Model Of Human Occupation

Gary Kielhofner

1949 - 2010

Model Of Human Occupation

Introduction

• While completing a doctorate in public health at UCLA’s neuropsychiatric institute, Kielhofner began to create the model, MOHO, to understand psychosocial challenges faced by people with disabilities.
• He stated, “Following the onset of a disability, people need to adjust their understanding of themselves and, in many instances, reappraise what they’re going to do in life.”
• “He changed the way we think about and conduct research and the way we help people live fulfilling lives,” said Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar professor and current head of University of Illinois’s occupational therapy department.
• He won a number of honors and awards including: 1 of 12 elected to AOTF's Academy of Research, recipient of AOTF's A. Jean Ayers Award that recognizes highest contributions to theory development in the field, and recipient of 3 honorary doctoral degrees in Europe and the U.S.

• The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) was first developed in the 1980s
• Created by Gary Kielhofner (1949-2010) within his 1970s thesis
• MOHO is thought to be client-centered, evidence based, and holistic
• Encompasses the idea that occupational performance results in health, well-being, development and change
• Overall assumption that through everyday doing, people shape who they are, creating an occupational identity

“Life takes in meaning in the minute-by-minute reality in which we experience ourselves achieving the ordinary things…” – Gary Kielhofner

Application

• Used for any person within various cultures, across the entire lifespan, experiencing problems in their occupational life.
• Individuals that can benefit: adults with chronic pain, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, people with traumatic brain injury, older people with dementia, individuals living with AIDS, adolescents with mental illness, etc.
• Context of MOHO: applied in hospitals, outpatient clinics, residential facilities, nursing homes,

rehabilitation programs, work

programs, prisons and

correctional settings, and

community based

organizations.

Thoery

Example

• Model: A model provides tools to apply theory into practice

• MOHO explains how human occupation is motivated, patterned, and performed

• Within this theory, humans are thought of as being made up of three interrelated components: volition, habituation, and performance capacity, which are all impacted by environmental context.

Relevance

Volition

• The motivation for occupation

• This theory is relevant to the field of occupational therapy and to those who benefit from occupational therapuetic services to live a more fulfilling life.
• “Continuously reshaping and refining both occupational identity and occupational competence results in becoming more occupationally adaptive. Through participation in therapeutic occupations we become adaptive and healthier.”

Environmental Context

References

Habituation

• the physical and social environments in which human occupations take place

Braveman, B., Fisher, G., Suarez-Balcazar, Y. (2010) “Achieving the Ordinary Things”: A Tribute to Gary Kielhofner. American Journal of Occupational Therapy. (64), 828-831. doi:10.5014/ajot.2010.64605

Performance Capacity

Kates, J.G. Dr. Gary Kielhofner: UIC Professor was a leading expert in occupational therapy. (2010) http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-09-07/features/ct-met-kielhofner-obit-0908-20100907_1_gary-kielhofner-uic-professor-occupational-therapy

• the process by which occupation is organized into routines

Model Of Human Occupation: Theory and Application. (2018). Retrieved from: https://www.moho.uic.edu/resources/about.aspx

Ramafikeng, Matumo. (2011) Occupation Focused Conceptual Frameworks. Retrieved from: https://vula.uct.ac.za/access/content/group/9c29ba04-b1ee-49b9-8c85-9a468b556ce2/Framework_2/lecture1.htm

• the physical and mental abilities within skilled occupational performance

Image by Tom Mooring