Advocacy for occupational therapy practitioners in holistic cardiac care

I was recently provided the opportunity to go to Washington, DC, to advocate for women’s heart health issues. The prompting of a dear faculty mentor from the school I attend encouraged me to write about my experience. As an occupational therapist, mental health advocate, and—now—heart attack survivor, I want to share my story with others. Although I was young, healthy, and fit, I experienced a serious heart attack. My desire is to increase awareness about the need for mental health services to be included as an integral part of cardiac care. Furthermore, I am advocating for the increased presence of occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) in such care. Almost 2 years ago, I was finishing my clinicals in counseling at a treatment center. I was healthy, eating right, exercising almost daily, and feeling fine physically. I was not considering how my mental well-being was affecting my physical heart health. Despite significant emotional and relational stress, I kept pushing myself to keep going.