Occupational Therapy in Health Care

Abstract

Social critics have been writing with increasing frequency about the dramatic changes that we are beginning to experience in our society. Economic, political, scientific/technical and social forces are all combining to reshape and restructure our world. Many traditional institutions will change in response to these transformations in society. In particular, the health care system as we know it today is expected to be radically different by the end of this decade. This paper presents a view of the future of health care as specialists move from a mechanistic, cause-effect orientation to a systems view of human problems. Occupational therapy's readiness and willingness to assume new roles in patient care is evaluated. Finally, strategies for dealing with new clinical puzzles are discussed.