Thursday, February 16, 2017

Conducting Occupational Therapy In Mental Health


By Edna Booker


Mental health management is a journey. It requires input from various team members who include the patient, the therapist, social workers, care givers, counselors, support providers, nurses, doctors, aides and teachers. Every member in that team has a role to play and the goals each one has culminates to improvement of a patient life quality and degree of enjoyment. These they achieve by pinpointing and meeting the skills and behavior change required to get to this. Below is an outline of the significance of occupational therapy in mental health.

Occupational therapy is usually misunderstood in this journey. The occupational therapy American association outlines its primary aim as to offer support and facilitate each person health and input in life by engaging in occupations. By engaging in a meaningful activity, the patient achieves a sense of accomplishment, their self-esteem goes up and overall well-being which is usually affected following the illness or injury.

By occupation, do not imagine only work. This could mean making a painting, taking a course in the community during your free time, socializing with members in the community, preparation of a meal, working on your hygiene and even managing your own finances. They empower people to lead purposeful lives which bring them satisfaction.

The purpose of this kind of therapy can be described as helping people live life to the fullest. These professionals help a client to take into consideration their needs, abilities, strengths and interests too. Their social, cultural and physical environment is to be taken into account too. This enables the therapist gain understanding about the various factors relating to the occupation the patient is engaged in. Also the environment they live in which influences their mental status and their functioning ability too.

The psychotherapists believe in taking into account every factor of a person during treatment regardless of whether the problem is mental or physical in nature. The settings they can be found include hospitals, nursing facilities, intermediary care facilities, home health, outpatient clinics, neonatal ICUs, the workplace and community. Those who have specialized in handling mental health patients are based in residential hospitals, the community or private hospital outpatient department.

Various type of assessments are done to collect data to be used in creation of a patient personal profile concerning the occupations they are engaged in. This is what is used to set treatment goals and plan how to proceed. Commonly assessed areas are leisure, work, play, education, social participation, activity demands and communicating and skills used in interactions. Motor skills, client factors and cognitive and mental dispensation skills are assessment areas too.

The interventions which can be implemented in treatment process include cognitive rehabilitation, training on life skills, supported education, supported employment and interventions on life balancing. Modalities like biofeedback and training on interpersonal and social skill are intervention too.

While the work of this therapist may overlay that of other members in the team, they provide unique clinical and theoretical contribution towards treatment and recovery team. For this reason, they are to be taken as a dynamic part of the integrated and comprehensive treatment program.




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