Mental Health
Practice Area
This section contains resources to support your practice and help you connect with colleagues in the area of mental health.
The World Health Organization has identified mental illness as a growing cause of disability worldwide and predicts that in the future, mental illness—specifically depression—will be the the top cause of disability.
In response to this trend, AOTA's Centennial Vision has identified mental health as a vital practice area for 21st century practice. Increasing emphasis will be placed on treatment and prevention services for children, youth, the aging, and those with severe and persistent mental illness.
Occupational therapy practitioners will need to utilize evidence-based strategies that incorporate this philosophy into their practice. Amelioration of symptoms must be accompanied by improvement in functional capacity and the ability to engage in culturally normative daily occupations.
Occupational therapy professionals will continue to be needed in traditional practice areas now evident in settings like hospitals and residential treatment facilities.
But there also will be a growing need for community care programs involving psychosocial rehabilitation, assertive community treatment, and supported housing, group living, employment, and education.
This section contains resources to support your practice and help you connect with colleagues in the area of mental health.