COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY – AN APPROACH TO A CURRICULUM DESIGN

According to the United Nations (2015) the new Development Agenda 2030 is “a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity” aiming to “end extreme poverty, fight inequality & injustice and fix climate change for... [ view full abstract ]

According to the United Nations (2015) the new Development Agenda 2030 is “a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity” aiming to “end extreme poverty, fight inequality & injustice and fix climate change for everyone, by 2030”. The message from this agenda is clear “no one will be left behind” and the targets expressed in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals apply “for all people in all countries”.
After a first experience in implementing a short module on community development in our occupational therapy program curriculum, during the scholar year of 2014/2015, we embraced this new agenda as an excellent opportunity to better integrate this theme in the curriculum, in order to facilitate students’ awareness and development of competences on the unique contribution of occupational therapy in this paradigm shift in society. Theory and practice of community development were tailored, being the contents and assignments adjusted to each group of students from the 1st to 4th grade. The community in which students focused for their practice was the wider academic community.
The results obtained so far are optimistic and students reported this to be a very important theme, not only for their academic development but also for their personal development as citizens. This approach will be revised for next scholar year, being the biggest challenge how to offer students of the 4th grade the opportunity for fieldwork practice in this area.

UNITED NATIONS. (2015). Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015. [Online] Available from: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E