Occupational Therapy History Matters

What Isn’t at the V&A Storehouse You can’t escape it: this is the same colonial museum we know, in a shiny new suit

A devastating critique of an uncurated, uncatalogued collection @profdanhicks.bsky.social
A new museum/archive/warehouse in London with 'at least a thousand unlabelled items sitting on the shelves. There’s no way of finding out what they are'. Extraordinary!
artreview.com/what-isnt-at...

Friday essay: ‘Like a detective examining a crime scene.’ Natalie Harkin charts the intimate history of Aboriginal domestic service In an extract from her new book, Narungga poet and researcher Natalie Harkin reveals intimate truths about the shameful history of Aboriginal domestic labour.

Harrowing stories from the archives:

theconversation.com/friday-essay...

Pleasure. Acknowledges significant contributions to health sector. Suspect many examples, sadly hidden or forgotten. @BAMEOTUK striving to rectify this sorry state in #OTHIstory

Fabulous resource: so easy to navigate and full of fascinating histories.
Thanks @remakingbritain.bsky.social

OT History Matters on X: "2/13 A thread with 10 papers showcasing some rare histories of #OccupationalTherapy education. They are from America, Brazil, England and Ireland. Apologies, most are behind paywalls." / X 2/13 A thread with 10 papers showcasing some rare histories of #OccupationalTherapy education. They are from America, Brazil, England and Ireland. Apologies, most are behind paywalls.

Always disappointed that there are so few histories of #OccupationalTherapy education across the world. Here's a thread of 10 research papers from 2022. Enjoy and let's create more!
x.com/HistoryOt/st...

It's one of the Lost Hospitals of London. Lots of information at
ezitis.myzen.co.uk/botleyspark....

The archive for Botley's Park Hospital is held at
archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archi...

Botley's Park was one of the first #OccupationalTherapy training schools in the UK, opening in January 1949 with 6 students. It provided a rare opportunity to gain experience of working with people with profound learning disabilities. Training ended in 1976.
A brief history Wilcock's 2002 book.

OT History Matters on X: "Are you following Eleanor Clarke Slagle, #OTHistory maker extraordinary, on Facebook? Lovely archival papers about 1941 reception in the White House and relationship with Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt. https://t.co/PxgaxNzOvR" / X Are you following Eleanor Clarke Slagle, #OTHistory maker extraordinary, on Facebook? Lovely archival papers about 1941 reception in the White House and relationship with Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt. https://t.co/PxgaxNzOvR

Reminds of Eleanor Clarke Slagle's connections with the White House.
Check out Slagle's Facebook page.

x.com/HistoryOt/st...

Congressman Kennedy Introduces Bill to Improve Access to Occupational Therapy

This link works! kennedy.house.gov/news/documen...

Exemplary advocacy and activism: OT Mental Health Parity Act, led by Congressmen Tim Kennedy & Zach Nunn.
'It’s about giving folks meaningful tools to stay independent, safe, and healthy.' Rep. T. Kennedy #OccupationalTherapist in USA Congress. More at kennedy.house.gov/news/documents…

Everyday Welfare in Modern British History This open access book offers a new approach to understandings of welfare in modern Britain by tracing deep connections across diverse settings.

New book about 'welfare' intriguing chapters and free to download:
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Topic: sustainability. Method: philosophical

Topic: professional identity. Method: analysis of Muriel Driver Memorial Lectures

@CJOT_RCE is becoming a favourite journal! Why?
Authors take deep, thoughtful dives into topical subjects, often using innovative methods. Also, many free to read articles.
Why not share your favourite #OccupationalTherapy journal?
Two examples from early view

Looks fabulous. Enjoy!
Always associate Philadelphia with one of the first schools of #OccupationalTherapy in the world; and the legendary Willard & Spackman. Open access history research at
encompass.eku.edu/jote/vol1/is...

Volume 79 Issue 2 | The American Journal of Occupational Therapy | American Occupational Therapy Association

See March/April 2025 at
research.aota.org/ajot/issue
A few articles are open access.

Wow! What special issue of the American Journal of
Occupational Therapy!
25 thought provoking articles on diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, accessibility and belonging
Brave. Right thing to do @AOTAInc in political context
Must read @BAMEOTUK @AbleOTUK @LGBTQIAOTUK

Vale Betty Yerxa, a legendary #OccupationalTherapist - educator, researcher, theoretican and one of the founders of #OccupationalScience
chan.usc.edu/news/latest/...

OK, but a way to go. X seems to offer more spark, connections and amplifier of controversial topic in #OccupationalTherapy
Still need to block the bots and adverts though.

WFOT Awards | WFOT WFOT Awards aim to recognise outstanding individual achievements and contributions that have significantly impacted on the occupational therapy community. We celebrate excellence through the passion,...

On #InternationalWomensDay2025 we celebrated pioneers, in many countries, awarded @thewfot Honorary Fellowships since 1954. Roll of Honour at wfot.org/about/wfot-a...

We are too, as are many others.

Here's a better link to this fabulous resource.
caot.ca/site/prac-re...

Epic! Well done to the Canadian Association @CAOT_ACE for creating an open access, clearing house about economic evaluations of #OccupationalTherapy Explore at
caot.ca/site/prac-res/…

(PDF) Letter to the Editor Addressing the Exclusion of Palestinian Perspectives in Occupational Therapy Research on War and Mental Health in Israel PDF | This letter addresses the article by Lipskaya-Velikovsky et al. (2025), which examined mental health and contributing factors among... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Research...

At last, #OccupationalTherapy permits public debate of 'geopolitics'
Well done the American Journal of Occupational Therapy.
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

3/3 What's happening this year? We've started to edit Occupational Therapy. Why? This page gets c.800 views a day. It's been criticised as primarily about USA, and in need of a serious edit and re-write. See what you think and do share what you're doing on Wikipedia.

In January 2023 there were 28 entries under the category 'occupational therapists' - a year later there were 57.

2/3 Wikipedia year 1. Remember what we did in the first year? Most importantly, we created an entry for Evelyn Mary Macdonald and expanded the biography of Susan Edith Tracy.

Done 60 edits in the year: adding citations, information and correcting errors

1/3 Wikipedia year2! Editing, monitoring and learning continues.
Here's our annual report about the activities to increase the presence of #OccupationalTherapy on 1 of the top 10 websites.

Not surprising. It's a golden oldie by a forgotten pioneer - early proponent of occupation administered by nurses. For us, her examples oozed principles, such as activity analysis, grading the activity and adapting the environment.

William Macewen - Wikipedia

Definitely! Another reminder of World War I injuries, including shell shock, with demand for rehabilitation for an emerging profession.
Sir William Macewen was a distinguished surgeon.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...

Check out her entry on Wikipedia which we expanded in 2023.
All part of our service and mission to make #OTHistory matter!
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_E...

Always happy to share important information, especially when relates to children and reminds of Susan E Tracy, a remarkable founder who wrote about occupation for children in 1910.