The 2009 world team of mental health occupational therapists: a resilient and dedicated workforce

A case against generalisation of mental health occupational therapy in Australia

“…Respondent comments presented throughout this paper help elucidate this situation. Ceramidas et al. found that the highest workforce concentration of mental health occupational therapists was close to post‐graduation and that the respondents’ average length of MHOT service was 4½–6 years.…”

“…Ceramidas et al. (2009) found that ‘Australia’s MHOT workforce at 50 years of age retained only 46.5% of its original number of occupational therapists’.…”

“…(2009) found that ‘Australia’s MHOT workforce at 50 years of age retained only 46.5% of its original number of occupational therapists’. Ceramidas et al. noted a steady decline in the number of mental health occupational therapists following the first 10 years after graduation.…”

“…’s (2006) study that found 17% of ‘hits’ to an occupational therapy job seeker website were from occupational therapists seeking work in mental health. Until national registration in 2012, it will remain difficult to determine accurate data for numbers of mental health occupational therapists in Australia (Ceramidas et al. , 2009).…”

Evidence for Mental Health Occupational Therapy

“…Mental health is an important area of practice, which is generally considered to be in a period of expansion globally (Ceramidas, de Zita, Eklund, & Kirsh, 2009). Research into the evidence for mental health occupational therapy to date has been from peer-reviewed publications in a single journal or formed an undifferentiated part of more general reviews of occupational therapy evidence.…”