Exploring the Evolution and Utility of Neuro-Occupation: A Scoping Review.

Neuro-occupation was introduced as a concept to recognize the connection between the nervous system and occupations. Since it was created, the term has been minimally used in the literature and has been referred to as a concept, paradigm, a developing theoretical concept, and a clinical model/theory/framework. We performed a scoping review to determine how neuro-occupation has been defined, applied across neuroscience, occupational therapy, and occupational science, and has evolved over time. We found that neuro-occupation originated in the United States, but has been utilized by scholars in South Korea, Israel, and most recently, Iran. We identified three common themes throughout our included works. From our findings, we suggest an updated definition of neuro-occupation. In addition, we argue that this term was relevant when it was first introduced; however, as the fields have progressed, we believe that continued use of the term neuro-occupation creates more confusion than clarity.