Guest editorial

We continue the presentation of this Special Issue — Social Occupational Therapy, on the Brazilian Journal of Occupational Therapy, with the satisfaction of sharing some moments from the 5th International Symposium of Social Occupational Therapy (SITOS)¹ held between November 9th and 11th, 2022 at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar).Organized by the Metuia Network - Social Occupational Therapy, this issue also had the partnership of the Occupational Therapy Graduate Programs at UFSCar and the University of São Paulo (USP).

The Metuia Network is the result of a collaborative effort that brings together people who, since the late 1990s, have been advocating for the development and consolidation of an ethically and politically committed occupational therapy that addresses the concrete social demands of Brazilian society, understanding that this requires going beyond the limits imposed by the biomedical model and the centrality of health-related frameworks, which still dominate the field. Our university teaching, research, and extension activities have guided the contributions of social occupational therapy and produced theoretical and methodological frameworks in response to what is recognized as demands arising from the social question (that present themselves in various dimensions in our professional daily life), considering the commitment to produce knowledge in and for occupational therapy (Lopes & Malfitano, 2021).

Since its first edition in 2007, SITOS has represented the efforts of the Metuia Network to deepen the debate, dialogue, exchange, and development of reflections on the desired and ongoing construction of this occupational therapy. This has taken place at both the national and international levels, through the opportunities created by its various editions, intertwined with the development of research and graduate studies in the field of occupational therapy.

At this moment, with the crisis of the capitalist system on a global scale, the worsening economic crisis, and the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the political choices made to face it, particularly in Brazil - which unfortunately has experienced worsening living conditions for its population in various dimensions of life - we understand it is our commitment, as a profession and a field of knowledge, to reaffirm and produce innovative contributions in the face of contemporary issues in our country and the world. Even though the national scenario shows relative optimism compared to the past four years, we are aware of the immense challenge we face, and more than ever, we need to reiterate our commitment to social transformation and against all forms of oppression, discrimination, and conservatism.

In this direction, for the 5th edition of SITOS we take Paulo Freire as our inspiration by proposing the theme of “denouncing the invisible and announcing the possible”. As occupational therapists we understand that our social role and ethical-political commitment involve denouncing everything that oppresses the people we assist and announcing other possible ways of living. Driven by a daily utopia that we ardently pursue, we believe this is how we operate in the construction of viable new possibilities (Freire, 2014). This idea permeated the entire program of the event, understanding that this struggle is not dissociated from that for social justice, composed of actions of redistribution, recognition, and representation (Fraser, 2022), nor from a struggle for anti-oppression and the guarantee of the widest possibilities of exercising freedom (Farias & Lopes, 2022).

After years of the COVID-19 pandemic, with immeasurable losses, we have come to appreciate the value of in-person exchanges. But we also recognize the potential reach of the Internet. In this regard, we took on the challenge of organizing a hybrid event² , which allowed the participation of people from many regions of Brazil and some from other parts of the world, such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mozambique, Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Austria. This made it possible to highlight the reach growing interest and relevance of the debates generated by social occupational therapy, as well as its consolidation and internationalization.

In line with this, what we see in this special issue of the Brazilian Journal of Occupational Therapy is the realization of a project that has long been desired. Since the first academic exchanges occurring in various editions of SITOS, as well as in the meetings promoted by the Social Occupational Therapy Work Group at the National Symposium on Occupational Therapy Research (SNPTO), organized by the National Network of Teaching and Research in Occupational Therapy (RENETO), the idea of bringing together productions from the subarea of social occupational therapy in a special supplement has been mentioned. After all, the exposition and reflection on our path— traveled on foot as Denise Dias Barros indicated to us in the early 2000s (Barros, 2004)—have always pushed us forward. Under this circumstance we also became many along this journey, as shown by the plurality and diversity of the works presented in this Special Supplement.

Thus, this special issue is the result of the work of the editors, who took on the challenge of producing it, and reflects the vitality of social occupational therapy in scientific productions and in practical experiences guided by theoretical and methodological foundations that engage with the social problems of our time to confront them. Moreover, the ethical-political commitment of social occupational therapy to have an impact on issues intertwined with the social vulnerability of the Brazilian population is once again evident. The manuscripts presented here serve as sources of identification and can support connections for those who seek to be close to this field.

Ultimately, it is also from reflections and academic productions presented in this issue that we can visualize new provocations. It opens up the possibility of new interpretations of social reality and occupational therapy regarding its presence in academic and social scenarios. It encourages us to reflect on what we want for the future and how we see ourselves in it.

• 1
  We are grateful to the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for the funding provided through the Support Program for Events in the Country (PAEP), process No. 0627/2022/88881.681341/2022-01, and to the Occupational Therapy Graduate Programs at UFSCar and USP, which made this event possible, as well as to the entire organizing and scientific committee for their essential work.
• 2
  Part of the programming is available on the YouTube platform, on the channel METUIA UFSCar (Universidade Federal de São Carlos, 2023b), as well as, also online, the proceedings of the event (Universidade Federal de São Carlos, 2023a).
• How to cite: Pan, L. C., & Almeida, M. C. (2023). Guest editorial. Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional, 31(spe), e2302. https://doi.org/10.1590/2526-8910.ctoED312023022

Referências

• Barros, D. D. (2004). Terapia ocupacional social: o caminho se faz ao caminhar. Revista de Terapia Ocupacional da Universidade de São Paulo, 15(3), 90-97. http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.2238-6149.v15i3p90-97
  » http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.2238-6149.v15i3p90-97
• Farias, M. N., & Lopes, R. E. (2022). Terapia ocupacional social, antiopressão e liberdade: considerações sobre a revolução da/na vida cotidiana. Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional, 30(spe), e3100. https://doi.org/10.1590/2526-8910.ctoen234531001
  » https://doi.org/10.1590/2526-8910.ctoen234531001
• Fraser, N. (2022). Justiça interrompida. São Paulo: Boitempo.
• Freire, P. (2014). Pedagogia dos sonhos possíveis. São Paulo: Paz e Terra.
• Lopes, R. E., & Malfitano, A. P. S. (2021). Social occupational therapy: theoretical and practical designs Philadelphia: Elsevier.
• Universidade Federal de São Carlos - UFSCar. (2023a). Anais Recuperado em 3 de maio de 2023, de https://terapiasocial.faiufscar.com/anais#/
  » https://terapiasocial.faiufscar.com/anais#/
• Universidade Federal de São Carlos - UFSCar. Laboratório METUIA. (2023b). METUIA UFSCar Recuperado em 3 de maio de 2023, de https://www.youtube.com/@metuiaufscar8910
  » https://www.youtube.com/@metuiaufscar8910

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  10 July 2023
• Date of issue
  2023