*New occupational formulation reseach*
Published in September 2025, this qualitative research highlights the potential of occupational formulation for inviting and documenting patient perspectives to shape meaningful therapy. Follow the link to read the article (open access) or watch a video of Lorrae describing of the study.
Mynard, L., Fossey, E., Farnworth, L., & Pepin, G. (2025). Patient experiences of occupational formulation: It’s about getting to know me. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 72(5), e70047. https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1630.70047
This short video offers a snapshot of the research.
This overview focuses on the findings with broadest applicability (omitting forensic-specific findings), with brief discussion comments.
This video presents all three themes from the findings (including forensic-specific findings) with a more detailed discussion.
Occupational formulation is a relatively new concept in occupational therapy. While it is grounded in occupational therapy theory and there are encouraging reports from therapists using it in practice, the evidence base is still being built. These articles report on past and current projects seeking to understand the experience of using occupational formulation.
This article by Sue Parkinson and colleagues reports on satisfaction surveys conducted with occupational therapists, clients, carers and colleagues following implementation of occupational formulation and goal setting:
Parkinson, S., Shenfield, M., Reece, K., & Fisher, J. (2011). Enhancing professional reasoning through the use of evidence-based assessments, robust case formulations and measurable goals. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74, 148-152. https://doi:10.4276/030802211X12996065859364
This article by Lorrae Mynard was first published in Connections magazine and has been reproduced here with permission from Occupational Therapy Australia:
Mynard, L. (2023). Implementing and evaluating occupational formulation. Connections, 19(2), 15-17.
Parkinson and Brook’s (2021) A guide to the formulation of plans and goals in occupational therapy provides a thorough introduction to writing and using occupational formulations based on the Model of Human Occupation (Taylor, 2017). It is available in paperback and eBook formats and is a highly recommended resource for therapists wanting to learn about occupational formulation and/or undertaking OccupationalFormulation.com courses.
Part I Understanding the concept of a formulation
Part II Constructing occupational formulations and goals
Part III Example occupational formulations and goals
This book review offers more detail about the book:
Mynard, L. (2021). Book review: A Guide to the Formulation of Plans and Goals in Occupational Therapy (2021). Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 1-2.
These example occupational formulations are formatted using the occupational formulation and goal setting template (click below for the free download)
Marg - short stay unit: this example is relatively brief, developed after one contact with Marg.
Ismail - community mental health: this example is more detailed, developed after more thorough occupational assessment.
Greg - inpatient forensic mental health: this brief example can be found below within the embedded Connections article "Implementing and evaluation occupational formulation".
Brooks, R., & Parkinson, S. (2018). Occupational formulation: A three-part structure. British Journal of Occupational Therapy. 81, 177-179. https://doi:10.1177/0308022617745015
Forsyth, K. (2017). Therapeutic reasoning: planning, implementing, and evaluating the outcomes of therapy. In R. R. Taylor (Ed.), Kielhofner's Model of Human Occupation (5th ed., pp. 159-172). Wolters Kluwer.
Jamieson, L., & Parkinson, S. (2017). Unlocking potential. OTnews, 36-37.
Mynard, L., Fossey, E., Farnworth, L., & Pepin, G. (2025). Patient experiences of occupational formulation: It’s about getting to know me. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 72(5), e70047. https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1630.70047
Parkinson, S., & Brooks, R. (2021). A guide to the formulation of plans and goals in occupational therapy. Routledge.
Parkinson, S., & Gray, E. (2016, 13 August 2016). Constructing measurable goals using MOHO [Animated video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjY5_sAt2d8
Parkinson, S., & Jamieson, L. (2017). Unlocking potential: Occupational case formulation in a prison setting. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 80(8, Suppl.), S6.
Parkinson, S., Shenfield, M., Reece, K., & Fisher, J. (2011). Enhancing professional reasoning through the use of evidence-based assessments, robust case formulations and measurable goals. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74, 148-152. https://doi:10.4276/030802211X12996065859364
Taylor, R. R. (Ed.) (2017). Kielhofner's model of human occupation (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
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