The thesis addresses the issue of the development of the profession of "Occupational Therapy" and professional education in this area. The scientific literature on the issue is reviewed, a theoretical analysis of occupational therapy is done, and its content as a sphere of professional activities and a technology of healthcare is highlighted. The majority of scientific works in the area of occupational therapy are found to be published by foreign scholars. The notion of "occupation" is defined as human pursuits that are goal-directed or purposeful, performed in situations or contexts that influence the doer and others, and are meaningful to the individual. The notion of "occupation" is considered to be a central activity underlying occupational therapy and its functioning as a sphere of professional activities. The features of the process of occupational therapy (the client's needs assessment, intervention and its outcomes) are revealed; the practical patterns of occupation and profile characteristics of occupational therapy (the client's areas of occupation, factors, performance patterns and skills, professional activity demands, contexts and environment as well as factors) are presented; and the spheres of its practical application (medicine, rehabilitation, psychology, social sphere, spiritual sphere, and healthcare) are described. It is indicated that the development of occupational therapy as a sphere of professional activities and professional education resulted in the establishment of the World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT) and further development of "Occupational Science", a new academic discipline. The requirements to the professional education programs as released by the WFOT are explored. The five components of these programs are determined, which are: the teaching process sequence and content, methods of teaching, fieldwork, educators, and educational resources and facilities. The scientific and practical experiences of training occupational therapists at Canadian universities at all educational levels are explored and theoretically grounded. It is found out that the training of occupational therapists begins with an undergraduate (Bachelor's) level and continues at a graduate (Master's) level. Besides there are training courses for admission as well as professional development courses. Professionally-oriented courses embrace a large amount of time at different educational levels. In the course outline, its content and structure are clearly presented, and the requirements for students are provided. The curriculum includes the study of the five aspects of occupational therapy, which are: the "person-occupation-environment" relationship and interrelation between occupation and healthcare; a therapeutic and professional relationship; an occupational therapy process; professional motivation and conduct; and professional practice. Each of these aspects is characterized with a clearly defined scope of knowledge, skills and emotional, value-based relations, which, in their turn, are developing competencies of occupational therapists. The results of the survey targeted at needs assessment with respect to professionals in occupational therapy and revealing attitudes towards the new profession in Ukraine confirmed the interest in occupational therapy and its acceptance as a new profession as well as the existing need in developing the area of professional education in occupational therapy in Ukraine. Based on the study of the Canadian experience in the field of occupational therapy and search for possible ways of applying this experience in Ukraine, the training module to train social workers to apply occupational therapy was developed. The training module "Technologies of health promotion in social work: Occupational therapy" was taught to graduate students of the "Social work" speciality at Lviv Polytechnic National University. The opportunities of the related subjects and field instruction system were used for developing competencies in occupational therapy. It is revealed that introducing occupational therapy is at its early stage in Ukraine, and the pattern of the development of occupational therapy as a new sphere of professional activities and professional education in Ukraine is proposed. There is the need in popularizing occupational therapy, raising the community awareness regarding the new profession opportunities; delivering professional development programs for social workers and other professionals in healthcare as well as trainings for pupils and students; developing practical spheres of occupational therapy; creating associations of occupational therapists; using occupational therapy in rehabilitation centres, family homes, foster families; creating a legal framework for the application of occupational therapy in the context of the new profession development in Ukraine.
