The Internet and Online Communities

Hello everyone,

During one of my first year fieldwork experience placements I had the opportunity to work with older people and people experiencing mental illness.  In this posting I am going to explore three different websites, or communities, and discuss how these sites address or relate to the concepts of occupational justice and occupational deprivation.  First let me define these two terms.  According to van Bruggen (2010), the concept of “occupational justice expresses ethical, moral, and civic concerns that participation in daily life should contribute to rather than undermine health, empowerment, and life” (p.300).  Furthermore, that occupational injustices occur when participation in occupation is barred, confined, segregated, restricted, prohibited and undeveloped.  In regards to occupational deprivation, van Bruggen (2010), defines it as “... a state of prolonged preclusion of engagement in occupations of necessity and/or meaning due to factors outside the control of the individual” (p.300).  Some of the factors that can cause occupational deprivation can be social, cultural, economical, historical, environmental or political in nature (van Bruggen, 2010).

The three websites I will explore and discuss are Greypower, Age Concern New Zealand, and Like Minds, Like Mine.

Grey Power is a lobby organisation that promotes the welfare and well-being of people 50 years and over.  The organisation’s “... mission is to be the appropriate voice for all New Zealanders” (Greypower New Zealand, 2012).  The key aims and objectives of the organisation is: 

1.    “To advance, support and protect the welfare and well being of older people.

2.    To affirm and protect that statutory right of every New Zealand resident, to a sufficient New Zealand Superannuation entitlement.

3.    To strive for a provision of a quality Health Care to all New Zealand residents regardless of income and location.

4.    To oppose all discriminatory and disadvantageous legislation affecting rights, security and dignity.

5.    To be non-aligned with any political party, and to present a strong united lobby to all Parliamentary and statutory Bodies on matters affecting New Zealanders.

6.    To promote and establish links with kindred organisations.

7.    To promote recognition of the wide-ranging services provided by senior citizens of New Zealand.

8.    To gain recognition as an appropriate voice for all older New Zealanders” (Greypower New Zealand, 2012).

While the site has a very low interactive aspect to it, including a lack of opportunities for users or members to contribute directly to the site, it does provide a great deal of information on a range of relevant topics for older people.  It also provides a good list of related sites for visitors and members to utilise.

 Link to Greypower New Zealand website.  

Age Concern New Zealand is a charitable trust that “... works to serve the needs of older people by offering nationally contracted services, education, resources and national leadership”(Age Concern New Zealand, 2012).  The trust advocates on policy and issues relevant to older people at a national and international level.

The site provides visitors and members the opportunities to make comments and engage in conversation with like minded individuals through its facebook page.  The flow of information seemed to be more reciprocal at this site.  Visitors and members discuss current issues facing them such as the recent rise in prescription costs, give feedback on the positive gains the trust has made on issues surrounding health, finances, and housing.  The site provides plenty of relevant information for older people.  The site is easy to read and navigate, and text size can be increased for individuals with poor eyesight.

Link to Age Concern New Zealand website

Like Minds, Like Mine is a national programme that aims to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.  The website provides information and resources on the programme, and shows how people can contribute to creating a society that values and includes people with mental illness. 

According to the site, “... stigma and discrimination is one of the major barriers to a person's recovery.  But changing attitudes and behaviour in society is complex, so the Like Minds programme works on a variety of levels to try to achieve this” (Like Minds, Like Mine, 2012). It provides resources and information for the public.  The site is quite interactive, it invites people to post or share their stories of living with mental illness, and provides people with the opportunity to follow the current issues and news on Twitter.  

Link to Like Minds, Like Mine website. 

In general, people contribute to the websites to inform others about the issues they face, the services they can access, where they can get financial assistance, and support and advice.  People also contribute to educating the public on what it is like to have a mental illness or be an older person living in a modern society.

All three websites addressed factors relating to the concepts of occupational justice and deprivation.  For example, they:

·         discussed health, economic and social policies which impact on the website’s target population – occupational justice.

·         identified services that assist people to gain access to opportunities to participate in occupation, and the necessary resources that will enable participation in occupation – occupational justice.

·         discussed the importance of equal opportunities in employment, improving access in the workplace, increasing awareness of the social, cultural and political factors that cause occupational deprivation.

·         discussed rights and criteria for accessing government financial assistance, and the role government plays in decreasing the causes of occupational deprivation.

Of the three websites, only the Like Minds, Like Mine site has a strong identity and could be considered reliable.  This is because it is a government funded programme, unlike the other two organisations, which means it is accountable to the Ministry of Health.  As a result, the information and resources on the website would have been sourced from experts and reviewed more closely.  Thus, the information would be more reliable and up to date. 

Both websites and traditional face-to-face services have their benefits and limitations.  The table below presents some of the limitations and benefits of using websites and traditional face-to-face methods in delivering service/information.

Website		Traditional Face-to-Face
Limitations	Benefits	Limitations	Benefits
No face-to-face interaction	Information accessible 24/7	Information only accessible during the working week.	Face-to-face interaction occurs
Can’t ask questions and get immediate response, and get clarification on information	Information can be accessed from anywhere in the country or even overseas	Information cannot be accessed from anywhere in the country or even overseas	Can ask questions and get immediate response, and can get clarification on information
High resource costs to access information e.g. computer and internet access.	Can review information at own pace and in a familiar environment. Information can be viewed at a time convenient for the individual	Can’t review information at own pace. Have to collect information from an unfamiliar environment which might be anxiety provoking or stressful or inconvenient for the individual.	Low resource costs to access service are required, e.g. transport costs.
People may not like using computers.	Privacy is maintained	Privacy is compromised.
Information may not be reliable.	Physical barriers of accessing information are reduced.	Physical barriers impact on accessing information.
	Stigma, shame and/or embarrassment in accessing information is reduced.	Chances of experiencing stigma, shame and/or embarrassment in accessing information is high.

References:

Age Concern New Zealand.  (2012).  Retrieved from http://www.greypower.co.nz/activities/

Greypower New Zealand.  (2012).  Retrieved from http://www.greypower.co.nz/

Like Minds, Like Mine.  (2012).  Retrieved from http://www.likeminds.org.nz/page/5-home 

van Bruggen, H.  (2010).  Working towards inclusive communities.  In M. Curtin, M. Molineux, & J. Supyk-Mellson, (Eds.).  Occupational therapy and dysfunction:  Enabling occupation (6^th ed.) (pp. 297-312).  London:  Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.