Undressing the Facts: The Problems Encountered by Male Occupational Therapists

Abstract

More men are now entering the predominantly female world of occupational therapy. This raises the question of whether gender has any implication for the structure of occupational therapy, particularly at departmental level, and for the individual male concerned. To explore these issues, a third-year student project was designed to identify possible problem areas inherent in being a male occupational therapist. The results are based on 37 postal questionnaires returned by male occupational therapists. Although it was found that there was a high degree of satisfaction with many areas, some problems were encountered in relation to dressing practice, home visits and poor male staff facilities. The conclusion was that there are several problem areas inherent in being a male occupational therapist and that these need to be tackled to prevent them becoming a source of discontent within the profession.