Background: Although claiming that engagement in occupations influences well-being, the occupational therapy profession has largely failed to acknowledge and address the relationships between well-being, occupation, and human rights.
Purpose: This paper supports the premise that the focus of occupational therapy should be on the right of all people to participate in meaningful occupations, and proposes allegiance to occupational rights: the right of all people to engage in meaningful occupations that contribute positively to their own well-being and the well-being of their communities.
Practice implications: The connection between well-being and human rights would be made explicit, occupational rights would be recognized as a political issue and the profession's confinement within health-care services would end. This commitment to occupational rights would bring our practice into line with our espoused belief in the relationship between occupation and well-being, and enable us to state, unequivocally, what occupational therapy contributes to humanity.