Practitioner Perspectives

“Being occupation-centred in a children's hospital is challenging but using MOHO makes it possible”

Ruth Morgan, Head Occupational Therapist, Children's Division
Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospitals NHS Trust

*This article first appeared in Occupational Therapy News, published by the College of Occupational Therapists, London (OTN, 2007, 6:23).

“I have seen several models of practice used by clinicians. Although I have looked at and tried several, I have remained consistently reliant on the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO). MOHO gave me the theoretical framework for understanding where a person's needs were and for planning the appropriate therapeutic interventions working in the field of learning disability.”

Dalleen Last, Clinical Specialist in Occupational Therapy, Dip. (COT UK) Oxford City Learning Disability Team, Oxford Learning Disability Trust

“The dynamic aspect of the model, the interrelation between its components and its constant interaction with the environment, gives me a “movie” about my client instead of a still picture.“

Genevieve Pepin, Ph.D. (c), M.Sc. erg
Department de readaptation, Universite Laval, Canada

“Within my work environment, MOHO is consistently used by all the occupational therapy clinicians. Our clients really value our approach to working with them, as they recognise that we identify issues that they value and are not addressed by any other profession.”

Edward A.S Duncan, BSc(Hons) Dip.CBT
Senior I Occupational Therapist, Forensic Occupational Therapy, Scotland

“The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) helps me to consider and articulate what I can deliver as specialist occupational therapy intervention with clients in relation to their ability to perform occupations within their environment.”

Jane Melton, MSc DipCOT (UK)
Adult Mental Health, England

“The Scholarship of Practice approach, on which MOHO is built, actively sought out my clinical experience. It was seen as pivotal to how theory and application developed. At last - an academic unit that was prepared to hear clinical voices - an academic unit that was focused on developing practice.”

Kirsty Forsyth, PhD, SROT, OTR
Physical Disability and Mental Health Challenges, Scotland

“I have found that the bottom line for most of these kids is volition, and MOHO directly targets volition in a way that no other theoretical perspective does.”

Sandee Chalik, OTR/L
School setting, USA

“By administering the Occupational Performance History Interview (OPHI-II I) I gained invaluable insights into his situation that influenced my therapy.”

Riitta Keponen, OTR, Master of Health Science
Lecturer, Finland

“MOHO enabled me to identify and measure the subtle progress that my clients made in the early stages of recovery and gave me the tools to affirm their strengths and share these with the wider team, thereby renewing my passion for occupational therapy.”

Sue Parkinson, practicing occupational therapist
Acute Mental Health, Derbyshire, England

“Learning about the Model of Human Occupation was a turning point in my career. One of the first things that I learned when using MOHO is that occupational therapists don’t work with diagnosis, occupational therapists work with people that experience challenges in occupational participation”

Laura Vidaña Moya, practicing occupational therapist
Neuro-rehabilitation Department, Parc Taulí Hospital, Spain

“Putting Occupation back into Occupational Therapy”

Mary Henaghen, practicing occupational therapist in community rehabilitation

*This article first appeared in Occupational Therapy News,
published by the College of Occupational Therapists, London (OTN, April 2009, page 45).