Description):
The specific aim of this proposal is to request partial funding for the second in a series of interdisciplinary, Gordon-style, conferences on understanding habit as a key aspect of human action. This conference, entitled """"""""Understanding Habits in Context,"""""""" is sponsored and organized by the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF), a leader for research interests in the profession of occupational therapy. The broad objective of this series of conferences on habit is to develop an interdisciplinary body of knowledge on habits that can be applied to research, intervention, and policy related to disability and rehabilitation. This conference will build on the ground-breaking first conference, """"""""A Synthesis of Knowledge Regarding the Concept of Habit"""""""", held in January 1999. The 1999 conference demonstrated that the concept of habit was a vital topic for scholars interested in rehabilitation and disability and for those without knowledge of how their work might influence rehabilitation. It further demonstrated that the concept of habit was sufficiently complex and multidimensional to generate an ongoing series of more focused conferences. Disease, injuries, disabilities and aging disrupt individuals' and/or caregivers' adaptive habits and demand the development of new habits to support functioning. Because habits are often interactions with an external physical and social milieu, understanding habit-context relationships is fundamental and critical. If habit-context interactions are better understood, then better intervention and policy can be developed. The goal of this second conference is to address habit as it relates to participation in society for persons with and without disabilities. Conference objectives are: 1) Explore knowledge of habits in research and theory from multiple disciplines; 2) Promote synthesis and application of knowledge on habit in relation to rehabilitation and concepts of disability as outlined in the NCMRR Disablement Model and the emerging language of ICIDH-II; 3)Stimulate interdisciplinary dialogue and collaborative research on habits; 4) Identify methodological issues critical to further research on habits; and 5) Socialize beginning scholars to interdisciplinary discourse. Participants include a panel of consumers who are scholars with disabilities.
