This article presents the results of a systematic review, which aimed to investigate how researchers of Brazilian occupational therapy conceptualize social participation and which theoretical references are used or produced in the area to discuss this concept. The review consisted of searching the bibliographic productions of Brazilian occupational therapists available online in journals of the area, in LILACS and SciELO. There were 481 articles identified and, based on the exploratory and selective reading, 31 articles were considered for descriptive, critical and interpretive analysis, dealing with exploratory research and reflection/essay and case studies, experience reports, and bibliographic review. Researchers presented plurality in the definition and understanding of social participation; however, there's still no clarity about these different ways of approaching the concept, which can be justified by the inexistence or lack of a better theoretical-conceptual foundation. Other terms, such as "participation"; "sociocultural participation"; "community participation" and "political participation" were used as synonyms of social participation. This variation in the use of terms also resulted from the different fields of action in which the studies were carried out and from the theoretical references used. Some articles did not define social participation, even if the concept was the subject of research and/or analysis. However, they used references that help understand how their authors understand social participation. As in other fields of knowledge, occupational therapy presents a multiplicity of definitions or notions of the concept that is influenced by different sciences and disciplines, which also reveals consensus and divergence. Participação social em terapia ocupacional: sobre o que estamos falando?Resumo: Este artigo apresenta os resultados de revisão sistemática, que visou investigar como pesquisadoras da terapia ocupacional brasileira conceituam participação social e quais referenciais teóricos são utilizados ou produzidos na área para discutir sobre esse conceito. A revisão constituiu-se de busca pelas produções bibliográficas de terapeutas ocupacionais brasileiros disponíveis online em periódicos da área, na LILACS e SciELO. Foram identificados 481 artigos e, a partir da leitura exploratória e seletiva, considerou-se 31 artigos para análise descritiva, crítica e interpretativa, que tratam de pesquisas exploratórias e estudos de reflexão/ensaio e de caso, relatos de experiência e revisão bibliográfica. As pesquisadoras apresentaram pluralidade na definição e entendimento sobre a participação social, todavia ainda há pouca clareza sobre essas diferentes formas de abordar o conceito, o que pode ser justificado pela inexistência ou escassez de melhor fundamentação teórica-conceitual. Outros termos, como: "participação"; "participação sociocultural"; "participação comunitária" e "participação política" foram utilizados como sinônimos de participação social. Essa variação no uso dos termos também decor...

This article aims to discuss the social participation of disabled persons and the exercise of social control in the specific Organizations, Associations, Groups and Council of the segment. For this, the study builds a relationship between: understanding about disability, the issue of representativeness and the role of this segment in the struggle for rights and in the social control of public policies. And it brings as a key reading the conceptions of participatory democracy, social control; the different perspectives of understand the deficiency and the conceptions of Hannah Arendt for public and private space. This is an exploratory study carried out with organizations OF and FOR disabled persons, through semi-structured interviews with coordinators and presidents; participant observation of meetings and assemblies; documentary research on municipal and national laws and decrees, municipal conferences on education, health and social assistance, statutes, folders, minutes and leaflets produced by the Organizations and through the construction of a field diary. The results and discussions approach the reality of a specific municipality, however, are also marked by the national context of the struggle organized by the rights of disabled persons. The social representations of disability, coupled with the dynamics of the functioning and management of the Organizations and the changes in the social movements formed in the streets, in the public and private spaces, present, at the same time, weaknesses and potentialities in the defense and strengthening of the participation of disabled persons in decision-making processes.

Background Social participation has been incorporated by occupational therapists in Brazil, and worldwide, as a professional concept to guide practice. The concept has been studied, defined, and constructed from multiple fields of knowledge and can be defined as the social and political involvement of people in social groups and /or public and community spaces. There are different understandings of social participation in occupational therapy and the objective of this study was to explore how Brazilian occupational therapists define social participation in their fields of knowledge. Method Through application of the Delphi technique, Brazilian occupational therapy academics and professionals who have worked in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, collaboratively responded to an online questionnaire. In the consultation phase, occupational therapists wrote their conceptions about social participation and, in the consensus phase, expressed their opinions and judgements, in order to, in a collective construction, establish a consensus on the definition of social participation. Results In the first round of the consensus phase, 38 academics and 27 professionals participated and in the second round, 20 and 14, respectively. Results were analysed quantitatively, through the establishment of degrees of agreement for conceptions arranged in statements. Then, six categories of analysis were built, which identified the multiple ways of understanding social participation: social participation and social interactions, social participation and freedom of movement, social participation as an experience in public and political life, social participation and human activities, social participation and the process of social inclusion, and social participation in the fields of knowledge and practice in occupational therapy. Conclusion There are theoretical‐conceptual differences in the understandings and uses of social participation in occupational therapy that delimit specificity and design the identities of the profession in society. The need to discuss knowledge production, accumulation, and dissemination and practices is debated.

Oliver FC, Lopes RE, Malfitano APS, Silva ACC, Silva RAS. III Seminário Nacional de Pesquisa em Terapia Ocupacional: Contribuições para o Desenvolvimento da Área. Rev Ter Ocup Univ São Paulo. 2016 set-dez.;27(3):361-8. RESUMO:Desde o ano de 2009, com o I Seminário Nacional de Pesquisa em Terapia Ocupacional (SNPTO), os pesquisadores da área discutem a institucionalização acadêmica e a produção do conhecimento em terapia ocupacional. Este relato descreve e analisa o III SNPTO, realizado em 2014, na Universidade Federal da Paraíba, por meio do estudo de relatórios do evento e a análise descritiva dos trabalhos publicados em seus Anais. Também são apresentados e discutidos os perfis dos participantes e indicadas as discussões e contribuições dos relatos dos 10 Grupos Temáticos de Trabalho realizados no evento. A análise de dados indica que a maior parte dos participantes era docente de instituições públicas. Em relação ao evento anterior, houve aumento do número de trabalhos e maior compromisso com a produção de conhecimento na área, observado pelo crescimento de pesquisas apresentadas, grande parte decorrente de experiências com dados empíricos sobre as práticas profissionais. Os participantes reconhecem a necessidade de se alcançar maior legitimidade no âmbito científico da profissão para acesso a apoio de agências de financiamento à pesquisa e maior institucionalidade acadêmica e indicaram a importância da continuidade desse evento. DESCRITORES: ABSTRACT: Since 2009, through the First Occupational TherapyResearch National Seminar, researchers have been discussing the field academic institutionalization and the contribution to the development of research and knowledge production in occupational therapy. This text describes and analyzes the Third Research Occupational Therapy National Seminar, held in 2014, at the Federal University of Paraiba (Universidade Federal da Paraíba), through reports of the seminar and the descriptive analysis of the papers published in its Proceedings. It is also presented and discussed the profiles of the participants, and the discussions and contributions from the reports of the 10 Thematic Working Groups. The data analysis indicate that most of the participants were professors, with increasing papers numbers and a greater commitment to the production of knowledge in occupational therapy, which was observed by the papers presented, based on researches, largely due to empirical data on professional practices. It is necessary to achieve bigger legitimacy in the scientific field in order to get access to funding, in research agencies, as well as higher academic insertion. The participants indicated the importance to continue with this Seminar.

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