Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP) Model
The Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP) Model is a client-centered framework utilized by occupational therapists to facilitate effective therapeutic interventions tailored to individual patients. Originating from the collaborative work of Charles Christiansen, Carolyn Baum, and influenced by Mary Law's PEO model in the 1980s, the PEOP model aims to comprehensively assess clients' needs and capabilities within their specific environments. It emphasizes the interplay of four critical factors: the individual (person), their environment, the occupations they engage in, and their performance in these activities.
By incorporating intrinsic factors such as physical and emotional aspects alongside extrinsic factors like social support and environmental conditions, therapists can create holistic therapy plans. The model visualizes these interactions through overlapping circles, which helps prioritize tasks and develop tailored therapeutic strategies. While the PEOP model is particularly beneficial for less experienced therapists, it does have limitations, such as the lack of built-in assessments for tracking progress and a greater focus on long-term therapy goals over short-term ones. Overall, the PEOP model represents a significant advancement in occupational therapy, facilitating a deeper understanding of clients' needs and promoting meaningful engagement in their daily lives.
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Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP) Model
The Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP) model is a tool used by occupational therapists to help plan an effective and relevant course of therapy for individual patients. The PEOP model provides a framework for the therapist to gather information about patients and their occupational needs and abilities. The model is helpful to therapists, especially those with less experience, and is very client centered. Its main drawbacks are that it does not have built-in measures for assessing progress and success, and it is structured more for long-term therapy goals than short-term ones.
Overview
Occupational therapy is a form of health care designed to help people carry out functions in their everyday lives. Occupational therapists work with people of all ages to determine what they need and/or want to be able to do to take care of themselves, their families, and other aspects of the lives. They accomplish this by conducting an evaluation to determine the activities or functions the client needs or wants to perform; developing therapeutic interventions to help the client reach those goals; and tracking progress to ensure that the client stays on track.
The PEOP model originated from the work of American occupational therapy experts Charles Christiansen and Carolyn Baum in the 1980s. They were influenced by the work of fellow occupational therapy expert Mary Law, who developed a similar model known as the People-Environment-Occupation (PEO) model. All three were motivated by a need for a tool for occupational therapists to identify and address all the needs of a client and the client's environment in creating a therapy plan.
The aim of occupational therapy is to identify the tasks, activities, and duties a client needs to function in everyday life and find a way for the client to meet as many of these as possible. This includes caring for themselves and others, meeting their responsibilities to employers and society, fulfilling religious or cultural obligations, and engaging in any other activities that make life meaningful. The PEOP model helps the therapist identify these things while also taking into consideration the intrinsic makeup of the person. These factors include the physical, mental/emotional, and social factors that affect the client and the environment in which the client lives.
The model uses a drawing of a set of intersecting circles to help visualize the interactions among the four factors—person, environment, occupation, and performance—that are part of the PEOP model. The "person" circle includes the client's intrinsic physical, psychological, cognitive, neuro-behavioral, and spiritual factors. The "environment" circle includes the extrinsic factors, such as physical environment, social support, economic and political issues affecting the client (availability of employment, housing, etc.), and societal customs and values. The "occupation" circle includes the structure of the tasks that need to be performed. The "performance" circle addresses the goals or activities that are actually accomplished with the occupational tasks.
As the therapist completes the model, the tasks are prioritized. This allows the therapist to consider all factors in the plan. It differs from older therapy models that looked first at the client's injury or condition and then decided what the client could do with that limitation.
Bibliography
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Christiansen, Charles, et al. "The Person-Environment-Occupational-Performance (PEOP) Model." Musculoskeletal Key, musculoskeletalkey.com/the-person-environment-occupational-performance-peop-model/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2018.
Ciucurel, Manuela, et al. "A Case Study of Occupational Therapy Application in a Patient with Depression and Hypoacusis." Current Trends in Natural Sciences, 2016, www.upit.ro/‗document/10012/paper‗30.pdf. Accessed 19 Feb. 2018.
Law, Mary, et al. "The Person-Environment-Occupation Model: A Transactive Approach to Occupational Performance." Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, vol. 63, no. 1, 1996.
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Smith, Diane, and Stan Hudson. "Using the Person-Environment-Occupational-Performance Conceptual Model as an Analyzing Framework for Health Literacy." Journal of Communication in Healthcare, vol. 5, no. 1, 2012, doi:10.1179/1753807611Y.0000000021. Accessed 19 Feb. 2018.
Strong, Susan, et al. "Application of the Person-Environment-Occupation Model: A Practical Tool." Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, vol. 66, no. 3, 1999, pp. 122–33, doi:10.1177/000841749906600304. Accessed 19 Feb. 2018.
"What Is Occupational Therapy?" American Occupational Therapy Association, www.aota.org/about/what-is-ot. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.