Occupational role performance in the presence of disability

Satisfactory performance in personally valued roles is known to be important to a sense of purpose and well-being in everyday life, yet there is little understanding of how the concept of role might be used by the role performer. People recovering from stroke often do not resume roles that they previously held and valued, yet this problem is often not effectively addressed in rehabilitation. This study used the conceptual framework of the Occupational Performance Model (Australia) (Chapparo & Ranka, 1997) to examine how a group of men perceived their own occupational role performance following a disabling stroke. Inductive analysis of the data showed that participants used the concept of role to organise their own occupational performance in terms of meaning, personal abilities and time. This book uses the information suggested by the data to discuss of the nature of occupational role performance in ways that develops and extend the construct of occupational performance role as described by Chapparo and Ranka and other occupational therapy researchers. It is addressed to health professionals, health educators and researchers who are working with people with chronic disability.