Elizabeth Townsend's Enabling Occupation In The 21st Century

Over the past century, occupational therapy has evolved greatly, influenced by societal values, medical advances, and philosophical changes. One concept that has continued to influence occupational therapy practice as a core belief is client-centered care. This approach emphasizes the need for collaboration between the client and the therapist. It targets a more personal healthcare experience by focusing on treatment plans based on the client’s goals and values (Coulter & Oldham, 2016). While this approach is necessary for satisfactory occupational therapy today, it saw changes influenced by social, political, and cultural events. Examining the history of client-centered care provides insight into how this approach will continue to evolve in

Within this time, came the development of occupation-based frameworks such as the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and the Person Environment Occupation model which highlighted the importance of using an occupation-based approach and reflected the holistic values of practice. This helped practitioners understand the need for client-centered therapy as therapists needed client input to gain a clear picture of their environments. Elizabeth Townsend’s Enabling Occupation in the 21st Century: Making Good Intentions a Reality was particularly influential in encouraging occupation-based models and client-centered care as it discussed including clients in identifying goals, values, and lived experiences to increase the quality of care (Townsend, 1999). The combination of these models, further research, and discussion helped occupational therapy become unified, ensuring therapists in all settings followed the same guidelines, including client-centered care. In the early twenty-first century, client-centered care became a fundamental principle in occupational therapy as it was integrated into practice