Kontakt X:X | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2025.052

Czech occupational therapists' perspective on dark side occupationsSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Zuzana Rodová^{1, 2, *}, Petra Hospodková³, Kateřina Vondrová^{1, 4}, Olga Nováková¹, Vladimír Rogalewicz¹, Yvona Angerová¹

¹ Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, First Faculty of Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic

² Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, First Faculty of Medicine, Department of Addictology, Prague, Czech Republic

³ Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Technology, Kladno, Czech Republic

⁴ Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Second Medical Faculty, Department of Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic

Background: Occupational therapists (OTs) mainly focus on productive and positive occupations leading to good health. Not all activities are healthy and productive, but can provide a sense of well-being when their meaning and significance (relaxation, celebrations, entertainment) are important for the client. Dark side occupations (those socially disapproved, legally questionable, or potentially harmful to health) include e.g., drinking alcohol, smoking, using addictive substances or excessive use of social networks.

Aim: To explore the use of dark side occupations in the practice of Czech occupational therapists.

Methods: A web-based questionnaire with 15 questions was distributed through emails and social media to Czech OTs. Applying the snowball method, 86 fully completed questionnaires were collected and analysed by descriptive statistics.

Results: The survey showed that most therapists have topics they don't want to bring up in treatment, such as sex (64%), overusing medications, or using addictive substances (44.2%). Only 15.1% are open to all topics, while 23.3% never address dark side occupations as a target for therapy, 66.3% occasionally, 6% often, and 5% routinely.

Conclusion: This survey shows that dark side occupations are an important but ethically sensitive topic. Most Czech OTs have difficulty talking with their clients about dark side activities or choose such topics for the goal of their clients' therapy. Therapists need to understand dark side occupations and accept that their clients perform them.

Keywords: Czech survey; Dark side occupation; Occupational therapy; Therapist opinion

Grants and funding:

This study was supported by the Specific University Research (SVV) Programme No. 260-758.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: June 23, 2025; Revised: September 4, 2025; Accepted: October 30, 2025; Prepublished online: November 6, 2025