A atuação da Terapia Ocupacional no uso abusivo de drogas – contribuições da profissão neste campo

Abstract

Chemical dependence is currently a widely discussed phenomenon, as the abusive use of drugs became an issue of public health considering that its use will impact social security, health and wellbeing. The abusive use of psychoactive substances leaves the individual feeling unorganised, thus interfering with their occupation. As human occupation is the base of OT, it therefore becomes necessary the contributions of the profession in this field, which seeks to reframe the daily life of users through actions/therapeutic resources. These actions are then thought of and traced in conjunction with the individual in their own Singular Therapeutic Project. This undergraduate dissertation aims to understand the impact and the importance of OT in this field, looking at the use of Harm Reduction (RD) strategies in the field of chemical dependence and looking to analyse the importance of occupational therapy procedures in this context. The dissertation is based on qualitative research, with the utilization of snowball sampling in a semi-structured, self-supporting online questionnaire with occupational therapists that work in the field. In this research, the aim was to deepen the practice of Occupational Therapy with the user in situations where there was abusive use of drugs, by using reports of practice that the OTs have brought, thus becoming possible to greater understand the impact of the profession in this field. The results obtained refer to the occupational therapy practices developed by the interviewees, mainly through Psychosocial Attention Centres for alcohol and other drugs (CAPS) and practices in the sphere of RD. Therefore showing its benefits.