An overview of occupational therapy community practices in Latin America

Abstract

Introduction

The recent history of Occupational Therapy (OT) shows, on a global scale, great concern about socio-communal issues that affect people's occupations and daily lives. Occupational therapists, acting in society and meeting its demands, seek to promote inclusion, emancipation, and participation in the socio-communal life of people. Nevertheless, Latin American studies on community interventions realized by occupational therapists are still scarce, suggesting more specific research on the designs and foundations of these interventions.

Objective

To investigate the production by occupational therapists on community practices in Occupational Therapy, prioritizing the concepts used to support these interventions in Latin America, between 2006 and 2016.

Method

A scoping review was carried out in Portuguese and Spanish. We searched for the articles through the CAPES Portal of Periodical databases, questionnaires for key informants, and manual searches in Occupational Therapy journals. The descriptors applied were: occupational therapy, practices, intervention, community, and occupational social therapy, in both languages.

Results

The thematic analysis of the material showed that there is great diversity in the practices developed in the community, which have been growing in recent years. Nevertheless, theoretical-methodological foundations, as well as conceptual definitions, are still scarce.

Conclusion

Community practices developed by occupational therapists, although more frequent, are still not systematically investigated in Latin America. Greater theoretical and methodological work on identified models is recommended for the consolidation of the field.

Keywords:
Occupational Therapy; Professional Practice; Community Participation; Latin America