Effectiveness of Occupational Therapy Services in Mental Health Practice

Abstract

National behavioral health care efforts have opened opportunities to reignite occupational therapy mental health practice and research. The profession's person-centered and occupation-based practice fits well with the growing needs of people with serious mental illness (SMI) served in community-based settings. The nine articles in this special issue provide a growing body of evidence to support the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions for adults with SMI to enhance health management skills and promote independence in living a balanced and satisfying life. However, much more high-level research is required to explicitly investigate the contributions of occupational therapy in all areas of occupation for adults with SMI and to broaden the available evidence base to inform occupational therapy practice.

Hvilken fagkompetanse kan ergoterapeuter tilføre FACT-team i oppfølgingen av personer med alvorlig psykisk lidelse?

“…En informant opplevde at ergoterapeuters aktivitetsperspektiv samsvarer med recoveryorientert praksis. Det støttes av Swarbrick & Noyes (2018) som mener at ergoterapeuter har en personsentrert og aktivitetsbasert tilnaerming som sammen med målet om å fremme et selvstendig og tilfredsstillende liv, samsvarer med prinsippene for recovery. Evalueringen av norske FACT-team konkluderer med at FACT-teamene har potensiale til å jobbe mere recoveryorientert (Landheim &Odden, 2020).…”

Occupational Therapy in Integrated Primary Care: Addressing the Needs of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness

“…This population can benefit significantly from access to occupational therapy in order to develop functional living skills, address underlying cognitive deficits, increase self and health management skills, and to more easily transition to and maintain independent living through occupational engagement (Gutman & Raphael-Greenfield, 2017;Helfrich & Fogg, 2007;Roy et al, 2017;Thomas et al, 2017). Current evidence additionally supports the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions to address chronic health conditions, mental health diagnoses, and brain injury; supported interventions also include independent living, and cognitive and self-management skill development (Connolly et al, 2019;Gibson et al, 2011;Ikiugu et al, 2017;Leland et al, 2016;Powell et al, 2016;Pyatak et al, 2018;Radomski et al, 2016;Schwartz et al, 2017;Swarbrick & Noyes, 2018;Thomas et al, 2011).…”

The Effectiveness of Community Occupational Therapy Interventions: A Scoping Review

“…All of these concepts have contributed to the emergence of a new approach to the practice of occupational therapy, emphasizing the promotion of community health as the center of the practice [ 9 ]. This approach has been named in various ways: community-based occupational therapy [ 10 ], community-centered occupational therapy [ 9 ] and Community Occupational Therapy [ 7 , 8 ]. It has been echoed by various models of practice and different institutions [ 3 ].…”