Listed below are research articles detailing the importance of using evidence to bolster the use of functional activities in practice. They provide support for using occupation in, well, occupational therapy! Of course, this is just a figurative 'sip' from an entire 'well' of published literature. In order to continue your quest for knowledge, many colleges and universities offer libraries with memberships to online searchable databases that will allow you to access and print either free of charge or with a nominal printing fee. My personal favorite - email to articles to yourself so that you can read them at your leisure and decide which ones are worth their weight in printer ink!
Research Agenda for Hand Therapy In an article published in the Journal of Hand Therapy in 2002, over 400 hand therapists responded to a 20-item questionnaire that inquired about their most pressing concerns and critical clinical research questions that affect their hand therapy practice. The goal was to investigate the current priorities in the field of hand therapy and the current perceived barriers to hand therapy research.
Linking Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health Drummond A. S., Sampaio R. F., Mancini M. C., Kirkwood R. N., & Stamm T. A. (2007). Journal of Hand Therapy, 20, 336 – 344.
Upper Extremity Function in Children with Congenital Hand Anomalies Ho E.S. & Clarke H. M. (2005). Journal of Hand Therapy, 18, 352 – 364.
Comparison of Therapeutic Activities with Therapeutic Exercises in the Rehabilitation of Young Adult Patients with Hand Injuries Guzelkucuk U., Duman I., Taskaynatan M. A., & Dincer K. (2007). Journal of Hand Surgery, 32A, 1429 – 1435.
Changes in Life Roles After Hand Injury Schier J. S. & Chan J. (2007). Journal of Hand Therapy, 20, 57 – 69.
ICF components of corresponding outcome measures in flexor tendon rehabilitation – a systematic review Renée Oltman, Gudrun Neises, Daniel Scheible, Gerhard Mehrtens, and Christian Grüneberg. (2008). BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 9: 139
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2585568