Occupational therapy in Latin America: Conceptual discussions on territory and community

Abstract

Background

The terms territory and community were adopted by occupational therapy in Latin America approximately 30 years ago because of the social and economic experiences of its countries.

Aim

To understand the formation of the concepts of territory and community by occupational therapists in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia.

Methods

A conceptual review of the specific literature in journals, databases and books published in Latin America between 1990 and July 2020. The two most frequently recurring authors of publications in each country were interviewed.

Results

74 publications were selected. The first definitions of these concepts date from the late 1990s. Dialogue with other areas of knowledge began in 2002.

Discussion

Although the terms are conceptually little developed, their use in occupational therapy in Latin America evidences the understanding that the singularity of people and groups is inseparable from their social history.

Conclusions

Occupational therapy in Latin America has appropriated notions of territory and community from studies in other areas and the practical experiences of occupational therapists, but little improvement has been observed in the proposition of specific concepts. There is a need for further research on the theoretical-conceptual foundation of the profession.

Keywords:

• Occupational therapy
• professional practice
• community
• territory
• concept formation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In Brazil, the Health Reform occurred during the 1980s and popularized the discussion of health as a universal right of all Brazilian citizens, substantially changing the access to services and the legal principle that had previously established. During the same period of time, the Psychiatric Reform questioned the process of institutionalization and the exclusion of individuals undergoing mental suffering; in the struggle for their rights, it advocated for open and communitarian mental health services [6,7].

2 Brazilian Journal of Occupational Therapy and Journal of Occupational Therapy at the University of São Paulo, both Brazilian.

3 The Catalog is an effort in information dissemination about books published in Latin America related to occupational therapy. It is well-known throughout the region.

4 Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR) is a rehabilitation strategy for people with disabilities based on community development, equal opportunities, facilitation of access to low-cost technologies, and inclusion of individuals in their everyday life spaces [53].

5 Two articles [84,90] were wrote by Argentine and Brazilian authors together. To classify the country of the article was situated, we considered two criteria: number of authors from each country in each article and the location of the experience reported.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was supported by the Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement [Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior] – Brazil (CAPES) – financing code 001.