Occupational therapy in the modern adult acute mental health setting

Occupational therapy in the modern adult acute mental health setting: a review of current practice
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Title: Occupational therapy in the modern adult acute mental health setting: a review of current practice
Authors: Chris Lloyd and Philip Lee Williams
Date: 2010
Source: International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, Vol. 17, No 9
Objective of the study
The article aims to describe and summarize the literature that has been published recently on the issue of today’s practices of occupational therapy in the inpatient mental health setting. The article calls for professional occupational therapists to reflect on current practices and develop a new focus on clinical evaluation.
Population and size
The main subjects of the article are the people living with mental health illness and the occupational therapists who provide care for them. The article states that most of the care provided to mentally ill patients should be provided at the community level. Williams and Lloyd (2010) have observed that shifting the care from inpatient to the community settings has seen improvement in the quality of care extended to the mental patients. Moreover, the shift has helped to expand the scope of practice for occupational therapists.
Method
The reference materials employed by the article include policy documents, textbooks and occupational therapy journal articles of Canada, UK and Australia from the year 1990 to today. EbscoHost and CINAHL databases were used for electronic search.
Results
The article found out that patient’s attitudes, hope, fears, their specific social circumstances as well as their behavior concerning their recovery have to be incorporated to any comprehensive treatment technique. Some patients are always readmitted after release because of poor relations with others or social problems such as lack of housing, finance and work. For this reasons, occupational therapists have to provide treatment to the patients with a view of helping them to participate in meaningful occupations when in the health facilities and after being discharged. Occupational therapy services ...