Occupational 
adaptation as a construct: A scoping review of 
literature. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 
6(1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1400 
Jacobs, K., & Gafni-Lachter, L. (2025). Forward 1: Unraveling 
the tapestry of human occupation. In T. Brown, S. Isbel, L. 
Gustafsson, S. Gutman, D. P. Dirette, B. Collins, & T. 
Barlott (Eds.), Human occupation: Contemporary concepts 
and lifespan perspective (pp. xxxi-xxxii). Routledge. 
Mahoney, W. J., & Kiraly-Alvarez, A. F. (2019). Challenging 
the status quo: Infusing non-western ideas into 
occupational therapy education and practice. The Open 
Journal of Occupational Therapy, 7(3), 1–10.  
https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1592 
Molineux, M. (2025). Overview of human occupation: Concepts 
and principles. In T. Brown, S. Isbel, L. Gustafsson, S. 
Gutman, D. P. Dirette, B. Collins, & T. Barlott (Eds.), 
Human occupation: Contemporary concepts and lifespan 
perspective (pp. 29–45). Routledge. 
Psillas, S. M., & Stav, W. B. (2021). Development of the 
Dynamic Model of Occupation-Based Practice. The Open 
Journal of Occupational Therapy, 9(4), 1–14. 
https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1807 
Stav, W. B., & Herman, A. (2022). An occupation-based clinic 
makeover: Perceptions and experiences of occupational 
therapists. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 
10(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1831 
World Federation of Occupational Therapists. (2012). About 
occupational therapy. WFOT. 
https://www.wfot.org/about/about-occupational-therapy 
 
If you enjoyed this article and are able to give, please consider a contribution to 
support OJOT’s mission of providing open-access to high quality articles that focus 
on applied research, practice, education, and advocacy in the occupational therapy 
profession. https://secure.wmualumni.org/s/give?funds=POJO    
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