Socio-environmental vulnerability and early childhood caring: the approach of occupational therapy for the daycare work

Abstract

Education and care are articulated on early childhood and are understood as complementary to family care. Caring, educating and preventing risks of children’s development are all part of Occupational Therapy’s scope and are essential aspects of the early childhood care. This study observed vulnerabilities of the territory and the development in the process of healthcare in an educational environment. As a qualitative study, semi-structured interviews with families and daycare professionals were used, and observations of children in the daycare center. It was observed that the structural changes present in the region are related to poor health and hygiene conditions, which put the territory, the daycare center and the local population in a situation of vulnerability; the daycare center is seen as a place that lessens the risks for children; regarding the families, the daycare center appears as a support against the difficulties found in childcare; intersectional actions are fragile, and the daycare centers can’t find a support network in the healthcare system or in social assistance, in the sense of strengthening partnerships and concrete actions. On a complex perspective, the intersectionality has been a powerful tool to face situations of social vulnerability and for early childhood care.