Occupational therapists inclusion in the ‘Sistema Único de Assistência Social’ (Brazilian Social Police System): official records on our route

Introduction: Although the social service is the historical action field of the occupational therapist in Brazil, only in 2011, the profession was recognized as one of the qualified professional categories to act in reference teams and/or social services management of the Brazilian Public Social Service System – SUAS. Thus, it is relevant to identify and understand the characteristics of such insertion, in the context of the action of such professionals in social policies. Objective: To describe and characterize the insertion of the occupational therapist in the SUAS, from 2011 to 2016, based on official data. Method: It is a descriptive study performed from secondary data obtained by the SUAS Census. The data were extracted selecting the category of occupational therapists and the respective variables available in the survey. We used a descriptive analysis by simple frequency. Results: In 2016, there were 1.323 occupational therapists officially registered working in the different services provided by the SUAS. From 2011 to 2016, homogeneous characteristics were identified as predominant in the professionals regarding the region of higher prevalence (Southeast), workload (20-30 hours/week), gender (female), and function (member of the technical team). However, there is a variation in the employment type among the different social service units (from civil servants to employees from the private sector). Conclusion: An increase in occupational therapists working in social service was verified, and the organization is required from the profession to meet such demand. It is very important to demonstrate the technical-professional capacity in these spaces, as well as to include an appropriate academic education to perform in this context.