Occupational Therapy

The profession known as occupational therapy has its roots in the development of psychiatry and in the philosophy of the treatment of the mentally ill. In the eighteenth century, the view of the mentally ill as possessed by demons or under a spell was transformed into a view which recognized mental illness as a form of sickness. In the process, this transformation removed these individuals from conditions of virtual imprisonment and isolation and put them to work. Dr. Herbert Hall was among the first to recognize the need to train caregivers with a background in psychology and medicine who would also be capable of providing occupational education and training to the mentally ill (Weeks, 1995). By 1917 the forerunner of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) was formed. By the end of WWII, occupational therapy emerged as a distinct profession within the larger sphere of the mental health community.

Between the 1960s and the 1990s, the emergence of Medicaid and the passage of Public Law 94-1

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Category: Medical - O