Abstract:

This article describes the emergence of occupational science as the knowledge base for occupational therapy. It recognises the work of the faculty of occupational therapy at the University of Southern California as the instigator of this development, and traces the origin of occupational science to occupational therapy pioneers in the USA in the first decades of this century. Research into the complexities of the interaction between people and occupations is suggested as of prime importance to the study of future health and the future of occupational therapy. Occupational therapists are encouraged to become scientists by challending the basic assumptions of their profession.