A congruent model for health promotion in occupational therapy

The past two decades have seen the rise of new approaches, such as health promotion and managed care, and their gradual supplanting and reshaping of traditional health care delivery. To survive within the emerging system, occupational therapists must shift perspectives and adapt to the prevailing philosophies. But are the currently proposed strategies compatible with occupational therapy foundations? Contrasting health promotion, managed care and occupational therapy on their respective principles, paradigms, values, and applications, the authors discuss the congruence, or lack thereof, amongst the three. The authors describe the relationship between basic health promotion principles, the constructivist paradigm, occupational therapy values, and community‐based practice in a conceptually congruent sequence leading to more coherent interventions. They will also highlight the discrepancies between managed care and occupational therapy. Finally, they explore the use of participant‐action research as a means for providing innovative outcome measures.