Since 2010, the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) has promoted World Occupational Therapy Day on 27 October worldwide. A health profession that is not among the best known or most mediatised, but whose role and importance continue to grow. This anniversary therefore becomes an opportunity to raise awareness of occupational therapy, the challenges it faces and the developments that are taking place. In a rapidly changing landscape, one certainty is the importance of training.
We talk about this with Stefania Moioli, co-head of the Degree Course in Ergotherapy.

What importance does World Ergotherapy Day have for these healthcare professionals and for those who are called upon to train future occupational therapists?
It is an important day to promote a still little-known profession. The motto chosen by the WFOT for this year is 'unity through community'. It is a motto which first and foremost expresses the purpose of our profession and what we consider to be of value to patients: feeling part of their community. In this sense, occupational therapy intervention is a pathway that aims to support the patient in actively participating in social life despite illness, disability or difficulties.

'Union through community' for us therapists also means feeling part of a professional group, supporting each other and learning from each other. It is important for us to celebrate this day also in a training context, such as our Bachelor training, so that future professionals can draw on this community of reference to develop their professional identity. As occupational therapists, we are called upon to provide continuing education throughout our careers. National associations and the world federation, among others, allow us to cultivate this possibility of developing and perfecting our skills.

This need to never stop learning suggests that the profession and training are undergoing rapid evolution.
There is certainly an evolution of professional identity and knowledge of the role of occupational therapy underway. This evolution is the result of a promotion we have made over the years as to what our intervention can be, in what contexts and with what aims.  

At the same time, this development is a symptom of society's increasing needs: an ageing population, polymorbidity, early diagnoses, increasing psychiatric disorders, to name the main ones, lead to an increase in demands for occupational therapy intervention.

At the same time, we observe an institutional and political change, with the Integrated Planning LAnz-LACD 2021-2030: more and more people want to remain in their community and at home despite an illness, accident or disability situation. This redirects all the interventions of professionals in the social and health sector: whereas previously treatment took place mainly in hospitals or rehabilitation clinics, we are now increasingly turning to other contexts such as schools or the workplace. The goal is recovery or the development of skills to perform activities. When this is not possible, we try to compensate with aids, so that the person can acquire autonomy, or by modifying the environment.

However, the hospital context is different from an outpatient or home intervention context. This radically changes the type of skills that students need to develop: nowadays, recent graduates need to be able to work in both a hospital and a community context, mobilising more complex skills such as organisation and time management, flexibility, autonomy, and the ability to coordinate in a network composed of other professionals involved in taking care of the patient.

What are the other challenges for occupational therapy?
Occupational therapy is increasingly recognised in its more traditional areas. In Ticino, these are the elderly, neurological and orthopaedic rehabilitation, especially for the upper limb and paediatric intervention. We receive more and more requests in the face of a shortage of personnel. There are new areas that are developing: palliative care, professional reintegration, outpatient intervention with people with mental disorders. But even in these contexts there are still not enough occupational therapists to promote the profession. To meet these challenges, World Occupational Therapy Day is certainly an opportunity to make ourselves known. The rest of the year we organise events aimed at secondary school pupils, where the youngest can try their hand at being occupational therapists for a day. We also try to shake up the idea that the profession is purely a female one with a special event for boys. Finally, in the background there is the promotion of health professions by institutions and a cantonal policy to support health training, with the new LPSan of 2019.

What future do you envision and what do you wish for the profession?
As I said, we are in an environment where there is a shortage of health personnel in the face of ever-increasing demands. Schools, politics and also professional associations have to find good strategies to deal with these challenges. I see a future in which occupational therapists, also thanks to the academicisation of the profession, will be able to intervene more autonomously and profile themselves as experienced professionals. I wish occupational therapy to be able to express its full potential and make known the roles and activities that occupational therapists can perform. I wish our students, on the other hand, to find themselves in the curiosity inherent in the profession and to develop their role in new, innovative ways.