The meaning making of what is meaningful: Dialogues with Wilcock and Benetton

Abstract

This essay sought to weave a dialogue around the meaning of what is meaningful as a relevant element for Occupational Therapy knowledge and practice, through the dialogue with two authors, Ann Wilcock, in her Perspective of the Occupational Nature of Health, sustained in an occupation paradigmatic perspective, in which the occupational promotes well-being and health, and Jô Benetton, with her Dynamic Occupational Therapy Method, supported in occupational therapy paradigmatic perspective, as a treatment by occupations/activities. What is meaningful can be considered linked to the concept of health that each one proposes: Wilcock and her emphasis on meaningful occupation, as opposed to an occupational dysfunction; and Benetton, focusing on what the target individual of occupational therapy interventions qualifies as healthy and helps him/her to act in the world. We hope to contribute to the debate around the concepts that support interventions in occupational therapy, reflecting on the process of meaning-making in occupational therapy interventions.