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

Abstract

This study aimed to identify how the concepts of territory and community are expressed in the practice of occupational therapists in Latin America and which
dimensions characterize their territorial-community action in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. The terms territory and community are included in the
political, economic and social relations established in the capitalist model of production. In occupational therapy, they have been incorporated as a result of
political, 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 highlighted
five 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 terms
territory and community are used in a combined way in professional practice, which presupposes reflection on the individuals’ ways of life and the relationships
they establish with their living spaces, with weaving of solidarity networks in the places as one of the purposes of professional action.