For instance, disciplines such as biomechanics and psychology inform occupational science but, individually, are not necessarily concerned about how their explanations contribute to an integrated understanding of the factors collectively influencing a person's daily life.
[12] Reciprocally, occupational therapy research may provide insights into how human agency and the factors influencing it change under conditions of illness, disability or therapeutic intervention.
[17] Participating in other relaxing or tension-reducing occupations, such as (for example) reading a book, getting a massage, going for a walk, exercising, or pursuing an engaging hobby; may provide physical, cognitive and mental restoration, and stress reduction.
[18][19] Developmental theorists have long hypothesized that the occupations of childhood and activity related events characteristic of different stages of adulthood are critical factors in physical, cognitive and psychological growth and maturation.
[25] Meyer also postulated that the life history of his patients could be used to identify situational conditions and events that helped explain their disorders, thus providing an avenue for prevention through community interventions to promote public health (mental hygiene).
[26] The development of occupational science as an academic discipline has been advanced through the creation of several university-based programs of study leading to undergraduate and graduate degrees in the field.