PRELIMINARY FINDINGS: FOSTERING PARTICIPATION IN CHOSEN OCCUPATIONS AMONG INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS

Background: Participation has been shown to be predictive of well-being for adults with mental illness, yet this population faces significant barriers to participation in all occupational domains. Recovery frameworks argue... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
Participation has been shown to be predictive of well-being for adults with mental illness, yet this population faces significant barriers to participation in all occupational domains. Recovery frameworks argue that participation grounded in a community context promotes wellbeing by providing opportunities to develop identity, build supports, and engage in illness self-management strategies. It was hypothesized that among individuals with mental illness, community OT interventions would result in improved participation.
Method:
21 Community Link Program (CLP) clients participated. All were diagnosed with a mental health condition and were receiving regular Psychiatric follow-up but were not eligible for a Mental Health Team. CLP is a mental health service offered by OTs, providing individualized, outreach-based and occupation-based services. The Adult Subjective Assessment of Participation (ASAP) was completed at admission and discharge. The ASAP is a self-report questionnaire which examines the level of participation in 9 categories and measures the diversity of activities participated in, frequency of participation, participation away from home, enjoyment and satisfaction with participation performance.
Results:
As hypothesized, increases were seen in the diversity of activities participated in, frequency of participation, level of participation away from home, enjoyment and satisfaction. Improved engagement was found in several categories including physical activity, learning and self-care.
Conclusion:
Providing individuals with mental illness with community OT services can lead to significant participation improvements. Especially promising is the improved engagement in self-management associated activities that underlie recovery.
Application to Practice:
The provision of individualized community OT services to an underserved mental health population is supported.