The Ideal Occupational Therapy

During the Victorian times, men were perceived to be better to women when it came to education. Therefore, educating a woman was completely a waste of resources and what men expected from women was to be obedient, humble and generous to men (Carol, 2011). Oakley (1975) highlighted that women did work in jobs associated with supposed female skills for example cleaning. (Up until the 19th century) . Until the mid 19th century nursing was not an activity, which was thought to demand either training or skills as nightingale stated that nursing was left to those were too drunken, (who were drunkards), who had no money for apprenticeship or too dirty (Allen, 2001). Carol (2011) pointed out that respectable woman were not interested in hospital jobs because it was considered as menial jobs and nursing was described as duties of servants.

This link between occupation, health and well-being (i.e. the fact that people are occupational by nature and that engagement in meaningful occupation is essential to health) forms part of the core beliefs and values – the philosophy – of the occupational therapy (OT) profession (Kramer et al, 2003). OT has its foundations in both philosophy and science, but unlike other medical professions, it was the philosophy that came first

The AOTA’s societal statement (2013) on health disparities asserts that OT practitioners have a duty to “intervene with individuals and communities to limit the effects of inequities that result in health disparities.” These disparities can be a result of many factors including social discrimination, access, and quality of health care as well as socioeconomic status (2013). The statement concludes by saying that OT practitioners have necessary skills and knowledge available to help these populations and that efforts to lessen or eliminate health disparities are supported by the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics, 2010 (2013). This statement reaffirms the idea that even though it is not traditional OT, this is an area that OTs can and should be involved

Eleanor Clark Slagle, born on October 13th, of 1871 in Hobart, New York was undoubtedly an influential figure in Occupational Therapy. She contributed a lot to the field of study with her intelligence, commitment, and passion. Eleanor was zealous about the use of Occupational Therapy and its ability to promote better health and function. Slagle was a well-known founder in the field of Occupational Therapy and received many titles and awards as she helped bring forth the profession. She became known in the United States as the “Mother of Occupational Therapy”.

Occupational therapy was only officially established in 1917 with the National society for Promotion of Occupational therapy which later become American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) although the roots of the profession began much earlier (Frank, 1992). The profession commenced as only women and has remained predominantly so in 21st century as of 2011, only 8% of the Canadian occupational therapy work force was male (Canadian institute for Health Information [CIHI], 2011). The sole recruited women were reasoned by the designated powers of healthcare at the time because they had a specific cliental who were male soldiers (Frank, 1992; Pringle, 1922). Today’s occupational therapy clients are all genders and ages so how is the male to female ratio of occupational therapist not reflect the diversity of their cliental. The gender segregation in the profession is an impact resulting from the exclusive recruitment on females in its historic beginnings (Frank, 1992). Gender stereotypes and cultural perceptions has led to continuation of the gender segregation throughout the decades (Frank, 1992). The continuous changing societal views of women has influence the profession’s identity. Each decade has brought about new changes to the profession and influenced the workforce gender ratio of practicing occupational therapists.

The evolution of women’s rights and advancements throughout history is undeniable. The prejudice against women in the workforce and more specifically in the medical workforce is a prejudice that can easily be found till this day. The idea of gender roles, and the separation of women and the “male dominated careers”, still lingers even through decades of change in a developing society. Fortunately, certain women in history have forever influenced the way medicine works as well as how women are looked upon when studying in the medical field. Although there were many male physicians far before the first woman could even be considered to attend a medical school, there were many women that wouldn’t take no for an answer. Whether it was through an

Up until the 1800’s, the job of a nurse belonged to the male population because of its affiliation with the military and religious orders. Early religious orders such as the Benedictine nursing order and St. Alexis were brotherhoods delegated to holy men. The military utilized male nurses during a time of war in the front lines, while female nurses worked in the hospitals. But because of the shortage of male nurses during the civil war, women were recruited to take the place of the men and the emergence of nursing schools dedicated to women started to flourish while diminishing the male role as a nurse. Unfortunately, in today’s society, the role of a nurse is thought to be that of a females job and men who enter the field are considered

The source I found most interesting this week was "The Feminine Mystique Except" written by Betty Friedan. The article talks about how it was believed that women who were professionals were not feminine. For this reason, women returned to assume the role of housewives were they according to the mystique of femininity "She can not consider herself under any other aspect than the mother of her children or wife of her husband" (Page 439). According to Friedan, some of the feelings that oppressed women who wanted to be professionals were neurotic, unfeminine, unhappy. Many women disagreed with this model of life that many women had and led many of them to strive to achieve and occupy a position in

In accordance with Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF), “the efforts directed toward promoting occupational justice and empowering clients to seek and obtain resources to fully participate in their daily life occupations.” (Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, 3rd Ed., p. S41). I consider occupational therapy to be a compassionate career, practitioners try to grant their clients’ wants and needs to better suit the

The occupational therapy’s profession identity was associated with females and influenced by society’s evolving views of women. Accompanying each shift of society’s culture the gender identity of the profession slightly changed resulting in a slight increase of male occupational therapists.

In a field that was originally once considered a masculine career for men, has now been revamped as a feminine profession. An example of early documentation of men’s role in nursing dated back in 1095 where St. Antonines took care of those with erysipelas and the mentally ill. As the establishment of nursing profession progressed, perceptions of what the public view nurses as began to shift into a female-dominated occupation. Even in the current modern era, there is still a trend shared by all countries that indicate a shortage of male nurses. “Over the years, the portion of male nurses has increased, but they still comprise only 5 to 15 percent of the nursing workforce in the western world” (Ashkenazi et al., 2017, p 162). There are many factors that possibly contributed to this barrier that prevents men from entering the nursing profession such as stereotypes, gender biased nursing curriculums, long-lasting historical trends in nursing, and social perceptions.

Helen, I concur with what you have said about Virginia reasoning that women in today’s society face many drawbacks in their daily life and are trying to overcome them. Women today feel the same type of pressure that Virginia and women from the 1930s experienced, but with a more intense approach. Women look upon their idols (actors/actresses, models, singers, dancer, etc.) and attempt to copy them on everything they have or do. This leads to drugs, surgery, anorexia and other health damaging effects. The reason behind this is that a woman’s inner mind full of desires overshadows the mind that thinks logically. As this happens, women choose what they want compared to what they need in order to survive. But, if women

One statistical study shows that “since 1970, women have grown from 9.7 percent of physicians to 32.4 percent in 2010”(Strasser, Annie). Similarly, “The new study, Men in Nursing Occupations, shows the proportion of male registered nurses has more than tripled since 1970, from 2.7 percent to 9.6 percent”(MacPhail, J. (1996). As the growth of women becoming doctors tripled, women were admired for their dedication and hard work. Yet as more men became nurses they weren’t praised, they were made fun of. But why is that? It’s because see nursing as a step down from being a doctor. It’s the “female role” which means it’s

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Nursing, a profession currently regarded with high esteem and respect, has been tied directly to feminism since its establishment. However, due to the nature of feminism and its implications throughout history, nursing hasn’t always been held with high regard in that respect. It promoted the idea of women assuming roles much greater than that of a caretaker. Nursing began to command for the higher education of women as nursing itself was highly driven to be a respected vocation, combining biomedical sciences and the innate caring and nurturing instincts within its nurses. This was not a passive process. It depended on innovators within, contributing to the education of nurses, and in turn, the education of women. As nursing was a profession consisting only of women, there was a need for women to call for higher standards of education and to demand the respect and autonomy needed for nurses to work alongside physicians, not under them.