Transforming values into action: Advocacy as a professional imperative.

BACKGROUND

The goal of enabling meaningful occupation for all requires occupational therapy to become a more socially and politically responsible discipline.

PURPOSE

This paper argues that occupational therapy's dominant individualist perspective is too narrow to meet this goal. It presents an argument for integrating advocacy into occupational therapy identity and discusses why we should advocate at political and public levels.

KEY ISSUES

Although the dominant paradigm and political climate pose challenges, there must be a realignment of the balance between helping individuals who are facing disruptions in their occupational lives and addressing systems and structures that prevent them from moving forward. Adopting a broader sociopolitical approach involves engaging in advocacy as a key strategy. Indeed, advocacy is a professional imperative for occupational therapy.

IMPLICATIONS

Advocacy must become part of the process of professional socialization. A new set of competencies is needed in our educational programs and in our professional development, accompanied by a sense of self-confident idealism.