Occupational Therapy in the hospital context: an outline of the profession in general and specialized hospitals in Salvador, Bahia State

The aim of this research is to describe the acting areas of Occupational Therapy in the hospital context of the General and Specialized Hospitals in Salvador. State of Bahia. The specific objectives are to identify the procedures performed by the occupational therapist and know the profile of this professional in this context. It is a transversal descriptive study of quantitative approach carried out between March and November 2010. The sample consists of 23 occupational therapists (2 men and 21 women), 67.5% of all area professionals working in hospitals in Salvador. A questionnaire with 19 questions previously elaborated for this research was used as data collection instrument. The questions focused on three categories: identification of therapists; acting areas and procedures performed; and Occupational Therapy and multidisciplinary work. Results showed that 95.2% of the professionals who work in the city's hospitals are women graduated at the State Medicine and Public Health School ("Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saude Publics"). Regarding the Life Cycles, nine of the occupational therapists (39.1%) work with more than 1 cycle. Evaluations and guidelines were the most used procedures. Concerning multidisciplinary work, more than half (56.5%) responded that working together with other professionals is very important to their practice, as well as to their patients' recovery. The specific areas where there is predominance of occupational therapists are pediatrics, intensive care and burn units. It was possible to conclude that the practice of O.T. in this context is under expansion. The amount of professionals working in hospitals in the State of Bahia is still very small in comparison to other states. There is need for a more detailed description involving all possible areas of performance and the procedures realized by Occupational Therapy in the hospitals of the State of Bahia.