"Let us define ourselves": forced migrants' use of multiple identities as a tactic for social navigation.

BACKGROUND: The article examines how and why multiple identities are altered, used and discarded by forced migrants. METHODS: The research is located in the constructivist paradigm. We used thematic analysis to analyse data gathered through interviews with nineteen forced migrants. RESULTS: We found that, though individual migrants can make deliberate choices about which identities to be associated with, they are constrained in the process by external socio-economic factors that lead them to adopt identities that are perceived to be advantageous to navigate the new social system. Moreover, the construction of forced migrants' identity includes significant contextuality, transactionality and situatedness. CONCLUSIONS: Our research contributes to the literature on migrant identity practice concerning the stigma associated with forced migrant status and the extent to which migrants appraise their reception in exile as undignified. Additionally, examining migrant identities allows the researchers to apprehend the diverse facets of identity as far as migrants are concerned. Future research may draw a larger sample to examine other impactful dimensions of identity fluctuation, e.g. gender, education, social media, the extent of prior trauma, etc.

Exploring Intraindividual Profiles for Home Buildings Based on Architectural Compositional Elements and Psychological Health Factors: A Transdisciplinary Approach.

Based on the transactional and salutogenic perspectives, we explored individual profiles that integrate psychosocial factors and compositional elements of the built home environment. Adults with different socio-demographic characteristics completed several self-report measures on psychological factors (personality traits, self-efficacy, mental health, and happiness) and architectural elements constituting the ideal home environment. Adopting an individual-centered perspective, three distinct intra-individual psycho-architectural (person-environment) profiles were found with different compositional preferences and psychosocial characteristics in terms of functioning, health, and well-being: endopathic (characterized by higher levels of psychosocial resources and well-being indicating a highly adapted and successful profile, and architectural preferences corresponding to their identities and experiences-expression through spaces), assimilative (characterized by average levels in all regulatory parameters indicating moderately adaptive individuals, and architectural preferences of spaces created in interactive processes-introjection of spaces), and additive individuals (characterized by a comparatively dysfunctional, poorer psychosocial profile, and architectural preferences in line with provoking a restorative effect-change with spaces). An awareness of the psychosocial features of the users for whom the homes are built can help in designing spaces to inhabit that are adapted to them for an enhancement of their overall well-being. Therefore, a better understanding of the interconnections between psychology and architecture will help in designing healthy spaces.

Enacted togetherness - A concept to understand occupation as socio-culturally situated.

Background: This paper is in line with the on-going discussion of a theoretical re-orientation towards acknowledging the socio-cultural dimensions of occupation.Aim: To define enacted togetherness as a concept and share our understandings of how this concept can add to the understanding of occupation as socio-culturally situated.Method and material: The concept enacted togetherness emerged from empirical findings of a larger research project with older adults living with late-life depression. Informed by a transactional understanding of occupation and a narrative approach, the concept emerged as a contextually situated process holding qualities and potential as a source of meaning-making.Findings: Enacted togetherness as described herein has a clear association to occupation in terms of doing activities together. We reflect on enacted togetherness as a process of meaning-making, connecting people and places through unfolding stories; as an arena where togetherness and belonging can be created; and as a space for interpretation, providing opportunities to negotiate issues of meaning that can lead to possibilities for change.Conclusion: The concept of enacted togetherness can contribute to the ongoing discussion of a theoretical reorientation towards understanding socio-cultural dimensions of occupation.Significance: Enacted togetherness is a concept that can contribute to occupational therapy and occupational science as it adds to an understanding of the qualities and potentials inherent in engagement in occupations with others.

Beyond Words: Using Qualitative Video Methods for Researching Occupation With Young Children.

Researching with children is fundamental for furthering our understanding of children's occupational worlds. Furthermore, researching occupation from a transactional perspective is important for gaining a deeper understanding. However historically, most approaches to researching with children do not capture the transactional nature of occupation. The use of video methods in qualitative research is proposed as a potential solution. This article illustrates how videography can be used as an effective, inclusive qualitative research method, and uses a study of infant play occupation to illuminate video techniques. Drawing on a longitudinal study with five infants and their families, methodological challenges are presented. We discuss key considerations in data generation and analysis when utilizing videography and outline insights gained regarding infant occupational development and meaning-making in the physical environment. Video methods are an effective means of researching from a transactional perspective and have potential to strengthen occupation-centered research particularly with infants.

Changing neighborhoods and occupations: Experiences of older African-Americans in Detroit.

Neighborhood characteristics are relevant to understanding occupations and associated outcomes, yet few empirical studies have focused on neighborhood as the unit of analysis when examining person-environment-occupation relationships. The purpose of this report is to begin addressing that gap. We present findings from a qualitative investigation conducted as part of a larger mixed methods study of 100 African-Americans aged 55 and older living in a variety of neighborhood contexts. With a subsample of older adults (n = 20), we utilized participant-generated photos and photo-elicitation interviews to examine the question of how participation in everyday occupations changes (or not) for older African-Americans residing in urban neighborhoods that have undergone significant physical and socio-demographic changes. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach in combination with a constant comparative method. Occupational change was conceptualized as four primary types: (a) spatio-temporal changes to participation in occupation, (b) changes to social participation, (c) heightened vigilance during daily occupations, and (d) actions to preserve and protect the neighborhood. The findings provide insights about the ways that neighborhood deterioration is related to occupational change. We discuss the potential impact of participants' occupational changes on health and well-being, and we assess the issue of neighborhood and occupation as relevant to occupational justice in urban contexts.

Un modelo transaccional o contextualizado de autonomía en personas con demencia / A transactional or contextualized model of autonomy in persons with dementia

La demencia es una condición que se caracteriza por la alteración de la memoria y otras funciones cognitivas y de la regulación conductual, de carácter adquirido y que repercute el desempeño y la funcionalidad de la persona. La demencia ha sido declarada una prioridad para la salud pública debido a su creciente frecuencia y es una de las principales causas de discapacidad y dependencia en las personas adultas mayores. La alteración cognitiva presente en la demencia se relaciona con la autonomía de las personas, lo que representa desafíos particulares para la Terapia Ocupacional como disciplina que busca la promoción de participación y de autonomía en las personas. Por medio de este ensayo se realiza una discusión en torno a diferentes paradigmas sobre la autonomía en la demencia, para visualizar el desarrollo de un marco conceptual de dicha relación que expanda su comprensión desde la determinación individual hacia la relación con los demás, el ambiente, la agencia y el transaccionalismo, permitiendo vislumbrar un mayor potencial de intervención de Terapia Ocupacional y de estudio desde la ocupación.

Dementia is a condition that features the impairment of cognition and other cognitive and behavioral functions. Dementia is an acquired condition that impacts performance and functionality and it has been declared a public health priority due to its increasing frequency and because it represents one of the major causes of disability and dependence among older adults. The cognitive impairment that dementia implies has an impact on the person’s capability to be autonomous, which is at the same time an important challenge to address by occupational therapy as a profession and discipline that aims to promote participation and autonomy. This essay offers a discussion about paradigms and notions about autonomy in dementia, in order to develop a conceptual framework that enhances an alternative notion of autonomy in dementia better related to the environment, agency and a transactional perspective of occupation.