-------How we came about...
Madhu was born out of desire to translate our core values into a healthcare service. Rose and Matthew are the co-founders and directors of Madhu Health, a service which aims to facilitate meaningful activity engagement, self care and quality of life.
--------Why madhu...? Madhu is the Sanskrit word for honey or the elixir of life. Bees are pretty cool little things - they live in large communities, they communicate through intricate dances; these hardworkers pollinate our flora and fauna and collect nectar which they fan with their wings to create the golden liquid we know and love. We thought this was a great metaphor for a health service; encouraging healthy communities, working together, taking care of ourselves and our loved ones, connecting with each other and always building our reserve of good things and utilising our strengths to strive for more from life and health.
--------So what is Occupational Therapy? Occupational therapy is a client-centred health profession concerned with promoting health and well being through occupation. The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, or are expected to do, or by modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement. WFOT 2012
Occupation is simple and intuitive to the experience of all humans. . .
- the things we do in our life roles
- the things we do to be who we are
- the things we do to create our life and world into all it can become . . however the finer details reveal there is more to occupation than meets the eye! Subjectively experienced
To one person the occupation of "shopping" feels like "a real chore", to another it's "fun", to yet another it's "a chance to relax". Activity can be classified into cultural categories such as "work", but each occupation is experienced as blend of productivity, pleasure and restoration
Situated in time
The meaning and function of occupation vary according to its location in the stream of time. Consider the meanings of a "shopping" occupation for an individual over time - shopping for lollies as a kid, shopping after a first pay check and shopping with a wheel chair for the first time. Universal
Time and culture influence which occupations are meaningful and adaptive, however that humans have used occupation to survive, thrive, healing and promote health is evident since the dawn of time.
