What is a 'Third World' country?

 "Despite ever evolving definitions, the concept of the third world serves to identify countries that suffer from high infant mortality, low economic development, high levels of poverty, low utilization of natural resources, and heavy dependence on industrialized nations. These are the developing and technologically less advanced nations of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America. Third world nations tend to have economies dependent on the developed countries and are generally characterized as poor with unstable governments and having high rates of population growth, illiteracy, and disease. A key factor is the lack of a middle class—with impoverished millions in a vast lower economic class and a very small elite upper class controlling the country’s wealth and resources. Most third world nations also have a very large foreign debt" (Mccoll, 2005).

References:

Mccoll, R. W. (2005). Encyclopedia of world geography. Retrieved July 30, 2011, from http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/third_world_countries.htm

Introduction to Blog

Hi, my name is Lisa Cantwell and I am a NZ third year Occupational Therapy (OT) Student.

Occupational Therapy is “ the art and science of enabling engagement in everyday living, through occupation; of enabling people to perform the occupations that foster health and well-being; and enabling a just and inclusive society so that all people may participate to their potential in the daily occupations of life” (Townsend & Polatajko, 2007, p. 372).

As a ‘soon to be’ new graduate Occupational Therapist, I am keenly interested in working within Third World Countries. My interest and reflection has stemmed from my own experiences of mission work in Africa and through studying a humanities paper in my first year of Occupational Therapy training.

Approximately 500 million people are living in the double disadvantage of poverty and disability in the world today (CBM, 2011). The following blog will explore this vicious poverty – disability cycle, the occupational needs and injustice faced in third world countries, and how occupational therapy skills can be utilized to make a difference in the lives of the world’s poorest people. 

This blog has been created for the Transition to Practice paper. I aim to demonstrate my knowledge in this topic area as well as to celebrate my competence to practice Occupational Therapy. This blog will be shown at the OT Student Conference & Expo held at Wintec, Hamilton in collaboration with Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy. 


References: 


CBM (2011). The poverty-disability cycle. Retrieved July 26, 2011, from http://www.cbmnz.org.nz/CHILD+SPONSORSHIP/The+Poverty+-+Disability+Cycle.html

Townsend, E. A. & Polatajko, H. J. (2007). Enabling occupation II: Advancing an occupational therapy vision for health, well-being & justice through occupation. Ottawa, ON: CAOT Publications ACE.