Across the globe, occupational therapy practitioners are pushing for a paradigm shift towards occupation-based and client-centered rehabilitation. Evidence supports the adoption of holistic, occupation-focused, performance-oriented, and culturally responsive models of care delivery, rather than mechanistic and dysfunction-based biomechanical approaches. However, prevalent Western-centric models of practice are unable to provide a good fit to client-centered practice in Eastern contexts. Against the conceptual background, the Eastern philosophy-based Kawa model is a well-suited theoretical framework to guide evidence-based occupational therapy in India, given the reason for its origins, philosophy, and the potential for varied avenues for application, specific to the practice of occupational therapy in India. The Kawa model is both a model and a frame of reference and has the potential to be effective in clinical as well as non-clinical applications. The purpose of this evidence-based project is to encourage Indian occupational therapy practitioners to align themselves with the profession’s paradigm shift, utilizing a theoretical model relevant to their culture and practice contexts, and join hands in global collaboration for the benefit s of the profession and its clients.
