Doing, Being, Belonging & Becoming

Newspaper Presentation

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At my placement I was asked to read the daily newspaper aloud to the entire rest home (not scary at all to a person who hates public speaking!), I had requests to read peoples astrology signs, the birth and death notices, to do the quiz and tell them the facts of Today in History. I told them the date, read the main headlines, specific articles the liked, the weather around NZ and the general world news. I chose this occupation as it was a very important activity to many of the residents and it also combined the concepts of doing, being, belonging and becoming in one activity.


The concepts of doing, being, belonging and becoming are essential to Occupational Therapy as they encompass all aspects of occupation and the individuals experience within that occupation. Rowles (1991) states that by 'doing', a person can learn and achieve a sense of accomplishment through occupational performance. The term 'doing' refers to the aspect of occupation that is goal orientated (Wilcock, 1998a). It is the action of the chosen occupation; the ways in which a person will make something happen, whether its for leisure, self-care or productivity. The concept of 'being' is defined as "time taken to reflect, be introspective or meditative, to rediscover the self, savour the moment, appreciate nature, art or music in a contemplative manner, and to enjoy being with special people" (Hammell, 2004). The concept of 'belonging' refers to a sense of inclusion, friendships, and mutual support. It includes a person's idea of their own self worth, and connectedness to others (Hammell, 2004). The idea of 'becoming' is focused on the future of an individual. It is what a persons sees in their future, who they wish to become, and how they see themselves contributing to others throughout their future lifetime (Hammell, 2004).


Images 1, 8, 15, 17, and 19 represent the concept of 'doing'. The people in the images are all depicted reading a newspaper, an occupation of leisure; images 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 16, and 18 show what was being read on my placement - these photos are of the sections of newspaper that I was asked to read daily. Images 3, 8, 11, 13, and 17 represent the concept of 'being'. Image 17 portrays some inner reflection, while the other images show people savouring the moment, and enjoying being with special people. Images 3, 6, 8, 11, 13 and 19 represent the concept of 'belonging'. The people in the images are all included in a group; they are with friends which shows their connectedness to others. Images 1, 3, 8 and 11 show the idea of 'becoming'. These photos show people contributing to others lives, especially in images 1 and 8, where the older generation can be seen contributing to the younger generation.


When making my presentation I had to adhere to some ethical considerations. All of my online images are creative commons material - they were available to the public for use and so there has been no copyright infringement. For these online images I went through a reputable search engine (Google images) and took only public photos, not private photos from any social media sites. As I was the photographer for the other images i gave informed consent for the photographs to be put online and used in a public domain.


References:

Hammell, K. W. (2004). Dimensions of meaning in the occupations of daily

life. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71 (5).

 Rowels, G. D. (1991). Beyond performance: Being in place as a component

of occupational therapy. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 45, 265 271.

Wilcock, A. A. (1998a). Occupation for health. British Journal of

Occupational Therapy, 61,340-345.