Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT)

Department

Occupational Therapy

First Advisor

LaVonne Fox

Keywords

Community Mental Health Services; Occupational Therapy -- methods; Occupational Therapy -- utilization

Abstract

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has adopted the Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) Program, developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The IMR Program is an evidence-based and recovery focused model of intervention. The primary aim of the IMR Program is to empower consumers with severe mental illness (SMI) to manage their illness, find their own goals for recovery, and make informed decisions about their treatment by teaching them the necessary knowledge and skills to do so. The first Community Behavioral Health Hospital (CBHH), operated by the Minnesota Department of Human Services, was opened in 2006.

Within the Community Behavioral Health Hospitals the role and interventions of Occupational Therapy (OT) is being refined. Occupational Therapy has two primary roles in the provision of services at CBHH. Within both of these roles, clarity of the unique skills, programming, and assessment that OT can provide is not present.

An extensive review of the literature regarding the current OT programming and the IMR program reveals that there are no clear standards of practice for occupational therapists (OT) in the CBHH setting. The lack of clear OT theory-based practice standards in this setting can limit the understanding, integration, and application of occupational therapy services at CBHH. This results in the loss of valuable insight and therapeutic approaches from occupational therapists for both their potential clients and healthcare colleagues. This can be problematic for not only the OT practitioners, but for OT's colleagues and students as well.

The methods used to investigate and examine these issues included: professional journals, publications, and OT standards of practice and clinical guidelines. In addition, the author of this project has significant clinical experience in the practice area of psychosocial disabilities and intervention.

The proposed solution, to the problem defined above, was the development of the Practice Analysis, Design & Implementation of Occupational Therapy In Community Behavioral Health Hospitals (CBHH) programming process. This process was designed for occupational therapists that provide services at CBHH to use. The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) Theory and the OT Practice Framework Professional Model guide this process. It is proposed that this process will strengthen the occupational therapy CBHH programming and assist current and future occupational therapists in the process of analyzing their practice to strengthen each intervention group that it has been assigned. In addition, it is believed that it will ensure that a more comprehensive program is designed, updated, and maintained to effectively meet patients' needs and support recovery in the Community Behavioral Health Hospital at Alexandria, Minnesota utilizing the unique professional skills of the occupational therapist.

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