The construction of the Dynamic Occupational Therapy Method: a non-dichotomous production between knowledge and practice

Abstract

Introduction  Occupational Therapy arrived in Brazil under the logic of rehabilitation and distanced from the Brazilian reality. Therefore, occupational therapists embarked on the adventure of thinking about the profession and its theoretical-practical aspects based on their contexts. Jô Benetton is among these professionals. Formed in 1970, she began a research project that culminated in the construction of the Method Dynamic Occupational Therapy - DOTM. Recent literature reviews that focus on the theme of epistemological constructions, when using journal indexing mechanisms, only cite the author's work, without explaining her contributions to the field and her knowledge construction process.

Objective  To elucidate aspects of the DOTM construction process, to understand how the production of knowledge occurred based on practical situations placed as an object of study, which resulted in the proposition of a theoretical-methodological framework specific to and in Brazilian Occupational Therapy.

Method  Qualitative research, with data from two interviews with Jô Benetton and one with Sonia Ferrari, analyzed thematically.

Results  Three main themes were identified that express how the DOTM was constructed in the light of a pragmatist epistemology: 1) Concerns, searches and experiments; 2) Inventions; 3) Emergence of a way of thinking-doing in practice.

Conclusion  The construction of the DOTM occurred in a non-dichotomous way between the production of knowledge and care, allowing the establishment of new relationships between theory and practice.

Keywords:
Occupational Therapy; Occupational Therapy/History; Epistemology; Professional Practice; Philosophy