Inclusive Design: The Role of Occupational Therapy in Public Architecture

This Practice Chat, hosted by AOTA's Home and Community Health SIS, will highlight how occupational therapy practitioners can influence the built environment by translating clinical expertise into inclusive design strategies.

The session will explore how architects and planners can better understand occupation by incorporating perspectives rooted in OT practice. Key topics will include applying foundational OT concepts such as the Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) model and task analysis to assess how environments support or limit participation.

The discussion will also cover ways to communicate these insights effectively with design teams, helping to bridge clinical reasoning and design language.

In addition, the chat will emphasize the collaborative nature of inclusive design by focusing on how occupational therapy practitioners work with architects, designers and users to create environments that support a wide range of abilities, needs, and identities across the lifespan. Real-world project examples will be shared to illustrate these strategies in action.

The session will be led by Francisco Lasta, OTR/L, Assoc. AIA, an occupational therapist and Inclusive Design Lead at the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) firm GFT.

Francisco will offer practical insights into how occupational therapy practitioners can take a more active role in advocating for and shaping inclusive environments.

Whether you are beginning to explore this area or looking to expand your impact, this conversation will offer tools and ideas to help you connect your OT knowledge with the design process.