The METUIA team from the Occupational Therapy Department of the Federal University of Sao\ud Carlos – UFSCar has been elaborating procedures and resources, which have produced contributions to the action of\ud occupational therapy based on a local and communal dimension, aiming at a locally rooted technical contribution and\ud directed to face the challenges of the social field. The territory notion adopted presupposes historical, economic, social\ud and cultural dimensions that contextualize a given geographical area where the therapeutic and occupational action\ud is developed. We have been dealing with questions related to the poor urban youth and working in the production\ud of social technologies (understood as products, techniques or replicable methodologies developed in interaction\ud with the community, and that represent alternatives for social transformation), which have been able to foster new\ud possibilities of action, integrating and articulating actions of macro and micro social scope. This article presents discussions on Workshops of Dynamics, Activities and Projects; Individual and Territorial Follow-up; Articulation\ud of Resources in the Social Field; and Dynamization of the Social Care Network. We support a continuous and\ud critical reflection on the labor process, assuming the technical, ethical and political dimensions that comprise the\ud professional qualification of occupational therapists. We also advocate that the practical and conceptual existence\ud of these technologies promotes actions associated with the social question of the lives of these young individuals,\ud seeking the expansion of equality, recognition of differences, and their space in the public sphere, so that more\ud participation can be produced with more freedom, autonomy and solidarity

Background: Disabled people are particularly exposed to the risks of COVID-19, as well as to the measures taken to address it, and their impact. The aim of the study was to examine the disability-inclusiveness of government responses to COVID-19 in four South American Countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru. Methods: We conducted documentary research, using framework analysis to analyse reports, legislation, decrees, and other official documents that communicated measures taken in response to the pandemic, published from February 1st until May 22nd, 2020. We included documents reporting measures that affected disabled people either directly (measures specifically designed for disabled people) or indirectly (measures for the general population). We developed an analytical framework based on recommendations for disability-inclusive response to COVID-19 published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carribean, the World Health Organisation, and other international organisations. Results: We analysed 72 documents. The findings highlight that while some positive measures were taken, the needs of disabled people were not fully considered. Several countries published recommendations for a disability-inclusive response to COVID-19, without ensuring their translation to practice. All countries took at least some steps to ensure access to financial support, health, and education for disabled people, but at the same time they also implemented policies that had a detrimental impact on disabled people. The populations that are most exposed to the impacts of COVID-19, including disabled people living in institutional care, were protected in several cases only by recommendations rather by legislation. Conclusions: This study illustrates how the official government responses taken by four countries in the region – while positive, in several aspects – do not fully address the needs of disabled people, thus further disadvantaging them. In order to ensure response to COVID − 19 is disability inclusive, it is necessary to translate recommendations to practice, consider disabled people both in mainstream policy and in disability-specific measures, and focus on the long-term reconstruction phase.

Background.: Researchers and practitioners worldwide have advocated for the development of critical perspectives in occupational therapy to examine the structural influences of social exclusion and injustice experienced by individuals, groups, and communities. To take action against social exclusion and injustice, Brazilian occupational therapists have been developing “social occupational therapy,” referring to practice that is focused on social issues and funded outside the health system. Purpose.: This paper presents a Brazilian perspective on the concept and practice of social occupational therapy. Illustrations are drawn from 12 studies, developed between 2008 and 2013, which were completed with socially vulnerable youth through an ongoing university-community engagement partnership in São Carlos, São Paulo State, Brazil. Key issues.: The authors discuss possibilities and challenges for developing a socially committed, transformative occupational therapy outside the health system. Implications.: Occupational therapists may wish to seize opportunities to address social issues and attract funding beyond health services.

Background: Calls for embracing the potential and responsibility of occupational therapy to address socio-political conditions that perpetuate occupational injustices have materialized in the literature. However, to reach beyond traditional frameworks informing practices, this social agenda requires the incorporation of diverse epistemological and methodological approaches to support action commensurate with social transformative goals. Aim: Our intent is to present a methodological approach that can help extend the ways of thinking or frameworks used in occupational therapy and science to support the ongoing development of practices with and for individuals and collectives affected by marginalizing conditions. Method: We describe the epistemological and theoretical underpinnings of a methodological approach drawing on Freire and Bakhtin’s work. Results: Integrating our shared experience taking part in an example study, we discuss the unique advantages of co-generating data using two methods aligned with this approach; dialogical interviews and critical reflexivity. Discussion: Key considerations when employing this approach are presented, based on its proposed epistemological and theoretical stance and our shared experiences engaging in it. Significance: A critical dialogical approach offers one way forward in expanding occupational therapy and science scholarship by promoting collaborative knowledge generation and examination of taken-for-granted understandings that shape individuals assumptions and actions.

The emergence of occupational science in non-English speaking countries is frequently hampered by diverse barriers to global collaboration, knowledge dissemination, and inclusion in international dialogue. Epistemological, cultural, and institutional resources may explain these barriers, yet these have not been explored within the discipline. This paper discusses three main issues and three priorities for action put forward by participants during sessions held at two separate, international occupational science conferences. The sessions aimed to engage the audience in critical reflexivity and dialogue around the challenges present when non-English speaking countries attempt to develop occupational science scholarship and possible ways to support global collaboration. To stimulate discussion, we used a participatory methodology, ‘Metaplan’. The sessions included a statements exercise, reflections presented by the authors, individual reflexivity, and small group debate. The findings are structured as a reflexive dialogue where participants’ voices, theory, and the authors’ reflections are interwoven to enrich discussion of the issues participants identified and priorities for action. This paper contributes to decolonizing the development of occupational science and promoting an international dialogue that is open to diverse worldviews, by drawing attention to the visible and invisible barriers that limit collaboration and inclusion of the diverse ways in which occupation is understood and enacted worldwide.

The concept of occupational justice relates to social inequality focusing on the needs of humans as occupational beings in their contexts. This article aims to examine the scholarly evolution of the term occupational justice and its related concepts. The article reports (a) the historical development of the term and (b) a thematic mapping of issues addressed by articles that used the occupational justice concept and its related terms. A scoping review was performed where 553 articles were found. We found the first article in 1974, and it was described as the first article that used the term. Two main sets of articles were analyzed: the ones that presented individual approaches and the ones framed by a collective approach. The review contributes to a better understanding of the use of the term occupational justice and its related concepts, and reflects on the impact of collective approaches to socially responsive occupation-based interventions.