Occupational Therapy Timeline

Richard Eastin

Timeline

Historical Perspective OT Pre-1700's

Lack of medical knowledge
Short life spans with little "rehabilitation"
Superstitions, curses, sins caused by mental illness
Insane, criminals, and mentally retarded all treated and housed together
Removal from society without treatment

1732-1822 William Tuke (Quaker)

• Was disgusted by the way patients were treated and the horrendous conditions they had to endure in the insane asylums.
• His basic premise which underlined these principles was to treat these people with "consideration and kindness".

Founded the York Retreat in England.

1793 - (18th and 19th Centuries) Phillipe Pinel - French Physician, Philosopher, and Scholar

In 1793, Phillipe Pinel began what was then called "Moral Treatment and Occupation", as an approach to treating people with mental illness.

1800's The Moral Treatment Movement

• Rights and dignity for all
• Value of work, activity, art , music, and nature.
• Roots of Occupational Therapy begin here with the Moral Treatment Movement
• (William Tuke, Philippe Pinel, and Benjamin Rush)

1746-1813 Benjamin Rush

• Dr. Benjamin Rush, the "Father of American Psychiatry," was one of the most eminent physicians and authors of his day.
• As an Enlightenment intellectual, he was committed to organizing all medical knowledge around explanatory theories, rather than rely on empirical methods.
• Lead the way for organized evidence based medical research.

1745-1826 Philippe Pinel (Quaker)

• A French physician who was instrumental in the development of a more humane psychological approach to the custody and care of psychiatric patients, referred to today as moral therapy.
• Pinel began advocating for, and using, literature, music, physical exercise, nature, and work as a way to "heal" emotional stress, thereby improving one's ability to perform activities of daily living ("ADL's).

William Rush Dunton's principles of Occupational Therapy 1918

• Any activity should have a cure as its objective.
• They activity should be interesting
• There should be a useful purpose other than to merely gain the patient's attention or keep busy
• The activity should lead to an increase in knowledge (skill) on the patient's part.
• Activity should be carried on by others, such as a group.
• The OT should make a careful study of the pt and attempt to meet as many needs as possible through activity.
• Activity should cease before onset of fatigue
• Genuine encouragement should be given whenever indicated.
• Work is much to be preferred over idleness, even when the end product of the patient's labor is of poor quality.

1868-1966 William Rush Dunton Jr.

• was the founder and president of the American Occupational Therapy Association.
• Started a course for nurses to show them how to use arts and crafts in habit training.
• Considered to be "Father of OT"
• Occupational Therapy was known as "Occupation Work" at this time.
• Worked at the Sheppard Asylum in Baltimore.
• Sick minds, Sick bodies, Sick Souls, can be healed through occupation.

Early 1900's
Susan Tracy (Nurse)

• Susan Tracy successfully brought back the use of "occupation" with the mentally ill. She began to specialize in this field and even initiated educating student nurses on the therapeutic use of activities as part of treatment. Tracy coined the term "Occupational Nurse" for those she successfully trained in this specialty.

1905 Susan Tracy

• Known as the "Mother of Occupational Education"
• developed some of the first education for OT
• emphasized importance of correctly matching activities to interests and accurately grading occupations.
• Helped to establish NSPOT.
• Coined the term: OCCUPATIONAL NURSE.
• First structured training program that prepared students to teach patient activities.

Wrote Studies in Invalid Occupations (First OT book).

1910-1940's Occupational Therapy Timeline

• Physical disability occupational Therapy grew of the Reconstruction Aides from WWI.
• There were diversionary activities for soldiers
• Primary site was psychiatric hospitals, long-term
• Media-crafts-major
• Role of these early OT's was that of a generalist
• The Arts and Crafts Movement, was a response to the Industrial Revolution (better with my own two hands, not by machine).

March 15, 1917 - The National Society for Promotion of Occupational Therapy (NSPOT)

 1871-1942 Eleanor Clarke Slagle

• A social worker who had a keen interest in the Mental Hygiene Movement.
• She organized first professional school for OT's
• One of the founding members of National Society for Promotion of Occupational Therapy
• Promoted idea of Habit Training (Replace bad habits with new positive ones).
• Credited with being "Mother or OT

1871-1923 George Edward Barton

• First president of National Society for the Prevention of OT
• Wrote “Reconstruction Therapy”, Added medical science to OT
• Developed Consolation House in NY for rehabilitation, one of the five founders of OT
• Disabled architect who tried his treatments on himself.

 1866-1950 Dr. Adolph Meyer

• a psychologist who worked for better treatment of people with mental illness, often identified with founding the philosophical base of OT.
• Believed in the psycho-biological approach "Holistic Perspective"
• Provided philosophical base for OT.
• Wrote book The Philosophy of Occupational Therapy still guides us today.

1914-1918 World War I and Occupational Therapy