In 1983, Robert Butler introduced the idea of productive aging in an effort to highlight the contributions of older adults in the United States (Butler & Gleason, 1985). This sociological concept broadly refers to activities that mark the multiple ways in which people contribute to their own health, to their families, to their communities, and to society as they age (Butler, 2002; Butler & Gleason, 1985). The principles of participation, highlighted in Butler’s definition of productive aging, are closely associated with the foundations of occupational therapy (Meyer, 1922; Peloquin, 1991a, 1991b). Yet not until the introduction of the Centennial Vision did the occupational therapy profession embrace the term productive aging (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2006a, 2006b).
The authors in this special issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT), with the authors of the Occupational Therapy...
