Occupational Therapy and COVID-19: a socio-historical and disciplinary study of the production of knowledge between 2020 and 2024 in Latin America

Abstract

This study reviews the literature on theorical contributions, narrative of experience and statements from occupational therapists that were published in Latin American occupational therapy journals between 2020 and 2024 on specific axes of analysis: 1) health policies and services in Latin America; 2) health experts and health care agents in Latin American countries; 3) civil society and Latin American governments response to the pandemic; 4) new ways of working in the health sector and 5) the practice of occupational therapy in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main findings from this research are: the Covid pandemic exacerbated preexisting social inequalities in the region; the state of exception and emergency deeply affected the general population and health professionals’ everyday life; and the pandemic led to a resurgence of the false dichotomy between health and economy.