Do you know the Biel Model? How a Swiss OT model could contribute to the OT world today

As other models of occupational therapy, the Biel Model was developed in the 90ties of the last century for OT-practice, interventions, and education. Unique to the Biel Model is the approach of developing an understanding of... [ view full abstract ]

As other models of occupational therapy, the Biel Model was developed in the 90ties of the last century for OT-practice, interventions, and education. Unique to the Biel Model is the approach of developing an understanding of human occupation through the profound examination of action theories (Levin, Leontjev, Hacker, Volpert and Von Cranach). Most models of OT have been developed in the Anglo-Saxon world. On the contrary, the Biel Model can be seen as the first documented process of how European respectively Swiss OTs understood “occupation”. German translators of Anglo-Saxon models encounter the problem of how to accurately convey the meaning of the term “occupation.” Based on the terminology used in existing action theories, the Biel Model refers to the occupational competence of a human being.The authors had the chance of discussing the Biel Model with G. Kielhofner (MOHO), H. Polatajko (CMOP-E) and J. Ranka and C. Chapparo (OPM Australia), but for a broader international accessibility the Biel Model had the disadvantage of being described only in German. In February 2015 we held a symposium and discussed the actual relevance of the model with A. Fisher and I. Illot (Wirz, 2015). Currently, the Biel Model is evaluated in German speaking countries and further development is initiated with an expert conference. The publication by Nieuwesteeg & Somazzi (2010) will be updated and published in English. At the COTEC conference we share insights in the challenging process of deciding upon the Biel Models actual relevance in and beyond Switzerland.