Adolf Meyer

1. Adolf Meyer and George Barton OT513: Analysis and Adaptation of Occupation November 18, 2009 Kara Schreier, Danielle Sotelo, Stephanie Troiano, Laura Seidel

2. Adolf Meyer:Background • Born on September 13, 1866 in Niederweningen, Switzerland • 1892: • Received his medical degree from the University of Zurich • Emigrated to the United States • Wrote The Philosophy of Occupational Therapy in 1922 • Died March 17, 1950 at his home in Baltimore

3. “Our role consists in giving opportunities rather than prescriptions. There must be opportunities to work, opportunities to do, to plan and create, and to use material” (Gordon, 2009).

4. Connection to OT • Believed in individualized treatment • Believed in naturalistic and humanistic treatment approach • Worried doctors prescribe medication instead of taking time to treat each patient and understand them as a person • Believed in using patient’s individual assets to counter mental illness • The “work cure” • Helped develop philosophy of OT

5. Meyer and the value of OT • Mental illness reflects “problems in living”- importance of occupation to mental health • Time use matters- “systematic engagement of interest and concern about the use of time and work was an obligation and a necessity” • Engaging in occupations helps person to integrate and participate in society

6. Meyer and Modern OT • Emphasis on a client-centered approach • Focus on occupational balance • Healthy living is a blend of work and pleasure • The importance of adaptation, for the person, the environment, and the occupation • Recognizing sleep as meaningful occupation • The fundamentals of life: “Work and play and rest and sleep”

7. George Barton:Background Born 1871- Brookline, MA Died 1923

8. Connection to OT Architect Boston Society of Arts and Crafts Little formal medical experience Experience through personal illness, nursing, and independent study First exposure to OT in Clifton Springs Sanatorium- Reverend Elwood Worcester

9. Influence on the Profession • 1914- Consolation House • Work as rehabilitation: “He used his own body as a clinic to work out the problem of rehabilitating himself” (Quiroga, 1995, p. 118). • Grading occupations, energy conservation strategies, efficiency • 1915- coined the term “occupational therapy” • “If there is an occupational disease, why not an occupational therapy?” (Reed & Sanderson, 1999) • 1917- NSPOT- President and chair of Committee on Research and Efficiency • Treat the “whole person” • Occupation as a drug

11. Major Contributions Rehabilitation can be achieved through work and productivity Used OT to work with the physically disabled Energy conservation practices Founded NSPOT

12. Additional Accomplishments • Cured his paralysis • Consolation House • “He wanted to ‘raise the cry that it is time for humanity to cease regarding the hospital as a door closing upon a life…’” (Reed & Sanderson, 1999)

13. Value of OT Medicine only healed illness and patients left hospital completely dependent- OT gives people a purpose Productive and meaningful activity speeds recovery A good occupation is one that “promoted physical improvement, clarified and strengthened the mind and could become the basis or the corollary of a new life upon recovery” (Peloquin, 1991). Injury or illness does not mean life is over. Work can create a new meaningful and purposeful life.

14. End of Life 1918-Resigned from presidency 1918- married Continued as chair of Research and Efficiency Committee of NSPOT 1923- died from tuberculosis

15. Activity!... But first, read this: • "The diagnosis would suggest the prescription: the proper occupation in the proportion necessary to produce the desired physical, mental, and spiritual results. Barton believed that any prescription from materia medica…could be translated into occupational terms. He explained that if medicine prescribed benzol to a patient as a leukotoxin for leukemia, occupational therapy would put the same patient to work in a canning factory where the fumes of hot benzine would ‘keep her in good health’ while she supported herself…. Each human activity could be associated with a physical effect" (Peloquin, 1991).

16. And now… • Barton believed that actual work could act as a cure • Consider a client with: • 1. Depression • 2. Left-side neglect due to a stroke • Using Barton’s theory, what could you “prescribe” the client besides medication or exercises to therapeutically help his/her condition? • Meyer believed in getting to know the individual client because specific activities that individuals find meaningful can help him/her therapeutically • Turn to your neighbor and conduct a brief interview to decide what activities you could utilize as an OT if she was your client and had one of the above diagnoses

17. References • American Occupational Therapy Association. (2009). AOTA: A historical perspective. Retrieved from http://www.aota.org/About/39983.aspx • Bing, R. (1981). Occupational therapy revisited: A paraphrastic journey. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 35, 499–518. Retrieved from http://www.aota. org/ Practitioners/Resources/Slagle/1981.aspx • Gordon, D. M. (2009). The history of occupational therapy. In E. B. Crepeau, E. S. Cohn, & B. A. Boyt Schell (Eds.), Willard & Spackman’s Occupational Therapy (11th ed.) (pp.202-215). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. • Peloquin, S.M. (1991). Looking Back--Occupational Therapy Service: Individual and Collective Understandings of the Founders, Part 1. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 45, 352-260. Retrieved from http://www1.aota.org/ajot/ abstract.asp?IVol=45&INum=4&ArtID=9&Date=April%201991 • Quiroga, V.A.M. (1995). Occupational therapy: The first 30 years 1900-1930. Maryland: The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. • Reed, K. L., & Sanderson, S. N. (1999). Concepts of occupational therapy (4th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. • Ryan, S. E., & Sladyk, K. (Eds.). (2005). Ryan’s occupational therapy assistant: Principles, practice issues, and techniques (4th ed.). New Jersey: Slack. • Soylent Communications. (2009). [Picture of Adolf Meyer]. Adolf Meyer. Retrieved from http://www.nndb.com/people/022/000119662/ • Stein, F., & Cutler, S. K. (2002). Psychosocial occupational therapy: A holistic approach (2nd ed.). New York: Delmar Thomson Learning.