Empowering people to change occupational behaviours to address critical global issues: Habiliter les gens à changer leurs comportements occupationnels en vue d’aborder les grands enjeux mondiaux

Background. The greatest threat to human well-being in this century is climate change and related global issues. Purpose. We examined the effectiveness of the Modified Instrumentalism in Occupational Therapy model as a framework for facilitating occupational behaviour change to address climate change and related issues. Method. Eleven individuals participated in this mixed-methods single-subject-design study. Data were gathered using the Modified Assessment and Intervention Instrument for Instrumentalism in Occupational Therapy and Daily Occupational Inventories. Quantitative data were analyzed using two– and three–standard deviation band methods. Qualitative data were analyzed using heuristic phenomenological procedures. Findings. Occupational performance changed for five participants. Participants’ feelings shifted from frustration and helplessness to empowerment and a desire for action. They felt empowered to find occupation-based solutions to the global issues. Implications. Occupation-based interventions that increase personal awareness of the connection between occupational performance and global issues could empower people to be agents for action to ameliorate the issues.