Promoting Engagement in Leisure Occupations for Persons Experiencing Homelessness
Graduation Date
2010
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy
Department
Occupational Therapy
Department or Program Chair
Ruth Ramsey, EdD, OTR/L
Thesis Advisor
Ruth Ramsey, EdD, OTR/L
Second Advisor
Ruth Ramsey, EdD, OTR/L
Abstract
Over the past 25 years, homelessness has been a growing social issue in the United States (Sommer, 2001). Persons experiencing homelessness often struggle to obtain basic resources and therefore engagement in leisure often takes lowest priority. Persons experiencing homelessness often have low self-esteem, high stress levels, and poor social participation. Since leisure helps promote those factors, and is a normal occupation, education and opportunities for leisure should be available to persons experiencing homelessness. The purpose of this project was to implement a five-series leisure workshop to persons experiencing homelessness at New Beginnings Center in Novato, California. Results indicated that leisure participation is beneficial to persons experiencing homelessness. Recommendations for future occupational therapy involvement with promoting leisure engagement with persons experiencing homelessness are discussed.