An Occupational Perspective of Occupational Therapy and the Medical Hegemony System in Malaysia—Exploration for Further Research

Abstract

Occupational Therapy is critically underdeveloped in many developing countries in Asia. There are many internal and external barriers to the growth of the profession, including lack of willpower and lack of professional representation in the government. This article aims to communicate the postulations for its stagnation across developing countries in Asia. An analytical reflection and historical review of the barriers to the growth of occupational therapy in Malaysia was conducted. Leaders in the field who met the inclusion criteria, collaborated to shape the reconstructions using an occupational reconstruction approach. The reconstruction guided key critical reflections on the roots of daily experiences to relive the cooperative action to problem solve the issues encountered by the profession in Malaysia. Medical hegemony was found as the active suppressor of the health professions, and can be seen as being beyond reproach in the Asian’s medical model that created occupational injustices. These occupational injustices hinder the growth of Occupational Therapy, do not serve the patients, science or the overall healthcare system. Autocratic governance has a debilitating impact on health sciences and its workforce especially around badly oppressed Asian countries. A greater systematic approach is needed to examine the extent, effect, problem solve and remediate the magnitude of injustices over the last decade—to make way for an inclusive and affordable care system.