Occupational engagement of people living with a life-limiting illness : occupational therapists' perceptions

BACKGROUND/AIM: Occupational therapists working in palliative care aim to enable clients living with a life‐limiting illness to continue participating in meaningful activities for as long as possible. However, little is published about the occupations people living with a life‐limiting illness wish to engage in, and how occupational therapists can best enable occupational engagement. Therefore, this study aimed to gain an in‐depth understanding of occupational therapists’ perceptions on clients’ occupational engagement post‐diagnosis of a life‐limiting condition. METHODS: Occupational therapists working in Australia with people with a life‐limiting illness were recruited to participate in a national online survey over the period of a month. Recruitment used a purposive, snowball sampling technique, resulting in 144 survey responses. Data were analysed using modified grounded theory methods. RESULTS: Findings revealed two interrelated categories and four subcategories. The first category, focusing on life is concerned with therapists’ perceptions of how clients continue to focus on living post diagnosis and encompasses two subcategories: (i) prioritised engagement and (ii) altered engagement. The second category, preparing for death, centres on therapists’ perceptions of what clients do to practically prepare for death and find closure as their illness progresses, and is comprised of the two subcategories: (i) practical preparation for death and (ii) “facilitating closure”. CONCLUSION: Therapists perceived that meaningful occupational engagement changes over time as occupational performance levels decrease and clients prepare for death.