This paper draws upon the poststructural work of Deleuze and Guattari to outline a framework for analyzing social formations in a way that is acentred from the individual. The concepts of the major ...and minor, becoming minor and the rhizome provide a useful framework for scholars and practitioners to engage in affirmative political modes of thought, challenge dominant discourses and seek transformative processes. The major are the dominant things in the social world (both human and non-human, physical and non-physical) that are established, clearly understood and considered normal. The minor is the site of difference, that which does not align with the norm. The major seeks to categorise and stratify the minor, oppressing the minor and limiting its potential. In order to resist the capture of the major and pursue social transformation, Deleuze and Guattari introduced the concept of becoming minor, a collective process of resistance to categorical/normative identities. The process of becoming minor is illustrated through the concept of the rhizome, a non-hierarchical figuration of the interrelated and continually changing nature of things. The rhizome is a useful tool for analyzing and articulating social formations, and invites a deeper understanding of the flows that are entwined with occupation. Mapping cartographies of rhizomatic processes may open up creative possibilities for occupational science and new ways of thinking about occupation beyond the individual.
Children seeking asylum face occupational deprivation and human rights violations. No research has investigated how occupational therapists work with child asylum seekers. The World Federation of ...Occupational Therapists promotes the Canadian Model of Client-Centred Enablement (CMCE) for occupational therapists working to promote human rights.
This research investigates use of CMCE skills to investigate skills occupational therapists use when working with child asylum seekers in Australian immigration detention.
Interpretive description guided this investigation and purposive sampling was used to recruit 10 occupational therapists. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and thematically analysed.
Occupational multi-level responsiveness, an overarching practice skill, involved keying into individual, family and socio-political levels to respond to occupational injustices. A wide array of practice skills extending beyond the CMCE framework were used in a nuanced and interwoven manner spanning multiple levels.
Occupational multi-level responsiveness described occupational therapists working across macro-, meso- and micro-levels.
Understanding and enacting occupational multi-level responsiveness may support occupational therapists to plan and implement effective strategies when tackling occupational injustices. The skills identified may be applicable to other complex socio-political fields of practice. More research is needed. Further research should also investigate the occupational experiences of children seeking asylum.
KEY POINTS
Occupational therapists working with child asylum seekers in Australia take a multi-level approach, responding to individuals, families and socio-political structures.
A three pronged approach to implementation of the occupational therapy practice process could support multi-level responsiveness to enhance practice that addresses occupational injustices.
CMCE skills are not exhaustive and therapists discussed using other skills beyond those listed in the CMCE. Additional skills reflected humility and efforts towards more equal relationships between therapists and clients.
Assistive technology (AT) has been actively researched, developed and implemented throughout higher-income countries, but is relatively absent from lower-income countries. In lower-income countries, ...there is very little AT for reading, writing, communicating and for participation in the information society. In order for persons with disabilities in lower-income countries to participate fully in society, mainstream information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones should be used as AT. This paper explores the potential for using mainstream ICTs as AT in lower-income countries, keeping in mind current ICT trends, characteristics of the post-PC era and ICT-based AT in higher-income countries. The paper concludes with a case study where mobile phones and SMS were used by people with disabilities and their caregivers to access information in a resourced-limited community in Bogota, Colombia. Mobile phones, a readily available mainstream ICT in this community, were a useful tool for addressing the information exclusion of people with disabilities and caregivers.
Background Autistic adults experience barriers to accessing health care, such as service provider communication not meeting their needs, healthcare facilities causing sensory discomfort and feeling ...fear or anxiety regarding their healthcare visit. The Academic Autism Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE) developed and trialled an online healthcare toolkit to reduce such barriers and improve healthcare interactions between autistic adults and their primary care providers in the United States. This preliminary study aimed to explore experiences of autistic adults using the AASPIRE Healthcare Toolkit in Australia. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six autistic adults about their experiences and perceptions of utilising the toolkit in an Australian healthcare setting. Results Participants identified that the toolkit facilitated their interactions with health professionals by providing structure to appointments, supplementing new knowledge and increasing individual confidence. They also offered suggestions to tailor the toolkit for use in Australia. Conclusions Future research should seek to explore the experiences of autistic adults using a version of the toolkit adapted for Australian use, as well as exploring the views of health professionals utilising it.
Increasingly, people turn to online sources for health information, creating human-non-human relationalities. Health websites are considered accessible in scope and convenience but can have limited ...capacity to accommodate complexities. There are concerns about who gets to 'assemble' with these resources, and who is excluded. Guided by Ahmed's socio-political theories of emotions, we questioned our feelings as we intra-acted with a consumer information website about back pain (MyBackPain). This encouraged us to approach resource evaluation in a way that alters conventional rational/cognitive judgement processes. Our inquiry was 'supra-disciplinary' involving public health, sociology, allied health and consumer collaborators. Specifically, we considered relationality - the feelings circulating between bodies/objects and implicated in MyBackPain's affective practices; impressions - the marks, images or beliefs MyBackPain makes on bodies/objects; and directionality - how these intra-actions pushed in some directions and away from others. Although Ahmed would likely not consider herself 'post-humanist', we argue that her socio-political theories of how objects and emotions entangle are of great interest to furthering critical post-human understandings of health. Rather than threatening decision-making, we suggest that feelings (and their affects) are central to it. The article demonstrates the productive potential of critical post-human inquiry in identifying/countering 'othering' possibilities, and catalysing a 'nomadic shift' towards new human-non-human formations.
Abstract
Purpose: The community of El Codito, located in the mountainside on the perimeter of Bogota, Colombia, is considered one of the most vulnerable and resource-limited communities in the ...region. This community-based research (CBR) project used short message service (SMS) messaging as a tool for information access and social interaction with caregivers of people with disabilities (PWD). Method: Using a focused ethnographic method, this research evaluated the experience of caregivers participating in the project. In addition to primarily qualitative methods, supplementary quantitative message data was also collected. This project utilized free and open source software for SMS message distribution. Results: Caregivers experienced the project as a window to possibility; the possibility of a social support network, the possibility of community participation and the possibility of change. During the three-month implementation, a total of 56 information messages were sent to caregivers, 20 question messages were received from caregivers and 30 social interaction messages were sent by caregivers to the group. Conclusions: The proliferation of mobile phones in this resource-limited setting provided a feasible method for reducing the exclusion of PWD and caregivers. SMS was a useful tool for sharing information and reducing the isolation experienced by this socially excluded population.Implications for RehabilitationMobile phones are a prevalent technology in many resource-limited settings; short message service (SMS) is a feasible tool for sharing information and reducing isolation experienced by people with disabilities (PWD) and their families.When developing technology-based projects in resource-limited settings, the field of rehabilitation could apply principles from the field of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D).Projects in resource-limited settings could consider using a community-based research (CBR) approach. This collaborative approach can enhance the contextual relevance of the project.Caregivers of PWD found the project to be both useful and meaningful, and as a result of the project became more involved in their community.
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