OCCUPATIONAL JUSTICE IN SELF-MANAGED ATTENDANT SERVICES: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION

Background: Occupational justice is an emergent concept with potential to effect social change (Wilcock & Townsend, 2000; Stadnyk, Townsend & Wilcock, 2010). Applied examples that illustrate occupational justice are... [ view full abstract ]

Background: Occupational justice is an emergent concept with potential to effect social change (Wilcock & Townsend, 2000; Stadnyk, Townsend & Wilcock, 2010). Applied examples that illustrate occupational justice are instrumental in furthering theories and understandings of the concept (Durocher, Gibson & Rappolt, 2013). This paper critically examines Self-Managed Attendant Services (SMAS) in Ontario, Canada through an occupational justice lens.

Method: The study adopted a reflexive ethnographic methodological approach (Foley, 2002; Lather, 2001), informed by critical feminist theories of work (Kittay, 1999) and a critical disability studies theoretical framework. In-depth interviews were conducted with SMAS program participants, attendants and administrators, and relevant policy documents were analyzed.

Results: The SMAS program was variously found to promote occupational justice by increasing access to, and opportunities to participate in, meaningful occupations; while also challenging occupational justice at individual and group levels through inequitable access to limited resources.

Conclusion: This analysis illuminates the complexity of occupational justice as a dynamic concept, which may be simultaneously promoted and challenged within a particular context. This study highlights the importance of recognizing how occupational justice is complex, and may be upheld and challenged at individual, organizational, community and/or global levels.

Application to Practice: Thinking about health and social care programs through an occupational justice lens offers additional insights into strengths and challenges relevant to program development and implementation. This study adds to an emerging body of research on occupational justice, showing how it may be applied as an analytic lens to study the occupation of self-managing attendant services.