Occupational therapy in an equine environment: a transactional description of practice
Date
2018
Authors
Bentele, Christof, author
Wood, Wendy, advisor
Pergolotti, Mackenzi, committee member
Hepburn, Susan, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this thesis was to vividly illustrate and comprehensively depict occupational therapy in an equine-environment (OTee) –a novel intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)– using a transactional perspective of inquiry. Method: This thesis is comprised of three chapters: an introduction and statement of the problem, a manuscript written for submission to the Journal of Occupational Science and a final chapter reflecting on the thesis process. The study at the center of the manuscript sought to create an account of OTee using methods informed by a transactional perspective. Guided by this theoretical framework, a hermeneutic narrative analysis was chosen to systematically move through almost 40 hours of video data and accompanying field notes. I conducted the narrative analysis in three steps, following a hermeneutic arc: naïve interpretation, structural analysis and comprehensive understanding. Results: Through the process of narrative analysis, I produced a holistic description of OTee that captured a large portion of the entire occupational experience. The results show that OTee takes place across six architectural spaces. There were six categories of actors that played important roles during the intervention. Seventeen distinct occupational opportunities were identified and were organized in a consistent pattern across sessions. Individual differences in the construction of the intervention were found across the children with ASD, typically relevant to the occupational goals or challenges identified by the therapists before the intervention began. A narrative description of OTee was then created, pulling all of the individual components together and relating parts to a great whole. Three segments were identified and used to structure the storytelling, beginning with pre-mounted time, to mounted time and finally to post-mounted time. The roles of the actors are explored during each segment, as well as how they related to the architectural spaces and the other actors over time. Conclusion: Hermeneutic narrative analysis is an effective method for producing a comprehensive description of OTee. As of yet, no study of any equine-assisted activity or therapy has produced a description of practice with as much detail while portraying the entire context as in this study. I argue that this work is consistent with the current literature attempting to adapt a transactional perspective to the study of occupation. Further, the methods I chose are novel and advance our understanding of occupation by illustrating occupational therapy in a way never before available.
Description
Rights Access
Subject
equine-assisted activities and therapies
occupational therapy
transactionalism
hermeneutics
autism spectrum disorder
occupational therapy in an equine environment