History of Occupational Therapy worldwide

Occupational Therapy arises accompanying great social movements.

Towards the end of the 18th century, with the emergence of Pinel's moral treatment,
in the humanist stage, the time of boarding schools began to be spent seeking their social
rehabilitation. This happens in France;

At the same time, in England, Quakers established retirement homes in the

countryside considering that the change of environment could be beneficial in treating
mental disorders. In this period there is an improvement in the treatments of the mentally
ill. Philippe Pinel, William Tuke and Vifanzio Chiarugi had their patients unshackled and
gave them occupations.

In the 19th century, with the industrial stage, hospital industries appeared, whose
foundation was the use of labor and not rehabilitation. This fails because since the
productive capacity is lower, the economic return is not the same.

At the beginning of the 20th century with the advent of the therapeutic stage, Dr.
Herbert Hall began The study of the therapeutic use of activities at Harvard University in
the United States. The first article written and published about O. T. That is known, appears
in 1992 in The Archives of Occupational Therapy: "The Philosophy of Occupational
Therapy", by Adolph Meyer. The author takes up the foundations of moral treatment,
tending to create institutional patterns of life and modules of behavior similar to those that
society could tolerate and accept. He took "occupation" as a central concept, and
maintained that habits provided a balance in the organization of time between different
activities: play, work, rest and sleep.

Within this same school, Eleanor Clarke Slagle stands out, considered the founder
of occupational therapy. It takes as a model the needs of childhood and as a foundation the
principles of work, play and human relationships. She proposes a way of reorganizing
habits that he called "habit training." This program was carried out in mental hospitals as a
means of rehabilitation for chronic patients. Then, he gradually trained his patients in
recreational activities and work habits.
 Louis Haas, based his treatment programs on the study of the social, economic and
family problems that the patient will face at the time of hospital discharge. He worked with
tuberculosis patients and emphasized the training of structured activities in the workshop as
a work environment, in order for patients to recover their skills.

Dr. March, in 1932, described an industrial therapeutics program with nearly two
thousand patients, carrying out a labor analysis of each type of work possible in a hospital
community. He designed a Clinical History model that included abilities, skills and
potential. Its objective was to prepare patients for reintegration into the community.

Cody Bryan also proposed industrial therapy as a means of preparing the patient
with a mental illness for the world of work. The activities they carried out were according
to their interests and they were trained to exercise productive roles.

William Dunton maintained that the hospital environment should provide an orderly
example of normal life, where the patient could learn habits appropriate for everyday life.
Through activities such as sports and manual skills in artisanal workshop activities,
progress was achieved both towards the quality of a worker by recovering work habits, and
also towards the quality of a citizen in the community.

Kidner became interested in the environmental effects on the tuberculosis patient.

Patients began activities such as games and simple crafts in bed, which required little
physical effort (within each patient's capabilities) and maintained their interests.
Afterwards, the patients went to the workshop, and finally, they were employed in real
industrial jobs within the institution.

The first definition of occupational therapy was given by the term's creator, George
Barton, in 1914: "If there is an occupational disease, why is there no occupational therapy."
Barton was an architect who had tuberculosis, and when he recovered he became interested
in the rehabilitation of patients based on workshops as a work environment for different
activities.

The Crimean War led to the vocational training of nurses. The First World War, that
of physical therapy, as well as the practice of occupational therapy that promoted treatment
for war soldiers, was also observed. This war revealed the seriousness of the State's
responsibility towards rehabilitation. This was of great help, as it paved the way for a better
understanding of the problem of the crippled, as well as for the recognition of the need to
implement broader programs.

But occupational therapy reached greater development as a profession during World

War II. At the beginning of this period, work was done on psychological grounds and at the
end of the 19th century it was practiced as occupational therapy, with Canada being the
pioneer nation. From there it was developed in other countries: England, Ireland, United
States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Portugal, Belgium. It was used in
different ways.

At the outbreak of World War II, the problem of war casualties once again attracted
the attention of the American people. However, the situation was different from that of the
other war, since now

Rehabilitation services existed for civilians and military. This war gave a great
boost to physical medicine and occupational therapy, strengthening the concept that the
disabled person does not necessarily have to be a dependent or a public charge. The wars
had transcendental effects on the lives of the disabled; there were jobs for thousands of
individuals who in normal times would have been very difficult to find work without
having had training, guidance or help to achieve a paid occupation.