Addressing organisational elder abuse using the Participatory Occupational Justice Framework

The concept of occupational justice and the Occupational Justice Framework are powerful tools in identifying and analyzing injustice sites and situations. These conceptual frameworks are, however, difficult to operationalize concretely against specific occupational injustices experienced by individuals, groups, and communities in specific organisational, sociopolitical, and sociocultural contexts. Conversely, the Participatory Occupational Justice Framework (POJF), grounded in a critical epistemology, proposes collaborative linked steps in order to undertake justice-focussed work. Hence, the POJF was the best conceptual tool to inform and guide this participatory action research (PAR) project which aimed to counter occupational and epistemic injustices faced by older adults who were experiencing organisational abuse in healthcare facilities in Quebec, Canada. This article describes the strength and steps of the POJF in supporting a range of stakeholders as they participated in structurally transformative actions. The latter addresses the contextually bound occupational and epistemic injustices. Specifically, this paper describes a POJF-focussed ethical reflection guide co-created by stakeholders in the PAR that provided a cogent vehicle for organisational changes. We conclude with reflections on key learnings from the PAR process and posit recommendations for future development of the POJF as a tool for organisational and structural reforms.