The Power Of Occupational Therapy In Mental Health

By Edna Booker


Treating a mental health problem cannot be a one day event; it is a journey that requires a collaborative effort by several people, some working as the medical professional team while others coming in as those you interact with in your daily environment. The medical team consists of doctors, nurses, support providers, caregivers, counselors, social workers, and therapists while the others involved include the teachers, aides, and the family members. They work together as a team with a collaborative approach to reach a specific goal which is to improve the life of an individual through identification and meeting the desired behavior and skills. This is the same goal for the occupational therapy in mental health.

The occupational therapy is any profession that attempts to improve an individual's health by engaging them in the daily meaningful activities or occupation. Through the occupations, their strengths and barriers to their functioning are identified. This helps the therapist to come up with a program that includes activities that can help them live a more fulfilling life. For a therapist to undertake this role, he/she must be a fully registered as a medical professional with the necessary qualifications.

In this case, the "occupation" in this case does not solely mean work. It is used to refer to any activity that an individual is engaged. It therefore includes activities at the workplace as well as home. Some examples include the personal hygiene, socializing, preparing a meal, painting, managing finances, and engaging in leisure activities. The therapists in this category use occupation to enhance the client's ability to live a meaningful and a more satisfying 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 therapists deliver their services in three main ways. First, they assess the functional ability of the client. This involves determining the ability of the patient to manage work, the home roles, and participate in the activities of these pursuits.

The process starts by the assessment of the functional abilities. In this stage, the client's ability to manage work related roles and home related roles are determined. The ability to participate in activities in pursuits of the same is also assessed.

After the assessment, the therapist then identifies the barriers to the identified functioning within the environment after which a collaborative strategy to overcome the identified barriers is designed. The last stage involves intervention that involves helping the client to overcome the practical challenges.

The target of the this therapy in the area of mental illness specifically targets to offer a full treatment to the person as a whole. The practice is widely used in several areas of medical profession. It can be seen in settings such as hospitals, nursing facilities, outpatients, in the work places, home based health programs, and community programs. It is a beneficial practice particularly in life skill training, cognitive rehabilitation, life balance intervention, interpersonal skill training and several other areas in life.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment