Professional practice of occupational therapists in Latin American countries: what characterizes a territorial-community action?

• Autor(a) principal: Bianchi, Pamela Cristina
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Malfitano, Ana Paula Serrata
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng; spa
• Título da fonte: Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional
• Texto Completo: https://www.cadernosdeterapiaocupacional.ufscar.br/index.php/cadernos/article/view/3053

This study aimed to identify how the concepts of territory and community are expressed in the practice of occupational therapists in Latin America and whichdimensions characterize their territorial-community action in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. The terms territory and community are included in thepolitical, economic and social relations established in the capitalist model of production. In occupational therapy, they have been incorporated as a result ofpolitical, social and economic events in different countries as a way to combine critique on social reality with professional practice. This study presents part of the results of a doctoral dissertation. Four social case studies were carried out using participant observation and semi-structured interviews with the social actors of the experiences followed up in the four countries investigated. The results highlightedfive strategies that characterize territorial-community action in Latin American occupational therapy: the practice involved in the collectives and social relations, the weaving of formal and informal networks, the building of ties through activities, horizontality and availability in relationships, and the strategies to deal with social vulnerability at the micro- and macro-spheres. In conclusion, the termsterritory and community are used in a combined way in professional practice, which presupposes reflection on the individuals’ ways of life and the relationshipsthey establish with their living spaces, with weaving of solidarity networks in the places as one of the purposes of professional action.