The early seventies were lean years for occupational therapists in the Medical and Health Department. Rehabilitation centres were being opened such as David Trench, Hong Kong Psychiatric Centre, Kowloon Hospital West Wing but there were no staff to man them.

In order to cope with the clinical training of occupational therapy students, three Clinical Teaching Units were set up in 1980 in three hospitals. Each Unit was run by a Clinical Unit Supervisor who supervised a group of students on clinical placement in addition to taking a clinical caseload.

The year 1981 saw the formation of the Occupational Therapy Board consisting of ten members, six of whom were occupational therapists. It is part of the Council on Professions Supplementary to Medicine, the government body solely responsible for the implementation of registration for the paramedical professions.

Another major event for occupational therapists occurred in 1981, when a new rank of Occupational Therapist II was introduced, thereby increasing the management possibilities. By July there were 38 of these new posts, 29 Occupational Therapist I posts and 12 Senior posts – indeed a very large increase in staff.

The course at the Polytechnic was recognized by WFOT, (World Federation of Occupational Therapists), backdated to 1978 when the course first commenced. This was greatly rejoiced by all concerned, because now private agencies who had been unwilling to employ therapists from overseas because of the logistics involved, were very happy to employed locally trained occupational therapists. These private sector employers included the areas of mental handicap and specials schools.

In the early eighties, the Medical and Health Department was planning a massive expansion programme with development extending to Tuen Mun and Taipo in the New Territories, and East Kowloon and Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island. In order to meet this expansion of services, the Hong Kong Polytechnic increased its student intake to 60 in 1982 and 80 in 1983. Similarly, increases were made in other paramedical fields. However, owing to unforeseen circumstances, many of these hospital expansion plans were delayed, resulting in the present ironical situation of having graduates but insufficient jobs for them. This has been the situation over the past two years and it looks no different for the 1988 graduates.

Presently, there are over 250 occupational therapists working in Hong Kong’s 81 centres; 20 of these are in the New Territories, 20 on Hong Kong Island and 41 in Kowloon. As well as the many traditional areas, the fields of practice in occupational therapy include:

• Physical disabilities – Hand therapy and treatment if orthopaedic conditions rank high in our treatment areas as there is a high incidence of industrial accidents in Hong Kong.
• Pressure therapy and the treatment of burns have become very advanced in Hong Kong; the need arising because of the high tendency toward hypertrophic scarring in Oriental skin. Occupational therapists here design and construct pressure garments to meet specific client needs.
• Both of the above areas are very advanced in expertise in comparison to many other parts of the world.
• Cerebral palsy and mental handicap in special schools and training centers is a growing sphere of concern, where many have embraced the concept of conductive education.
• Workshops for the ex-mentally ill.
• Gerontology (in Care and Attention Homes). A detailed assessment format for the elderly has been developed in this area for local use and is presently being implemented in several units. Expansion of services for the elderly are evident, including the establishment of geriatric daycare centers and Care and Attention Homes.
  
  

Emerging fields of practice are seen in services for the aged, domiciliary occupational therapy, work in the community e.g. outreach centres for the physically and mentally handicapped, and in sheltered workshops. Occupational therapy has certainly come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1949. In Hong Kong, with its present population of 5.6 million people is still thriving and developing in all areas, including its health services. With further development, Hong Kong will be able to boast a health service comparable to other centres worldwide.