“Give me an occupation, Miss Dashwood, or I shall run mad” – Sense and Sensibility (1995)
The core philosophy of an Occupational Therapist (OT) is that participating in everyday tasks (or occupations) forms part of a person’s sense of identify and purpose in the world. An occupation is not limited to employment, but can include self-care, such as getting dressed, eating or sleeping; productivity, such as working and studying; and leisure, such as sports and music. By engaging in daily activities, there is a direct link to improving physical and mental health and wellbeing (Townsend et al, 2013).
OTs work with children and adults facing a range of challenges, such as mental health, physical health and learning disabilities, to overcome the barriers to engaging in their meaningful occupations A typical day for an OT might involve teaching a person with a spinal cord injury how to use a wheelchair around their house, adjusting an overstimulating school environment for a child with autism, helping them to learn, or helping someone in a forensic mental health unit learn to cook independently for the first time.
At the centre, an OT asks: “What’s important to you and how can we help you do it?”
Working for the wellbeing of creation
Creation
God made us to do things. “Subdue the earth and fill it,” God declares in Genesis chapter 1 verse 28. Our bodies and minds are created to design, build, run, lift, jump and carry. Look at your hand. Picking up a cup requires many complex processes and movements. Your brain has to tell your hand to move. Your thumb has to be positioned perfectly opposite your fingers. You have to judge the right amount of force and co-ordinate many movements to bring the cup to your mouth. How God has made us shouts loud and clear of a designer behind it.
Fall
Sadly, the Bible teaches us that human sin and rebellion against God’s good and loving care turned us away from Him in the Garden of Eden. And every person since has had their heart set away from God’s way. We chose ourselves first, we ignored God’s good and perfect way to live in harmony with Him and rejected Him as King. Sin corrupts every aspect of life, as Paul describes in Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” We see consequences of broken unity with God littered throughout the health and social care system, as bodies and minds are vulnerable to injury, illness and disease. This impacts our ability to do things for ourselves.
Redemption
OTs bring order where there is chaos, we can bring hope where there is frustration, we can overcome barriers when others have given up. This mirrors the gospel in so many ways. We can use creative thinking to adapt tasks to improve independence. We can provide task-specific practice to improve someone’s ability to complete an occupation, enabling them to achieve what matters to them. Christian OTs can provide high quality, evidence-based practice to provide hope, assist recovery and maximise someone’s quality of life, pointing them to the One who brings renewal and redemption.
God can use OTs’ unique skills to assess the barrier to occupational performance, work out a solution and give people strategies to enable to do things for themselves. We can help to redeem the worst times of people’s lives, as the Lord has redeemed us in Christ.
Worshipping the God we work for
OTs require a specialist level of knowledge about how people function, and the impact of impairments on their functional ability. Understanding the complexities of occupations, the environment surrounding the person, and the needs of the person points to God who knows each one of us individually and intricately. God is a personal God. However much OTs learn about the person they are supporting; God knows that person even better. He knows how many hairs are upon their head and He knows how difficult their condition is to manage. He knows the limitations and challenges it is bearing on their lives. And He loves each one more than a Christian OT ever could.
As health and social care services continue to struggle under the volume of demand, their needs are increasingly more complex and services increasingly more stretched. Qualified OTs and students may feel frustrated with how much they can really do to effect change, working in a system that has limited funding, time, staff and resources. And yet God is not boundaried. He knows each of these peoples’ needs, both physically and spiritually, and the journey they are on. And we can trust He is working out His purposes for their ultimate good.
Being a student and qualified OT comes with many joys and challenges. You will care deeply for the people in front of you. You will become intimately involved in their lives, often in the most distressing and traumatic times. You will be given the honour of showing them how their goals and aspirations can still be achieved. And the manner in which you work with them can be a shining light of the character of God to the most vulnerable in our society.
Witnessing to the world
Throughout Jesus’ ministry in the gospels, we often see Him interacting with people facing horrendous life-limiting conditions. Indeed 25 of the 34 miracles recorded in the Gospels involve Jesus interacting with people with disabilities (Tada and Jensen, 1997).
Society is increasingly focussed on productivity. And yet the numbers of people living with chronic health conditions (Triggle, 2023) and the value placed on those who either cannot work or who need adaptions to work is often called into question. Take those with learning disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some 508 'do not attempt resuscitation' (DNAR) decisions made since March 2020 were not agreed in discussion with the person or their family, a report found (CQC, 2021). Christian OTs can influence culture, through advocating for the dignity, worth and value of every person in society.
Within the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Professional Standards for Practice (2022), OTs are expected to embrace the diversity of each service user, asking what beliefs and values are important to them. This often gives an opportunity to spend time hearing about their lives and ways of thinking. During initial assessments, I may ask the question, “Do you have any spiritual or religious beliefs that are important to you?” It may prompt them to think about the bigger questions of life.
There are lots of opportunities to live as a Christian alongside educators and colleagues on placements and in the workplace. We see each other every day. We laugh in the highs and support each other in the lows. They see how you deal with stress, bear with you as you are learning and cope with the challenges of placement. They observe what you talk about, how you talk to others, how you relate to those in authority and discuss challenges and frustrations. And with the Holy Spirit working in and through you, who knows what He is doing to point others to God?
Keep going, Christian OT
Studying and working as an OT will bring you up close and personal with the highs and lows of life and the effects of a world that has rejected God. And yet, you will see the fingerprints of God’s hand as you interact with people facing life-altering conditions. As you inspire them to see what is possible with support, rehabilitation and adaption, may God show you more of His heartbeat for the vulnerable, the oppressed, the weary and downtrodden - a God who knows each one by name and longs to restore their relationship with Him.
Reflect and discuss
Think: Think back over what you have studied so far in your degree. Where have you seen God's fingerprints? Where have ideas presented to you challenged what you believed to be true?
Live: What do you think your coursemates would know about what is important to you from the way you live? Is there anything you want to change here?
Speak: Are there topics in your subject that are closer to talking about your outlook on life, God or the gospel? Pray for people on your course and for opportunities to share about Jesus with them this term.
Taking it further
- Christians in Allied Health blog
- 'Every Good Endeavor: Connecting your work to God’s work', Tim Keller
- 'Dying Well', John Wyatt
- Interview with Steve Napper, a Christian with Motor Neurone Disease
- Parenting & Disability, Faith in Parents podcast