Understanding Occupational Therapy In Mental Health

By Edna Booker


For a successful treatment of any mental health case, there must be collaboration between several health professionals each with distinctive roles to play. In addition to the medical professionals like the doctors, the nurses, the counselors, the social workers, and the therapists, the patient's caregivers, teachers, support providers, and aides also have a role to play. The occupational therapy in mental health is part of the collaborative process that brings other players in a collaborative approach with the purpose of reaching a specific goal of improving the client's quality of life.

The occupational therapy is a profession that is concerned with the promotion of an individual well-being through the meaningful activities (occupations) that people engage in. The main goal is identifying the strengths and barriers to the individual functioning so as to help them participate in the necessary and the desired activities that can help them live a fulfilling life. As such, the therapists in this category are fully registered medical professionals and play the role of improving the client's functional activities through the engagement in occupation.

The occupation in this case means more than just work. It focuses on any activity that the client engages in in their daily activities. It means anything one does at home and in the work place. They can include simple things like the personal hygiene, cooking, socializing, managing personal finances, and even leisure painting. These and other occupations are what the therapist relies on to enhance the client ability and help them live a satisfying and a more meaningful life.

The professionals in this occupation have a big role in the general medical service provision. They work together with other professionals in the medical sector to help in service delivery in a number of ways. First, they assess the client's ability to function properly. This means that the work management abilities and the ability to actively participate in the pursuit of the home roles are assessed.

The second part involves identifying the factors that form a barrier to the client functioning. These are environmental factors that are part of the work or home environment. The therapist then develops the necessary strategies to overcome these barriers. The last function is the interventions through which they offer assistance to the clients in helping them overcome the practical challenges such as the independent life skills, self-care, leisure, home maintenance, and even the fitness or medical goals through focused occupational strategies.

The sole purpose of this therapy is to help individuals live life to the fullest potential. In order to achieve this, the therapists have the role of helping the clients to consider their abilities, needs, interests, and strengths. In addition to this, the client's physical, social, as well as the cultural environment are also considered.

In the mental occupational therapy, the target is to treat the person as a whole, whether the problems are emanating from the physical or mental health. Today, the practice can be seen in diverse settings such as the hospitals, the outpatients, intermediate care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, work place, home, and community programs among others.

The practice has been beneficial in several areas of interventions including the life skill training, supported employment, supported education, cognitive rehabilitation, social and interpersonal skills training, life balance intervention and even different modalities like mindfulness and biofeedback.




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