Communicating
The CPL develops theoretical and experiential perspectives that inform how we conceptualize and guide community work. We value the knowledge produced through everyday experiences of occupation and work to elevate this knowledge within research and policy spaces.
Theory & Model Development
The CPL develops theoretical and experiential perspectives that inform how we conceptualize and guide community work. These theories include occupation-based lenses, systemic justice, anti-oppression, critical theory, pragmatism, and community-driven perspectives.
Coalition Models
The CPL has been recognized nationally for its model of developing, administering, and sustaining coalitions. Informed by our experience administering the Orange County Home Preservation Coalition (OCHPC) and the Carolina Aging Network (CAN), we share our approach to coalitions and our many lessons learned along the way.
For example, the OCHPC is featured in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ action guide, “Partnering to Expand Access to Home Modifications, Repairs, and Weatherization for Community Living.” This national resource features the OCHPC as a model of home accessibility collaboration. CPL Primary Lead Dr. Ryan Lavalley and CPL Doctoral Fellow Leiha Edmonds also presented a national webinar about the OCHPC for the DHHS Administration of Community Living’s Housing and Services Resource Center.
Program Models
The CPL team is working with HOPE NC to help develop the model for its IDEAL communities project. CPL Primary Lead Dr. Ryan Lavalley leads HOPE NC’s Model Development Workgroup and facilitates its collective impact process. HOPE NC envisions communities developed through ongoing collaboration with multiple community partners. Ryan’s operationalization of the collective impact process helps realize this vision.
Kathryn Mackey, an occupational therapy doctoral student at the University of Missouri, researched current intergenerational and older adult housing models, evaluating current literature and conducting focus groups and interviews to learn about these models from the older adult perspective. This research will inform the continued development of HOPE NC’s inclusive community, which seeks to be both accessible and affordable across generations, populations, and abilities.
Community Practice Theoretical Development
The CPL develops experiential perspectives in community practice, driven by our long-standing partnerships with communities and community organizations. Community practice research produced by the CPL has explored processes of social transformation and resource development in and with communities.
Occupation’s role in inclusion of Spanish-speaking older adults in a senior center (2022)
“Making change by shared doing”: An examination of occupation in processes of social transformation in five case studies (2022)
This study explores how opportunities for “everyday doing together” contribute to processes of social transformation. The case studies indicate that occupation can build reciprocity, invite connection through shared meaning-making, and reconfigure social relations for people experiencing marginalization.
Community Occupational Science Theoretical Development
The CPL develops theoretical and experiential perspectives in community occupational science. These theories have included occupation-based lenses, systemic justice, anti-oppression, critical theory, pragmatism, and community-driven perspectives.
A live community growing together: Communal occupation of a senior center welcoming Spanish-speaking elders (2020)
A communal perspective of occupation: Community change in a senior center welcoming Spanish-speaking immigrants (2020)
This study explores community change at a senior center as it welcomed Spanish-speaking older adults into its programming and spaces. This community-level research transformed into a collaborative social endeavor that fostered community transformation.
Occupation, injustice, and anti-Black racism in the United States of America (2020)
Developing the transactional perspective of occupation for communities: “How well are we doing together?” (2017)
This study contributes to theorizing in emerging scholarly and practice areas such as structural injustices, immigration, and community development. The analysis explores “public” and “private” acts in relation to phenomena such as unifying occupation, stigmatizing occupation, or occupation that contributes to structural justice.
Research Distribution
We value the knowledge produced through organizations’ and community members’ everyday experiences of occupation. We elevate this knowledge within research, policy, and community spaces to support emerging community partnerships and coalitions. Our practice of research distribution also offers a chance to reflect upon lessons learned and to offer best practices for colleagues interested in community-based approaches.
Keynote Speeches
CPL Primary Lead Dr. Ryan Lavalley has been invited to deliver keynote addresses focused on community occupational practice.
Japanese Society for the Study of Occupation, 2024: Ryan delivered the keynote address, “Social Transformation in the Pragmatic Imagination,” for the Japanese Society for the Study of Occupation Annual Conference in September 2024.
Turkish Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Conference, 2023: Ryan delivered the keynote address, “Embracing Community in Practice: Advancing Community-Rooted Occupational Therapy Practice,” for the Turkish Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Conference on October 25, 2023. In the keynote presentation, Ryan discussed how occupational therapy can contribute to community practice in a variety of contexts. Ryan highlighted how theory and programs rooted in community occupational therapy have been emerging in the United States and specifically at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Learn more and view the entire keynote address.
Academic Contributions
The CPL consistently contributes to academic conferences and events to share theoretical and experiential knowledge developed through community-engagement practices.
Selected examples:
- CPL Primary Lead Dr. Ryan Lavalley presented at the 3rd Annual South East Geriatric Conference on Healthy Aging on April 1, 2024. The presentation shared best practices for dignity and optimism with older adult care.
- Ryan discussed his approach to community engaged teaching rooted in partnership and sustained community as part of a panel for the UNC-Chapel Hill Center for Faculty Excellence’s Faculty Showcase in 2023. Ryan shared challenges, complications, and invaluable outcomes of connecting students with community in meaningful ways.
- Ryan, CPL Community Engagement Fellow Sayoko Kawabata, and Dr. Jenny Womack presented at the Society for the Study of Occupation, USA (SSO:USA) Annual Conference on October 20, 2023. The panel explored oral histories as a method for studying community occupation.
- Ryan led the ethics workshop for the N.C. Occupational Therapy Association Spring Conference on April 9, 2022. The workshop explored ethical approaches beneficial in community practice and how practitioners can apply them to support justice and equity.
Community Events & Presentations
We prioritize ongoing community engagement through participation in community gatherings and events. For example, team members attend trash pick-up days in Fairview, volunteer at the Jackson Center’s Northside Festival, and celebrate successes like community gardens.
Additionally, we support community partners in sharing their work and impact:
- CPL Community Program Specialist Kevin Giff presented with Habitat’s Laine Staton at Habitat for Humanity International’s Biannual Conference in March 2024. Their presentation shared insights on the community engagement process CPL and Habitat have been developing. Kevin and Laine also offered practical actions other affiliates can take to improve community engagement.
Kevin presented at HOPE NC’s Inclusive Housing Summit on November 13, 2023. The presentation detailed HOPE NC’s collective impact model, which the CPL is helping to shape.- Kevin presented at the statewide Habitat for Humanity NC Conference (Camp Habitat) on October 20, 2023 with Habitat’s Logan McVey. Kevin and Logan discussed lessons in community engagement from a yearlong learning process developing the Engage: Neighborhood Engagement Strategic Plan.
The CPL team also co-presents with community partners through events such as Carolina Engagement Week, which helps engage the broader community around our partners’ work and mission.
Evidence & Report Development
Through research and experiential knowledge of community practice, the CPL creates a variety of public-facing resources.
Reports and policy memos offer evidence-based recommendations for programming and initiatives, helping both community partners and policymakers make strategic decisions. Community-facing resources help improve engagement, often by identifying barriers to access and producing easy-to-understand resources for community members to utilize existing resources and initiatives. The CPL also evaluates programs, which informs strategic action.
Organizational Resources and Policy Memos
The CPL develops resources, informed by research and program evaluations, to aid community partners in making strategic decisions around policies and programming. The CPL brings a perspective of occupation, centering the everyday lives of community members while considering the impact of particular policies and programs.
For example, CPL Community Program Specialist Kevin Giff researched approaches to home repair coalitions to inform best practices of the Orange County Home Preservation Coalition (OCHPC). Specifically, Kevin researched conceptual models, such as the collective impact model, to understand how models support inter-organizational coalitions. Kevin also examined which organizational structures most effectively facilitate inter-organizational coalitions. Kevin summarized his findings in the Collective Impact Policy Brief, which offered detailed recommendations for the OCHPC to implement a collective impact model.
Additionally, Jen Farris, a dual degree Master of City and Regional Planning and Master in Public Health graduate student, produced a Health and Weatherization Memo for the the Orange County Home Preservation Coalition (OCHPC). The memo explores the relationship between weatherization (home modifications to insulate, control moisture, reduce air leakage, improve ventilation, and increase energy efficiency) and health outcomes, especially for older adults. The Health and Weatherization Memo will inform the OCHPC’s future home repair work and delivery of weatherization projects.
Community-Facing Resources
The CPL works with community partners to develop resources that help community members access existing services and programs. Often, these resources also help partners and policymakers identify gaps in service.
For example, the CPL partnered with the Orange County Department on Aging to produce the 2023 Senior Housing Guide. This updated 2023 Guide offers a broad overview of senior housing options, services, and supports in Orange County, NC. Its purpose is to provide basic information about amenities and costs for each type of housing, empowering older adults and their families to make well-informed decisions about their living arrangements. Additionally, it serves as a call to action for our community, the Advisory Board on Aging, and County government to carefully consider the type of senior housing Orange County should invest in or promote.
External Resources
In addition to publishing and presenting our own theoretical knowledge, the CPL also highlights resources, knowledge, and collaborators that support effective and sustained community practice.
The Uncommon OT Series (Patricia Motus)
“Where we feature the unique careers of Occupational Therapy practitioners currently employed in role-emerging and non-traditional practice areas…settings where OT is uncommon.”
Dr. thOTs (Drs. Ryan Lavalley & Khalilah Johnson)
“A smart, driven, and fabulous podcast by Drs. Ryan Lavalley and Khalilah Johnson where sometimes it’s about occupation and sometimes it’s just sassy.”
Antiracist Occupational Therapy: Unsettling the Status Quo
Editor: Musharrat J. Ahmed-landeryou
“This timely book provides a compendium of global insights into the inequities faced by Black and minoritised groups in health and social care and considers how key changes in occupational therapy practice and education can redress disparities.”
Social Occupational Therapy: Theoretical and Practical Designs
Authors: Roseli Esquerdo Lopes, Ana Paula Serrata Malfitano
“This groundbreaking text offers a global view of the role of occupational therapy and the potential contributions of occupational therapists to their societies — specifically in social services and with populations in situations of social vulnerability.”
And a Seed Was Planted: Occupation Based Approaches for Social Inclusion (3-book series)
Volume 1: Theoretical views and shifting perspectives
Editors: Hanneke van Bruggen, Sarah Kantartzis, Nick Pollard
Volume 2: Inclusion projects and learning experiences
Editors: Sarah Kantartzis, Nick Pollard, Hanneke van Bruggen
Volume 3: The context of inclusion: Participatory approaches and research beyond individual perspectives
Editors: Nick Pollard, Hanneke van Bruggen, Sarah Kantartzis
The Metuia/UFES laboratory offers teaching, research, and extension activities related to social occupational therapy. This network was developed at the Department of Occupational Therapy at the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo and is part of the larger Metuia Network.
International Social Transformation through Occupation Network
Formed in 2016, ISTTON aims to promote critical reflection and create pathways towards solutions of how to tackle issues of social and health inequalities from an occupational perspective.