DIGITAL WELLNESS: MANAGING SCREEN TIME AND ONLINE STRESS

Abstract

Too much screen time and online communicating have become new occupational health issues that are interfering with the meaningful engagement in everyday occupations. This chapter gives an occupational therapy view of digital wellness, which focuses on the problematic nature of digital use as a disruption to occupational balance, physical wellbeing, cognitive growth, and social engagement. The distinctive person-environment-occupation model of occupational therapy allows evaluating effects on functional occupational performance as a whole due to the effects of digital wellness. The evidence-based interventions are the environment alteration to decrease digital triggers, occupational activity replacement to satisfy the needs that had been fulfilled by problematic digital engagement, habit reorganization, and skill development that address psychosocial underlying factors. Developmental differences are identified using age-specific strategies throughout life. Occupational therapy practices applied in various environments such as schools, work places, clinical and community practices encourage long term participation in meaningful occupations as well as facilitating deliberate and balanced relationships with technology. Since digital technology remains to transform occupational environments, occupation-based, client-directed practices that enhance lifelong occupational engagement and healthcare can play a valuable role in population digital wellness.