The Evolution of OT: 1940-1949

By: Colby Hutchison, Stacy Sellner, Heidi Huynh, & Tanja Lakic

Influx of Occupational Therapists★ Created a new demand for more OTs★ War Department initially required graduates of an accredited school★ War Emergency Courses were implemented★ 1945: 2177 members of AOTA★ Successful completion of exam became a requirement

Shift of Focus★ Shift from arts and crafts to scientific rehab★ ADL’s and Vocational Rehab★ Development of prosthetics and orthotics

World Events: WWII

★ Shortage of workers in every industry○ Influx of women into the workforce ○ Hospitals understaffed

★ Advances in technology○ Use of radio & TV for news and entertainment○ Microwave oven & refrigerator

★ Rationing ○ Victory Gardens

★ War Effort, GI Bill of Rights → economic prosperity★ Baby Boom

○ A shift to the suburbs

Sociocultural & Economic Factors

�1940: discovery of Penicillin

�1942: development of a bivalent vaccine for Influenza

�1942- development of chemical derivatives of mustard gas to treat different forms of cancers

�1943: discovery of the antibiotic streptomycin by Selman Waksman (treatment for TB)1949: Establishment of Nuremburg code

Medical Advances

-Increased growth and change - Shift towards scientific techniques over arts and crafts

- Emphasized ADL’s, ergonomics, and rehabilitation- Bigger focus towards reintegration into society

-Prosthetic training due to development of prostheses and orthotics

- OT specific programs in Great Britain were established

- First OT book by Willard and Spackman published

Progress & Events in OT

★ Saw a vision of the future of Occupational Therapy○ Wider in scope and more intensive ○ Therapist must change with the times○ The rating of Occupational Therapy as a profession should be of

concern○ Written record of analysis is important○ The future depends upon

■ needs of the social group■ contributions from allied fields■ the amount of drive within therapists

Grace Herman

★ Women’s Medical Specialist Corps○ Trained army personnel in treatment of amputees

★ Chief OT at Brook Army Medical Center and Welch Convalescent Hospital★ Emphasis on…

○ ADLs○ Reassessment○ Rapport with patients○ Community Reintegration ○ Continuing Education○ Military Hospitals

Captain Mary K. Berteling, OTR

- Physiotherapist with Karl Bobath- Developed neurodevelopmental

treatment- Their treatment protocols still in

use today- Controversy over lack of

evidence of effectiveness

- Worked with clients with cerebral palsy and other neurological deficits

Berta Bobath

- Trained as a physician in NYC and as a psychiatrist under William Bierman

- Psychiatrist- practiced at Veterans Administration Hospitals - 1957- ended his practice to write and teach - Teacher at Rehabilitation Medicine Service at the Miami VA Hospital- Editor of Physical Medicine Library - Author of Occupational Therapy: Principles and Practice (1950,1957)

- co-author William Rush Dunton (psychiatrist) - Editor of first OT Journal (“Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation” →

“American Journal of Physical Medicine”) - Organizer of The International Rehabilitation Medicine Association

(IRMA)

Sidney Licht

Milton Y, Logothetis A (2013). An occupational therapy practice initiative using the Bobath Concept: a collaborative partnership with higher education. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 76(10), 452–455. http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2079/10.4276/030802213X13807217284224

Snow, J. & Harris, N. (1949). Occupational Therapy And Physiotherapy. The British Medical Journal, 1(4603), 548. http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2095/pmc/articles/PMC2052154/?page=1

Steglich, R. (1948). Principles of Occupational Therapy. The American Journal of Nursing, 48(3), 210. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3457707

Willard, H. (2014). A Contextual History of Occupational Therapy. In Willard & Spackman's occupational therapy (12th ed., pp. 19-20). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Hannoun, C. (2012). The evolving history of influenza viruses and influenza vaccines. Expert Review of Vaccines, 1085-1094.

Radomski, M. (2008). Occupational therapy for physical dysfunction (6th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Flax, H. (1979). Sidney Licht, M.D., a man of many seasons. American Journal of Physical Medicine, 58(6), 273-7.

http://www2.uah.es/farmamol/The%20Pharmaceutical%20Century/Ch3.html

Medical Advances Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2014, from http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0932661.html

References

Bobath, B. (1948). The importance of the reduction of muscle tone and the control of mass reflex action in the treatment of spasticity. Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation. 27(5), 371-383. https://twu.illiad.oclc.org/illiad/illiad.dll?Action=10&Form=75&Value=135356

Dudrick, R. (2013). American culture in the 1940s. Retrieved from http://www.lifepaths360.com/index.php/american-culture-in-the-1940s-460/

Herman, G. (n.d.). The Future of Occupational Therapy. American Journal of Physical Medicine, 19(2), 129-132.

Hussey, S., & Chafee, B. (2007). Looking Back: A History of Occupational Therapy. In Introduction to occupational therapy (4th ed., p. 19). St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier Mosby.

Major West, W L, AMSC, USAR. (2009). Professional services of occupational therapists: World war II. Retrieved from http://history.amedd.army.mil/corps/medical_spec/chapterix.html

References