Thesis: Occupational therapy plays an important role in healthcare by helping disabled patients develop, recover and improve the skills necessary for daily life and work through the use of professional tools and recreational activities.I. Occupational therapy has a deep history that has its roots in the development of psychiatry. Many centuries ago, people thought that people with mental disabilities were possessed by evil spirits.1. Zona Weeks describes the treatment: “They were beaten, chained and imprisoned” (Weeks 13).2. In 1800 in Spain, France, England and Germany they removed the mentally disabled from isolation and put them to work on specific tasks.a. They realized that they needed people to help them carry out these tasks.b. Lessons were held to teach them how to carry out the activities.B. In 1917, a small group of people created the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). (Weeks 13)1. Edward Barton, one of the founding members, coined the term occupational therapy.2. Dr. HA Pattison gave the first definition of occupational therapy.C. During World War I in 1917, a U.S. Army commander requested occupational therapists overseas to help wounded soldiers fight again.D. Training standards for occupational therapists were established in 1922.1. Occupational therapists were required to complete a 3-month course in Boston, Philadelphia, and St. Louis.2. In the 1940s all programs became a baccalaureate program.3. In 1946, the American Occupational Therapy Association began evaluating people and issuing certificates. (Weeks 16)E. During World War II, occupational therapists helped treat soldiers.1. Approximately nine hundred occupational therapists divided between hospitals and the armed forces.2. They acquired many new skills and began to specialize.a. They started working with various injuries.b. They have been involved in making orthotic devices such as splints. (Weeks 17)F. After World War II, expansion in the industry continued.1. Occupational therapists began working in the public school system.2. The World Federation of Occupational Therapy was formed in 1952.3. In the 1940s men began to enter the field.4. In 1964, the American Occupational Therapy Foundation was organized for charitable purposes.a. He supported scientific, literary and educational research.b. In addition, it has awarded grants, conducted surveys and research, and published reports. (Weeks 18)G. The field of occupational therapy has grown tremendously over the past forty years.1. In the 1960s, mental health centers were established and Medicaid was created for low-income individuals. In the 1970s, public law mandated education for all handicapped people, forcing public schools to hire large numbers of occupational therapists. Also in the 1970s a great deal of medical knowledge became available.a. This allowed for improved treatment methods.b. OTs benefited from manufactured rehabilitation equipment such as food aids, wheelchairs and splints. (Weeks 19)H. Overall, the occupational therapy field has made a lot of progress since its inception.