OTOtherCanadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapie2026

Shattering Silence, Inviting Dialogue: Anti-Oppressive Occupational Therapy During the Genocide of Palestinians.

Hiba Zafran, Brenda L Beagan, Dominique Shephard, Heidi Lauckner, Karen Whalley Hammell, Katie Lee Bunting, Marie-Lyne Grenier, Pier-Luc Turcotte, Sara Abdo, Tal Jarus

PMID 40629923

WHAT IT FOUND

There is no study here and no result to act on.

The authors argue that occupational therapy bodies in Canada met the genocide of Palestinians with silence, and that staying neutral in the face of injustice is itself oppressive.

What this paper is

This is a professional commentary, not a study. It argues that occupational therapy bodies in Canada and internationally responded to the genocide of Palestinians with silence, that this silence is itself harmful, and it suggests ways individual therapists and the profession could act, learn, build community and open dialogue. It collects no patient data, describes no intervention and reports no outcomes. There is no finding here to change your practice on.

Declared interests

The authors state that they received no financial support for the research, authorship or publication of the article. No other competing interests are declared in the supplied text.

Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →