Contemporary history: progress and resilience of occupational therapy in the Philippines (2004–2020)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to curate key events in the Philippines’ occupational therapy profession’s contemporary history. This study utilised a historiography methodology with an interpretative approach to obtain a richer understanding of key events through chronology and subsequent interpretations. Data concerning occupational therapy in the Philippines from January 2004 until November 2020 were obtained from electronic and written sources and subsequently verified through primary accounts of pivotal informants. Data were analysed using inductive and interpretivist approaches to create stories. The results narrated five story plots regarding occupational therapy in the Philippines from years 2004 to 2020. This historical inquiry unearthed the progress and resilience of the profession as well as the challenges that need to be addressed in the years to come. The article concludes with a set of recommendations that can facilitate the continued transformation of the profession in the years ahead.

KEYWORDS:

• history of occupational therapy
• professional autonomy
• qualitative research
• health professions
• health social sciences

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Alma Labro and Dhomilyn Hernandez for helping the authors retrieve archives and resources to complete this historical study.

Disclosure statement

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