The role of occupational therapists in the provision of dietary interventions for people with severe mental illness: Results from a national survey

Abstract

Introduction: People living with severe mental illness are at least twice as likely to be obese as the general population, partly due to lifestyle risk factors including poor diet quality. This study aims to quantify how Australian mental health occupational therapists address the dietary issues of people with severe mental illness. Method: A 23-item cross-sectional online survey was distributed via email to all members of Occupational Therapy Australia, with those working in mental health (an estimated 305 members) invited to participate. Response frequencies were analysed in SPSS. Open-ended comments were subjected to thematic analysis. Results: Eight-six eligible participants (28.2% of the target population) completed the full survey. Most (81%) felt confident in providing healthy eating advice, with 76% reporting being self-educated about nutrition. Dietitian support for complex advice was seen as beneficial by 88%, but only 30% reported reasonable access to dietitians. Qualitative themes included: accessing dietitians, information and education, and putting advice into practice. Conclusion: There is potential to enhance the credentialling and continuing education of occupational therapists and improve inter-professional collaboration with dietitians to assist the occupational therapist in achieving better health and reducing the burden of chronic disease for people experiencing severe mental illness.

Occupational therapy intervention addressing weight gain and obesity in people with severe mental illness: A scoping review

“…Similarly, two of the Australian articles appear to be from the same research group and again appear to be reporting on aspects of the same intervention program (Lloyd & Sullivan, ; Lloyd, Sullivan, Lucas & King, ). Two of the articles included in the review were reporting on studies with occupational therapists regarding their perceptions of their role and practices in addressing issues related to diet in people with SMI (Mahony, Haracz & Williams, ; Williams, Magin, Sultana & Haracz, ). Of the papers reporting about specific interventions there were only two randomised controlled trials (of the same intervention; Brown et al .) and one cohort study (Brown et al ., ).…”

“…The role of occupational therapists in lifestyle interventions to address weight gain and obesity centred on improving occupational performance and supporting participation in health promoting occupations. This focus was directly articulated by occupational therapists who participated in two studies exploring their role in addressing issues of diet with individuals with SMI (Mahony et al, 2012;Williams et al, 2016).…”

“…Almost all (12) of the articles in the review described providing education as a core element of interventions to improve performance and participation in health promoting occupations. This education was, most often, regarding aspects of managing diet and physical activity (Brown et al, 2006(Brown et al, , 2011(Brown et al, , 2014(Brown et al, , 2015Mahony et al, 2012;Williams et al, 2016). In some cases it also included other topics, such as behaviour change techniques (Brown et al), budgeting , self-esteem, motivation and activity scheduling (Pendlebury et al, 2007).…”

An Occupation-Based Healthy Nutrition and Wellness Program for Individuals With Schizophrenia

“…Study findings demonstrated that participants benefited from psychoeducation about healthy nutrition and healthy lifestyle. The OTs working in community mental health settings emphasized the need for education about healthy nutrition in people with schizophrenia (Williams et al, 2016). Providing education is one of the important preventive strategies in OT practice for providing healthy nutrition (Conn et al, 2019).…”

“…Occupational therapy promotes health and well-being through occupation, and one of the primary targets is health promotion. The OTs emphasize that people with mental illness need dietary interventions to improve their diet quality (Williams et al, 2016). Combining psychoeducation about healthy diet and the development of occupational skills, such as preparing a healthy meal and shopping for healthy food were found effective in the success of dietary interventions.…”