Role for Occupational Therapy in Community Mental Health: Using Policy to Advance Scholarship of Practice

Abstract

Occupational therapists must be aware of professional and policy trends. More importantly, occupational therapists must be involved in efforts to influence policy both for the profession and for the people they serve (Bonder, 1987). Using the state of Illinois as an example, this article reviews the policies and initiatives that impact service decisions for persons with psychiatric disabilities as well as the rationale for including occupational therapy in community mental health service provision. Despite challenges in building a workforce of occupational therapists in the mental health system, this article makes the argument that the current climate of emerging policy and litigation combined with the supporting evidence provides the impetus to strengthen mental health as a primary area of practice. Implications for scholarship of practice related to occupational therapy services in community mental health programs for individuals with psychiatric disability are discussed.

Initial Development of the Activity Card Sort-Advancing Inclusive Participation from a Homeless Population Perspective

“…This version differs from previous iterations of the ACS as it uses line drawings to reduce or remove indications of specific race, ethnicity, gender, and sex [ 25 ]. The choice to make this change was based on recent literature regarding the changing demands for occupational therapy practitioners working in community-based settings [ 26 ]. The use of line drawings to depict occupations is a new contribution in this version of ACS.…”

Límites y encuentros del perdón, la reconciliación, y la salud mental comunitaria. Un camino iniciado en la formación de la psicología comunitaria

“…Muchas de las nociones nacen de la psiquiatría y la enfermería en la que se plantean la movilización de recursos y dispositivos sanitarios a las zonas marginales o alejadas de los centros urbanos para ofrecer atención en salud mental por parte de los profesionales, en otras palabras, se comprende como parte de la salud pública y rescata el valor de la atención primaria en salud. (M Desviat y A, 2000; Guerrero et al, 2016;Levav, 1992;Roberts et al, 2014;Stuber et al, 2014) Una segunda perspectiva es la que se deriva de diferentes corrientes o bases epistemológicas que muestran su interés por dar atención en salud mental a los pacientes en sus contextos naturales y que priman su modelo, ajustando y flexibilizando su accionar a los entornos comunitarios (Bayes, 1983;Carrazana, 2003;Gracia, 1999;Küstner et al, 2002;Mahaffey et al, 2015), estos van desde psiquiatras, enfermeras, psicólogos, terapeutas ocupacionales, pediatras (Cullins et al, 2016) entre otros, lo que muestra es la valoración amplia y holística del proceso de salud mental en las comunidades.…”

Intersections of occupational participation and borderline personality disorder: A grounded theory approach

“…Based on this study's findings, it would be appropriate to add occupational therapists to the multidisciplinary team of practitioners working with people who have BPD. While some mental health settings employ occupational therapists, this is the exception, not the rule (Mahaffey et al, 2015). Moreover, as the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out in their 2017 report Rehabilitation 2030: A Call for Action:…”