The Occupational Performance Model (Australia): A description of constructs and structure

Conceptual models have become a major focus of occupational therapy practice and education in the last two decades (American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc., 1973; Hagedorn, 1992; Dutton, Levy & Simon, 1993, Christiansen, 1991a; Reed, 1984; Reed & Sanderson, 1983). These conceptualisations are interpretations of the construct, 'occupation'. Some conceptual models interpret occupation from the perspective of human function and describe the nature of human occupations (Gilfoyle, Grady & Moore, 1981; Kiehlhofner 1985; Reed, 1984, p. 491). The majority, however, interpret occupation from the perspective of occupational therapy, thereby forming the basis of practice models for intervention (Allen, 1985; Ayres, 1979). Despite the evolution of numerous conceptual models describing both human occupations and occupational therapy no single model has adequately met the range of theoretical, practice, and explanatory demands of the profession (Hubbard, 1991).