What´s Occupational Therapy: An Outline

Thesis: Occupational therapy serves as an important role in health care by helping disabled patients develop, recover, and improve skills needed for daily living and work through the use of vocational and recreational activities.

I. Occupational therapy has a deep history rooting back from the development of psychiatry.

A. Many centuries ago, people thought mentally disabled individuals were possessed by evil spirits.

1. Zona Weeks describes the treatment: “They were beaten, chained, and imprisoned” (Weeks 13).

2. In the 1800s in Spain, France, England, and Germany they removed the mentally disabled people from isolation and put them to work on specific tasks.

a. They realized they needed people to help them do these tasks.

b. Classes were held to teach them how to do the activities.

B. In 1917, a small group of people created the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). (Weeks 13)

1. Edward Barton, a founding member, coined the term occupational therapy.

2. Dr. H.A Pattison made the first definition of occupational therapy.

C. During WWI in 1917, a commander of the US Army requested occupational therapists abroad to help injured soldiers fight again.

D. In 1922, standards of training for Occupational Therapists were established.

1. Occupational therapists had to complete a 3 month course in Boston, Philadelphia, and St. Louis.

2. In the 1940s, all programs became a baccalaureate degree program.

3. In 1946, the American Occupational Therapy Association started to evaluate people and issue certificates. (Weeks 16)

E. During WWII, occupational therapists helped treat soldiers.

1. About nine hundred occupational therapists divided among hospitals and armed forces.

2. They acquired many new skills and starting specializing.

a. They began working with various injuries.

b. They became involved in making orthotic devices such as splints. (Weeks 17)

F. Following WWII, expansion continued in the field.

1. Occupational therapists began working in the public school system.

2. In 1952, the World Federation of Occupational Therapy was formed.

3. In 1940s, men started entering the field.

4. In 1964, the American Occupational Therapy Foundation was organized for charitable purposes.

a. It supported scientific, literary, and educational research.

b. In addition, it gave scholarships, conducted surveys and research, and published reports. (Weeks 18)

G. The occupational therapy field has grown immenslty in the last forty years.

1. In the 1960s, mental health centers were established and Medicaid was created for low income individuals.

2. In the 1970s, public law mandated education for all handicapped causing public schools to hire a large amount of occupational therapists.

3. Also in the 1970s, a large amount of medical knowledge became available.

a. This allowed for improved treatment methods.

b. OTs benefited from manufactured rehabilitation equipment such as eating aids, wheelchairs, and splints. (Weeks 19)

H. Overall, the occupational therapy industry has progressed a lot since its beginnings.