ABSTRACT
A basic premise in the profession of occupational therapy is that humans are motivated to develop and function through what we refer to as “occupation,” or via the utilization of purposeful activity. In a healthy state, an individual will occupy his time with activities that support personal or social interests, skills and abilities, and/or occupational roles. Since the early 1900's, psychiatrists have recognized the need for maintaining a healthy balance between the “big four”—work, play, sleep, and rest—and an individual's various life roles (Meyer, 1922). Meyer and others (Reilly, 1962; Llorens & Rubin, 1962; Mosey, 1970; Gazda, 1973; Mumford, 1974) support the theory that one achieves this healthy balance by means of actual doing and practice, even when dysfunction exists. The therapist's fundamental role, therefore, is to provide the patient with the structure and opportunities for functional performance to occur.
