Mexican American Intergenerational Research: Transformative Model of Occupational Therapy

TL;DR

This paper explores the lived experiences of Mexican American women through interviews, leading to a new model in occupational therapy that emphasizes cultural values and community health.

Contribution

The paper introduces the Transformative Model of Occupational Therapy, a decolonized framework linking individual health to community and global well-being.

Findings

Environmental barriers like patriarchy and discrimination hinder occupational participation.

Acts of resistance through everyday living facilitate occupational participation.

The Transformative Model centers occupations like play and education as contributors to the common good.

Abstract

Thirty-seven interviews of Mexican American women who crossed the border into the United States during the era of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory methods. The intent is to expand the occupational therapy profession's occupational consciousness and cultivate cultural humility. Four themes emerged from the data: suffering, work, yearning for an education, and compassion for others. The findings suggest that environmental barriers such as hierarchy (patriarchy and discrimination) and physical barriers (limited access to built environments, lack of nonexploitative work opportunities, and hostile educational institutions) prevented occupational participation. Small acts of resistance through everyday living (finding joy, playing, self-sufficiency, and community organizing) were identified as facilitators of occupational participation. The research findings challenge proposed assumptions found within the occupational therapy literature: (1) humans and occupations exist as separate from their environments, and (2) work, productivity, and leisure contribute positively to health. The Transformative Model of Occupational Therapy is introduced as a decolonized framework that inextricably links individual health to community and global health. The model centers play, social participation, work, and education as occupations that contribute to the common good. These occupations are kept in equilibrium within the Four Pillars of Culture (self-determination, compassion, sustainability, and language) or the cultural values identified and derived from the stories.

Figures