Notes on territory and community concepts and practices in Colombian occupational therapy

Abstract

The article focuses on the theoretical-practical development of the territory and community concepts in Colombian Occupational Therapy. The objective was to understand the use and conception of territory and community and to identify how they are expressed in practice. Data collection was carried out in two stages: (1) conceptual review of the literature in journals and books with great circulation in Latin America, between 1990 and 2020, and interviews with the two most recurrent authors in the publications selected; (2) participant observation in place where a professional internship is held for occupational therapy graduation students affiliated with a university, associated to interviews with the social actors involved in that practice. It was identified that the terms make up the professional vocabulary of occupational therapists, historically refer to practices carried out in contexts of poverty and acquired greater emphasis to public policies development. The results show a territorial-community action related to the community way of life and appropriation of the material, social, cultural and relational resources of the territory, from a collective perspective of life. The need to overcome the use of concepts only as physical spaces of professional action is emphasized.