Occupational therapy in isolated contexts and challenges for health education
Keywords:
health education; health equity; occupational therapy; primary health care; rural healthAbstract
Introduction: Training health professionals in geographically isolated contexts is a major challenge for healthcare systems due to workforce distribution gaps and structural limitations affecting care delivery. In this context, occupational therapy plays a strategic role in promoting health equity.
Objective: To analyze challenges in health education from an occupational therapy perspective in geographically isolated contexts.
Methods: A narrative review of scientific and technical literature published between January 2013 and March 2026 was conducted using Scopus, SciELO, and Google Scholar, with descriptors in Spanish and English combined through Boolean operators. Initial screening covered 326 records, and the final corpus comprised 24 documents on rural health, primary care, and health professional training.
Development: Evidence shows gaps in workforce distribution, insufficient territorial-focused training, adverse structural conditions, and sociocultural barriers affecting practice in these contexts. Challenges in undergraduate and postgraduate education were identified, highlighting the need to incorporate competencies in rural health, community work, and interculturality.
Conclusions: Territorial-focused health education is essential to improve healthcare responses in isolated contexts. Occupational therapy contributes key elements to the development of more relevant training and care models aimed at achieving health equity.
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