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The Elanor Clarke 1962 Slagle Lecture: Mary Reilly

Hunter J. Mercier

OTH 506: SLAGLE Paper

Dr. Bickmore

December 5th, 2022

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Abstract

This paper summarizes the entirety of the 1961 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture titled

“Occupational Therapy Can Be One of the Great Ideas of 20th Century Medicine”. Where Dr.

Mary Reilly, proposes the hypothesis that goes as follows, “Is occupational therapy a vital and

unique service that could be justified in medicine and society?” (Reilly, 1961). Reilly challenged

the profession of occupational therapy to define itself and not focus as much on the medical

model, so that society would understand the value that OT provides. Reilly discussed three

themes in her lecture such as: the value of OT, the process of defining OT, and the preservation

of the occupation itself. By doing this, she later developed the philosophy that occupational

behavior is a central foundation in occupational therapy. Throughout her research and analysis of

her hypothesis, Reilly concluded that America in the 1960s was in fact an appropriate time and

place for occupational therapy, if the profession continued to adapt to the changes in society. She

also came to the conclusion that the profession of occupational therapy is indeed valuable to

medicine and society. To further her reasoning, she stated that “If you can understand how man

works to self-preserve, you can use that knowledge to influence his state of health”

(Reilly, 1961).

Keywords:
Occupation
Philosophy
Hypothesis
Society
Value
Therapy
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Occupational Therapy (OT) is a profession that uses art and science to help individuals or

groups of all ages develop, recover, or maintain meaningful day-to-day activities and

occupations that are important to them. A few principles that make up the profession of

occupational therapy include: client centered practice, occupational centered practice, evidence

based practice and culturally relevant practice.

Eleanor Clarke Slagle was an American social worker and one of the founding members

of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). Slagle established the base of the

AOTA in New York. After that, she worked as the occupational therapy director at the New York

State Department of Mental Hygiene. She passed away on September 18th, 1942. In her honor,

the Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship Award of the AOTA was named after her. The Eleanor

Clarke Slagle Lectureship Award article, written by the American Occupational Therapy

Association states:

This award was established in 1954 as a memorial to Eleanor Clarke Slagle, one of the

outstanding pioneers in the profession of occupational therapy. The purpose is to honor a

member of AOTA who has contributed to the development of the profession's body of

knowledge.

Dr. Mary Reilly was the 1961 recipient of the AOTA Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship.

Reilly began studying occupational therapy in 1937 at the Boston School of Occupational

Therapy (Clark, 2012). Once obtaining her occupational therapy certificate in 1940, Reilly began

working at the Sigma Gamma Hospital School in Detroit, Michigan. Throughout the 1950’s,

Reilly served as a captain in the United States Army Medical Specialists. She was a pioneer in

the promotion of the study of people engaging in occupations. In the course of the following
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decades, Reilly made major contributions to the occupational therapy profession through her

work in theory development, research, practice, and education.

I got the chance to review Dr. Mary Reilly’s 1961 Slagle Lecture entitled “Occupational

Therapy Can Be One of the Great Ideas of 20th Century Medicine”. Her lecture evaluated

whether occupational therapy as a profession is important or unique enough to be valued by

medicine and society. In her 1961 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture, Reilly stated that “Man,

through the use of his hands, as they are energized by mind and will, can influence the state of

his own health” (Reilly, 1961). That statement made by Reilly, grew to become one of the most

frequently quoted Slagle Lectures of all time.

The quote encapsulates exactly what Reilly became known for. During the 1960s and

1970s, she developed a frame of reference for Occupational Behavior. The frame of reference

described the biopsychosocial nature of man through the human occupations of work, play, and

self-care (Clark, 2012). Dr. Elizabeth Yerxa was awarded the Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship

and delivered her Slagle Lecture entitled “Authentic Occupational Therapy” (Yerxa, 1966).

She, along with Dr. Mary Reilly were both big contributors to the philosophical base of

Occupational Therapy, which eventually became the academic discipline of Occupational

Science.

During the 1960s, occupational therapy was viewed as a profession that rehabilitated

injured soldiers of World War II. There was an increased need for occupational therapists in the

area of rehabilitation during World War II and because of that, there was a growth in healthcare.

With the growth of occupational therapy, there were drastic improvements in the technology

related to prosthetics and use of wheelchairs.

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There were cracks in American society during the 1960s, by race, gender, age, and class.

Demographic changes after World War II had created communities filled with differences. There

were good trends that included: advancements of drugs and techniques. There were also bad

trends that included: inadequate medical care and unfulfilled health needs around America. The

shift in the values system during the 1960s meant advancements in the healthcare system and the

amount of healthcare providers needed for various things.

Throughout the lecture, Reilly talks about the philosophical base of occupational therapy

which involves activities that bring meaning to the daily lives of individuals, groups, and

families. The philosophical base of occupational therapy helped enable people to participate in

society and it eventually became the academic discipline of occupational science. Florence Clark

once stated, “Mary Reilly is universally regarded as a godmother of the philosophical base of

occupational therapy that eventually became the academic discipline of occupational science.”

(Clark, 2012).

Dr. Mary Reilly challenged the profession of occupational therapy to reclaim its roots of

occupation instead of only focusing on the medical model as the perspective for practice. She

developed the philosophy that occupational behavior is a central foundation in Occupational

Therapy. Her occupational behavior frame of reference took a holistic view of the patient and

saw patient achievement in occupations as a direct responsibility of the occupational therapist.

Through her frame of reference, she emphasized the importance of play in child development.

She recognized play to be a complex behavior that prepares children to adapt to adulthood and

the occupations that come later in life. This paved the way for play and leisure to be considered

occupations in the current OT practice framework.

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The identity of the occupational therapy profession has been debated for a long time and

continues to be until present day. The lack of public understanding of the profession’s values and

beliefs causes inconsistent messages about its identity. The profession is not focused solely on

one singular thing. It is extremely diverse with many different specialities, often causing

confusion in the public's understanding of its true identity.

There was an intense need for occupational therapists during World War II because of the

amount of injured soldiers and because of that, women got the opportunity to start working.

Throughout the 1960s, occupational therapists were continually defining their role in the

healthcare system. They became more aware of the different treatment techniques related to

physical disabilities and started steering their focus on the psychological and social aspects of

treatment. Medicine became specialized along with occupational therapy. New fields of

concentration including pediatrics, developmental disabilities and mental health. Prosthetics and

splint making were also becoming more common. Occupational therapists also increased their

involvement in work related activity and began looking into the process of application in normal

growth and development with their patients. Their goal at this time was to work on integrating

formerly institutionalized clients into a society as independent and productive members.

During the 1960s, the AOTA began to provide direction and distribution of more

publications written by occupational therapists themselves. Advances were made in medical

technology such as the cure of polio and the creation of the pacemaker, but also increased the

number of chronically ill who had a need for OT services (Reilly, 1961).

Occupation is serving to evoke skills necessary for meaningful day-to-day activities that

are important to the client as well as the tools to survive as independently as possible.

Transformation is imperative for redefining the importance of occupation because the term
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“occupation” is continuously changing and it is interpreted differently to everyone.

Transformation can also lead to a wide range of employer benefits including: empowering

employees to work more effectively, thus increasing both productivity and morale. Better

collaboration and communication, leading to innovations and better utilization of talent.

In the occupational therapy profession, there is a lot of focus and emphasis on

adaptability in order to accomplish the meaningful day-to-day activities of each patient. In the

20th century there were several historical events that caused turmoil in the U.S which had an

effect on the profession. As a profession, occupational therapy had no choice but to grow and

adapt along with these changes to remain a valuable profession. In her Slagle Lecture, Dr. Reilly

stated, “I personally have little trust that we can continue to exist as an arts and crafts group

which serves muscle dysfunction or as an activity group which serves the emotionally disabled.”

(Reilly, 1961).

According to chapter 3 of Willard and Spackman's occupational therapy (2019),

“Occupational behavior framework of reference emphasizes development of work skills and

societal importance of productive occupations” (Chtistiansen & Kristine, p. 26). This work done

by Reilly, has influenced development of the Model of Human Occupations (MOHO). In my

OTH: 502 Introduction to Occupation class, I learned that the Model of Human Occupation is an

occupation focused, theory driven, client centered, evidence based approach of occupational

therapy practice. We also had a guest speaker that talked to us about occupational science and

during her presentation, she mentioned Dr. Mary Reilly and her significant involvement.

In the Slagle Lecture, Reilly identifies the theme by asking the question, “Is occupational

therapy a vital and unique service that could be justified in medicine and society?” (Reilly,

1961). This lecture applies to the current climate of the occupational therapy profession because
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there are still flaws in the way that the public and healthcare system views the profession. There

are many people that need occupational therapy services and do not know it. During the 1960s,

occupational therapy was not taken seriously as a medical career. Reilly worked to promote

occupational therapy and developed a frame of reference for occupational behavior that

described the biopsychosocial nature of man through the human occupations of work, play, and

self-care. To this day, occupational therapists have to research and advocate for the profession so

that the potential clients who don't know they could benefit from services, are able to have that

chance.

The history of the 1961 Slagle Lecture impacts the future of occupational therapy

practitioners because it shows that there are many things we can do individually to help the

occupational therapy community grow. Advocacy and promotion of the profession will further

benefit everyone that is receiving occupational therapy services. The 1961 Slagle lecture also

indicates how occupational therapy adapts and changes with society. With that, the profession is

constantly evolving with time. Therefore, through client centered practice, occupational centered

practice, evidence based practice and culturally relevant practice there will always be a need for

occupational therapy services in the upcoming future.

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References

AOTA. (n.d.). The Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship Award. Aota.org.

Retrieved, December 3, 2022, from

https://www.aota.org/community/awards/eleanor-clarke-slagle-lectureship-award

Christiansen, C. H., & Haertl, K. L. (2019). A Contextual History of Occupational Therapy.

In Willard and Spackman's occupational therapy (pp. 11–42). essay, Wolters Kluwer.

Clark , F. 2012. Mary Reilly, 1916-2012. USC Chan Division of Occupational Science

and Occupational Therapy. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from

https://chan.usc.edu/news/magazine/spring2012/mary-reilly-1916-2012

REILLY M.1961 Occupational therapy can be one of the great ideas of 20th century medicine.

Am J Occup Ther. 1962 Jan-Feb;16:1-9. PMID: 14491211.

Yerxa EJ. (1966). Eleanor Clarke Slagle lecture. Authentic occupational therapy.

Am J Occup Ther. 1967 Jan-Feb;21(1):1-9. PMID: 6037915