Occupational Justice: Staff Member’s Understanding of the Role of Occupational Therapy within Organizations Serving Persons Experiencing Homelessness

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the understanding of occupational justice and occupational therapy’s role among staff members working within organizations serving persons experiencing homelessness. A survey was developed to determine if staff (N = 43) understood what occupational therapists can do to help persons experiencing homelessness. Responses were split almost equally between agree/strongly agree and disagree/strongly disagree. Most or 95% (n = 38) of respondents stated their organization would be interested in increasing programming to support the ideas of occupational justice. This suggests that occupational therapy can fill a need in these organizations to promote occupational justice.

Keywords:

• Homelessness
• occupational justice
• occupational therapy

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

About the authors

Leanne Rutt is an assistant professor at Messiah University in the Master of Occupational Therapy program. She has experience providing occupational therapy services to families experiencing homelessness and expertise in training volunteers to implement a multigenerational approach to homelessness. Jessica Eby is a student at Messiah University in the Master of Occupational Therapy Program. Kendall Geib is a student at Messiah University in the Master of Occupational Therapy Program. Emily Middlekauff is a student at Messiah University in the Master of Occupational Therapy Program. Ellen San is a student at Messiah University in the Master of Occupational Therapy Program. Vanessa Springer is a student at Messiah University in the Master of Occupational Therapy Program.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.