The American Journal of Occupational Therapy 69 Meaning of Occupation-Based Groups for Low-Income Urban Youths Attending After-School Care KEY WORDS • adolescent • group processes • health promotion • interpersonal relations • leisure activities • socialization Susan Bazyk, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is Associate Professor, Occupational Therapy Program, Department of Health Sciences, Health Sciences Building, Room 120, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115; s.bazyk@csuohio.edu John Bazyk, MS, OTR/L, is Chairperson, Department of Health Sciences, Cleveland State University. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the meaning of occupational therapy groups focusing on occupational engagement, group process, and social–emotional learning for a purposeful sample of low-income urban youths attending after-school care. Interviews and participant observation were used to study how the children made sense of their experience. Qualitative data analysis resulted in two thematic descriptions of the experience. First, the groups were fun because of engagement in novel and challenging leisure occupa- tions within a supportive group context. Participation in creative activities that allowed choice transformed mood—children experienced happiness and wanted more of these experiences. Second, the participants valued being able to talk about feelings and learn strategies for dealing with anger. Findings provide a glimpse into the possibilities of enhancing occupational balance by engaging children in occupations they find to be fun. Bazyk, S., & Bazyk, J. (2009). The meaning of occupation-based groups for low-income urban youths attending after-school care. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63, 69–80. Susan Bazyk and John Bazyk O ccupational science is an academic discipline that focuses on the human need for occupations, the ability to participate in occupations, and the orchestration of daily occupations throughout the lifespan (Johnson & Yerxa, 1989; Zemke & Clark, 1996). Recent international changes in how health is viewed (World Health Organization, 2002) and advances in occupational science have brought about new ways of conceptualizing the provision of services to address today’s public health concerns (Crepeau, Cohn, & Boyt Schell, 2003). As an example, Wilcock’s (1993, 2000, 2006) research on the relationship between occupation and health has inspired a shift in occupational therapy’s traditional focus on clinical medicine to an expanded pursuit of occupational health for all people and communities. Closely related to the broader concept of social justice, which emphasizes equality in social relations and conditions of living, occupational justice focuses on occupational equity (Wilcock, 2006). All humans need opportunities to engage in a range of occupations to create balance among physical, mental, social, and relaxation needs. By adopting an occupational perspective, therapists and assistants are called to actively work toward creating occupationally just societies by uncovering and addressing occupa- tional injustices in new practice arenas (Whiteford, 2000). Sociocultural changes may lure people to select and engage in an array of occu- pations that are not conducive to health (Wilcock, 1993). Factors such as poverty, lack of resources, or inequality of access to needed resources may lead to occupational deprivation—the inability to express one’s occupational nature (Wilcock, 1998). Numerous problems can be attributed to these risk factors, including boredom, depression, disease, obesity, and alcoholism (Whiteford, 2000). In particular, impoverished children may not have the social or financial resources needed to be exposed to and engage in a variety of structured leisure occupations. Without regular opportunities to participate in health-promoting leisure occupations, involvement