Occupational Therapy in Mental Health: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

This review of the literature was conducted as part of the development of a position paper on the way ahead for research, education and practice in occupational therapy in mental health. It included publications over the past decade and concentrated on the British Journal of Occupational Therapy. Recognising experience from other countries would be beneficial, aspects of the literature from the National Journals in American, Canada and Australia which were most relevant to practice in the UK were included. The shortage of articles on mental health was conspicuous and their diverse topics and descriptive nature were notable. In the UK literature, the clinical subjects featured most often were dementia, work rehabilitation, community mental health and forensic psychiatry, with other subjects either appearing infrequently or not being included. The literature from the other countries also explored new roles for occupational therapy, reflecting the changes in the delivery of mental health services.In the American Journal of Occupational Therapy there was concern about the declining number of occupational therapists working in mental health. The review identified major themes in the literature and posed questions for education, research and practice in occupational therapy and formed the foundation for the position paper.

A Survey of Occupational Therapy Practitioners in Mental Health

“…In contrast to the literature, (Craik, 1998) work rehabilitation did not feature highly in the interventions chosen by the occupational therapists, being the least favoured of the eight options offered. Leisure was the most prevalent when considering total scores, however, counselling was used most frequently on a daily basis with creative activities and anxiety management achieving high scores as interventions used weekly.…”

“…Forensic psychiatry was another major topic in the literature (Craik, 1998) but this was less obviously identified in this study with 13 respondents citing it as an area of practice. Eleven respondents worked with elderly people which again did not reflect the position of dementia as a major theme from the literature (Craik, 1998). However, the population surveyed were members of the AOTMH and those therapists with interest in elderly people may be members of the Specialist Section for Elderly People.…”

“…Considering both location of practice and client population, the principal area of practice was community mental health which reflected one the main themes identified in the literature (Craik, 1998). Forensic psychiatry was another major topic in the literature (Craik, 1998) but this was less obviously identified in this study with 13 respondents citing it as an area of practice.…”

“…As the foundation for a position paper, a review of the literature on occupational therapy in mental health over the past 10 years was conducted (Craik, 1998). The review established that little had been published in the UK about the profile of the profession and its practitioners, or about the interventions they employed in mental health, although subsequent articles have studied the interventions used by occupational therapists in community mental health teams.…”

“…(Meeson, 1998 a, b) From the literature it appeared that occupational therapists concentrated on four clinical areas dementia; work rehabilitation; community mental health and forensic psychiatry. (Craik, 1998) There has been concern in the USA about the position of occupational therapy in mental health, with declining numbers of therapists noted (Bonder, 1987, Kleinman 1992, Paul, 1996. In 1986, Barris and Kielhofner surveyed educators who suggested the major problems in mental health were deficiencies in role definition, unifying theory and research validating the profession.…”