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OBJECTIVE. More is known about the experience of occupational therapists than the experience of patients during the profession's early years. We examined soldiers' experiences of occupational therapy in American Base Hospital 9 in France during World War I through analysis of a 53-line poem by Corporal Frank Wren contained in the unpublished memoir of occupational therapy reconstruction aide Lena Hitchcock.
METHOD. Historical documentary research methods and thematic analysis were used to analyze the poem, the memoir, and the hospital's published history.
RESULTS. The poem describes the activities engaged in during occupational therapy, equipment used, and the context of therapy. It articulates positive dimensions of the experience of engaging in activities, including emotional benefits, diversion, and orthopedic benefits.
CONCLUSION. Previous historical research has identified core philosophical premises about the use of occupational therapy; in this article, the enactment of these principles is established through the analysis of a soldier's account of receiving occupational therapy.
The year 2017 marks 100 years since the formal naming of occupational therapy. The development of the profession was heavily influenced by the First World War and the subsequent rehabilitation efforts to which occupational therapy reconstruction aides contributed. The year 2017 also marks 100 years since the entry of the United States into World War I. Commemoration of these events and significant people is valuable in its own right, and it also provides an opportunity to reflect on the core assumptions, beliefs, values, and practices of the profession and therefore can inform current theory and practice.
Background
The involvement of occupational therapy reconstruction aides in World War I is widely acknowledged to have spurred the development of the profession (Low, 1992). The U.S. World War I rehabilitation program was based on a British model, and this program was facilitated by close connections between leading American orthopedic surgeon Joel Goldthwait and Britain's Sir Robert Jones. The British system of rehabilitation included medical-mechanical treatment, physical therapy, massage therapy, vocational training, and engineering workshops (Linker, 2011). Advocating for a similar service, the American orthopedic surgeons presented plans to the Surgeon General claiming that their medical knowledge of injury made them most suited to manage all aspects of reconstruction, including physiotherapy, bedside occupations, curative workshops, and vocational reeducation (Gutman, 1995).
The U.S. Army began its...