The purpose of this essay is to describe the term occupation, the basic and most important concept in occupational therapy (OT), and to urge the translation of OT concepts in Filipino. OT is a branch of rehabilitation that deals with the improvement or maintenance of a person's skills to perform daily activities. The profession started in the Philippines more than 40 years ago, and the medium of its instruction is English. Until now, there is no official register of OT terminology in Filipino, which may have resulted in a mixing of the two languages when communicating with clients. This may have led to the misunderstanding of the client on the role of OT in improving quality of life, and to the difficulty of the therapist to encourage clients to take active part in their own therapy. To facilitate service delivery, the therapist should be able to communicate in a language which is used and understood by the Filipino client. A register of OT terms in Filipino and its dissemination among
therapists in practice and academe is the proposed solution.