ABSTRACT
Anyone who has worked in a healthcare setting will have had a practical experience of the radical changes that have taken place in care settings in that time, particularly the changes in residential settings. Occupational therapy was experiencing a major identity crisis during the 1970s and many practitioners felt that they were losing their way as a profession. Seminal work on occupation and health in the USA during the early 1980s took the profession back to its roots and started again. The strengthening theory base of the 1980s gave rise in the 1990s to a new breed of occupational therapists who have confidence in their profession. Psychology's interest in engagement appeared to wane in the late 1970s and there is little further evidence of research beyond this point. It was replaced during the 1980s by a growing interest in the remediation of functional therapies which might address the problems of old age.
