Occupational Therapy Practitioner’s Evolving Contributions to the Modern Workforce 

Lyvette Carrasquillo, OTD, OTR/L, CVRT

Vanessa Grijalba, OTD, OTR/L, CHT

Abstract: 

As the current landscape of work evolves, workers may experience work disruption and displacement.  Changes in workflow or involuntary job loss can have an impact on mental and physical health, self-identity, economic status and ultimately, occupational participation.  This critical inquiry examines how environmental factors and modern trends are causing work disruption and how these changes impact the well-being of both individuals and the broader population. Our aim is to identify what causes these changes in work and suggest ways occupational therapy can help lessen the negative effects of this work transformation.

Introduction

There are megatrends that are the tremendous forces reshaping society and with it, the world of work: the economic shifts that are redistributing power, wealth, competition and opportunity around the globe; the disruptive innovations, radical thinking, new business models and resource scarcity that are impacting every sector. These megatrends include, technology breakthroughs (automation, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are advancing quickly), demographic shifts (the changing size, distribution and age profile of the world’s population), rapid urbanization (significant increase in the world’s population moving to live in cities), shifts in global economic power (power shifting between developed and developing countries) and resource scarcity (depleted fossil fuels, extreme weather, rising sea levels and water shortages). (PwC, 2017). As a result of these megatrends, work and industry is experiencing a transformation resulting in work disruption and displacement for some populations. Record high levels of negative emotions, like stress and worry, have fueled declining wellbeing and mental health at work. At the onset of the pandemic, U.S. employees’ daily negative emotions spiked when public health issues were at their worst and remain elevated today as people recover from the trauma and disruption of the pandemic (Gallup, 2025).  

This critical inquiry uses the lens of Person-Environment-Occupation- Performance (PEOP) Model (Bass et al., 2024) and domains of the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (AOTA, 2020) to explore the determinants of work disruption and displacement. It also explores  their impact on the individual’s and population’s occupational performance and health. 

Environmental Determinants of Work Disruption 

To further examine work disruption and displacement, three deeply connected dimensions of an organization are considered which include work (the what), the workforce (the who) and the workplace (the where). Work is being refined to create valuable human-machine collaborations, shifting our understanding of work from task completion to problem-solving and managing human relationships. Workforce is being redefined to include a broad continuum of options for finding workers such as traditional full-time employees, outsourcing, independent contractors and crowdsourcing tasks, projects and ideas. Workplace is being redefined to include digital communication, collaboration platform as well as digital reality technologies and integration of AI in workplace tools and software. (Deloitte Insights, 2019). 

The PEOP highlights the intersection of personal factors (e.g. psychological), environmental factors (e.g. policies, social support, work environment), and occupations (e.g. daily tasks and work) to the overall occupational performance, participation and well-being of an individual and populations (Baum et al., 2015 as cited in Bass et al., 2024). Furthermore, the PEOP Model summarizes the factors that support or limit our involvement in everyday living. Everyday living is defined as the things that people do to take care of themselves, maintain health and their home as well as connect with friends, family and engage in meaningful activities that support individual well-being and their communities through work and volunteering (Bass et al., 2024). 

Current workforce trends in the United States are being redefined by the evolving societal dynamics and political shifts.  This critical inquiry will focus on how broad federal policy decisions (environmental and contextual factors) and technological advances (occupational demands) influence workforce management. For example, as of March 2025, approximately 260,000 federal employees have exited the workforce due to early retirement, government buyouts, or policy-related terminations (Burns, 2025).  Concurrently, research suggests that large-scale shifts in immigration policy  can have multifaceted economic consequences to the U.S. economy potentially impacting  labor supply, wage levels, government revenue, public spending and inflationary pressures (Lynch & Ettlinger, 2024). These broader socio-political and economic shifts are projected to reshape both the composition of the workforce and the nature of work processes.  

Furthermore, technological advancements are impacting the workforce, workflow and workplace, and include “digitalization, robotics, advanced computing, traditional and [generative]artificial intelligence (AI)” (Fang, 2024, para. 2). These developments enable machines and robots to interact with humans, and more companies are supplementing the workforce with Cobots (robots designed to work alongside people) and Exoskeletons (wearable robotic devices) (Howard et al., 2025). The benefits of robotic technologies to workers and the workflow include their usefulness in handling heavy, repetitive, dangerous and non-ergonomic tasks that pose risks to humans across industries including agriculture, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, mining, services, transportation, and warehousing (Hernandez Arreaza, 2024; Howard et al., 2025). However, the model of human-robot collaboration has limitations and requires careful ethical consideration. When cobots are integrated into the workplace, it can lead to worker-role disruption as workers may experience upskilling (learning new skills within the same role, like supervision or troubleshooting), deskilling (loss of certain manual skills like drilling), and reskilling (transitioning into new roles such as robot operators requiring technical expertise) (Waschull et al., 2022; De Assis Dornelles et al., 2023, as cited in Hernandez Arreaza, 2024). 

Applying the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF) to Work Disruption

            Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) use their knowledge of the important relationship among the client, the client’s engagement in valuable occupations to give them purpose, and the context to design occupation-based intervention plans. Occupational therapy services are provided for habilitation, rehabilitation, and promotion of health and wellness for clients with disability- and non–disability-related needs. These services include acquisition and preservation of occupational identity for clients who have or are at risk for developing an illness, injury, disease, disorder, condition, impairment, disability, activity limitation, or participation restriction. Occupational therapy practitioners provide therapeutic interventions to a wide range of populations at any point in their lifespan and may consider all aspects of the OTPF domain including occupations, client factors, performance skills, performance patterns as well as context and environment. (AOTA, 2020). 

Occupational therapy practitioners understand the complex relationship between work and occupational participation in other areas of life. Involuntary job displacement can lead to stigmatization and a loss of identity that disrupts daily routines, physical activity, financial stability, and social participation, while increasing harmful behaviors in dark occupations like substance use (van Eersel et al., 2021; Murithi & Bay, 2024). These disruptions can extend to the family unit, affecting marriages and children's long-term outcomes (Brand, 2015).

Policy, economic, and technological changes leading to work displacement or disruption have an impact on the long-term health of individuals. Health conditions like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, somatization and grief-related symptoms are especially pronounced in individuals terminated due to performance issues, or perceived unfair dismissal, rather than broad layoffs (e.g. during a recession)(Brand, 2015; NIMH, 2023). Since 2020, employee life evaluations have declined steadily to a record low in 2024, alongside declines in mental health and increases in daily negative emotions (Gallup, 2025). As automation and robotics reshape the workplace, concerns for workers include higher risk of cardiovascular mortality rates and drug related overdose deaths, loss of identity and skills, social isolation due to more robot interaction than human, cognitive overload from supervising machines, and the potential for injury due to robotic malfunctions or cyberattacks (Fang, 2024; Howard et al., 2025). 

Takeaways for OTPs to Address Work Disruption 

OTPs work with clients in a variety of settings including acute care, home health care, inpatient rehabilitation (IRF), post-acute care (LTAC, SNF) as well as community based care and primary care practices. Some examples of interventions include, working with a patient after involuntary job loss, where OTPs can screen for grief and depression early on and provide targeted, evidence-based interventions (van Eersel et al., 2021). They can also support employers in reshaping dismissal processes to consider the emotional impact of job loss and facilitate healthy closure. During times of economic uncertainty, OTPs can offer consultative services to businesses, schools, non-profits, and government agencies to support social participation, workforce training, social participation, and wellness initiatives (AOTA, 2020). These services may include leading virtual or in-person group-based programs on stress management, vocational support, and health management, including partnerships with local Parks and Recreation departments. As cobots are introduced into workplaces, OTPs can help design human worker-centered transitions by consulting with workers early on in the transition, conducting task analysis of where cobots would fit best, and provide wellness support during organizational changes (Howard et al., 2025). Finally, OTPs use tools like the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) to evaluate how policies and programs affect health outcomes (CDC, 2024)

Conclusion

The work and industry sector is undergoing a pivotal transformation leading to work disruption in some populations, driven by technological breakthroughs, demographic shifts, rapid urbanization, shifts in global economic power and resource scarcity. OTPs are uniquely positioned to support individuals and populations facing poor occupational performance and health impacts from work displacement or disruption. In the evolving world of work, they can help navigate changes in the workflow, workplace, and workforce ethically by remaining client-centered, promoting healthy environments, and preserving the meaningful participation and purpose that work provides.

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