Territory and community in Brazilian occupational therapy: a conceptual review

Abstract

The words territory and community were incorporated into the occupational therapy derived from social and economic policies in the country, as a way of theoretically informing the critique of social reality and professional practices, as well as influencing the way of its achievement. In this debate, we aimed to identify the use and theoretical development of the terms territory and community in the productions of Brazilian occupational therapy to discuss whether words are concepts or notions for the field. We conducted a conceptual review of the terms in the main journals of the area and in the Lilacs and SciELO databases between 1990 and 2016, and the two most recurrent authors in the selected publications were interviewed, with the purpose of discussing and ratifying the results found. The total of selected productions was: 124 articles that only present a concept to the terms and 30 publications that were dedicated to it. The first conceptualizations were from the 1990s, elaborated by the authors of occupational therapy. The dialogue with other knowledge areas, such as deinstitutionalization, geography, sociology, and philosophy began in 2011, accompanied by the increase of research and production of knowledge in the field. The concept of territory suggests a combination of space, process, and relation, surpassing the definition of physical geographic space. In its turn, the community brings the notion of collectivity, networks, belonging and identity. The use of both presupposes the reflection on the ways of life and of the appropriation of the material, social and cultural resources that are established in a place. Therefore, they are presented in an intrinsic way to the actions in occupational therapy.

Keywords:
Occupational Therapy/Trends; Professional Practice; Community Action; Sociocultural Territory; Concept Formation