The Occupational Therapy Association of Morocco (OTAM) is the national professional association of occupational therapy practitioners and students since 2016 to promote the interests of the OT profession and improve healthcare in Morocco.
“OT practitioners can assist children in developing their daily occupations at home or at school. There are many research studies that show the effectiveness of OT for children who have some developmental issues such as, but not limited to hand writing. OT treatment with the collaboration of teachers has led to improved handwriting legibility in students with poor handwriting legibility (Case-Smith, 2002). OT is also much needed for adults who are in need of regaining their daily functional occupational skills after an injury, surgery, or accident. Recent research showed the importance of OT in dealing with this population in a randomized controlled study that emphasized how OT can provide significant benefits for older adults (Clark et al, 1997).”
“For the first time, the recent influx of “junk food” into the culture has led to rising obesity rates. Given these issues, occupational therapy services can focus on education in the area of healthy diets, medication management, and high blood sugar and blood pressure monitoring. In a report from the World Health Organization, it was estimated that non-communicable diseases accounted for 75% of the total deaths in Morocco in 2012 (World Health Organization, 2014). The data of non-communicable diseases in Morocco in 2012 is as a follows: cardiovascular diseases 34%, cancers 11%, chronic respiratory diseases 4%, diabetes 12%, and other non-curable diseases 14%. Occupational therapy practice in Morocco can assist patients with these diseases by doing actions such as teaching patients with cardiovascular disease principles of energy conservation and work simplification or working with people with chronic respiratory diseases and teaching them how to use adaptive equipment and pursed lip breathing. In addition, occupational therapy can play a big role when working with people with diabetes and teaching them the importance of exercising, eating healthy food, monitoring their blood sugar, and changing their impoverished life styles and behaviors.”