K kawa1/8/2024 Our study extends the evidence for using the Kawa Model in the education space within a rural environment. A recent scoping review summarised a range of settings in which the Kawa Model was used. Participants were offered to draw or paint their “river” as a means to depict their life and views on what enabled or complicated their ability to be “active/healthy”. In another study, the Kawa Model was used together with other tools, to try and elicit Indigenous Australians' perspectives of health and physical activity. This is in keeping with the social and environmental constructs of the model which states that the life flow of an individual is linked to the walls and beds of a river. In addition, the model has been implemented with a diversity of people including parents of autistic children where a modified model found that the experiences/goals of the parents were intertwined with that of their children. The Kawa Model has been researched predominantly in clinical settings. Metaphors are also commonly used in health professions education to introduce students to complex concepts, such as bridging the theory-practice divide. , in 1996, described metaphors used by clients to explain their experiences of illness, disability, and impairment. The profession's founders in 1915 used the metaphor of “a new pathway” to describe the experience of clients when engaging in new activities to promote well-being. The use of metaphors in occupational therapy practice has a long history. Thus, in the Kawa Model, the “self” which may be seen as the river flow, is shaped by the environment (rocks) and societal constructs (driftwood). The self is seen as a whole entirety that is deeply connected with society and circumstances. Well-being (the flow of the river) is affected by the environment (represented by the river walls and riverbed), life circumstances (represented by rocks in the river), and assets and liabilities (represented by driftwood). Within the Kawa (River) Model, the river represents a metaphor for life, where a deep, freely flowing river characterises well-being and the chronological experience of life. It positions individuals as integral aspects of a collective ecological whole and aims for a more inclusive representation of the human experience. In contrast, the Kawa Model is a dynamic occupational therapy model informed by Eastern philosophy. Hammell discusses how this potentially excludes communities that do not ascribe to those values. Contemporary criticism of the profession has been its tethering to western values and perspectives, including the constructs of individuality, independence, and productivity. It is widely acknowledged that modern-day occupational therapy evolved within a Western epistemology. presented a new conceptual occupational therapy practice model designed around a metaphor that challenged the dominant cultural constructs of the profession.
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