Occupational therapy and society

Abstract

In the early 70s, some occupational therapists, aware of the progressivo social unrest in the country, grasped more clearly the sociopolitical dimension of their action and demanded to participate and work in projects and institutions that where, by those days, distant from the scope of the health professionals. Therefore, the debate of the role of occupational therapy in the social area emerged, for the first time. Occupational therapists were able to claim, by then, their participation in the fíeld ofeducation - essentially in corrective education, directed to children, adolescents, old-aged and prisoners. This interest in the social fíeld led to the questioning of the traditional ways of conceiving the work of the occupational therapist. New practices and ideas were developed, transforming the knowledge in the field. It became evident that the previous actions covered up a more serious and non criticai fragmentation: that of the patient, who was split up into disconnected parts, or, at the most, into separate aspects - physical, mental, psychological and social. We believe that the changes wejust mentioned, which certainly opened up space to renewed and altemative forms of technical action, were the most significant contributions brought about by the debate on the 'social' role of the occupational therapist. We repute as of fundamental importance to consider once more this discussion, in the sense of searching roots of a occupational therapy to be built beyond the structuring axis health-disease. It is our aim to study the relation between occupational therapy and the sociocultural environment in which it is immerse, drawing methodological principies that allow us to rethink the professional practices, transcending the empirical moment without, however, imprisoning our capacity of reflection in reducing theories or predefined models, that make impossible the perception of the subtle movements of reality, history and life in their own context.