Mental health at heart of innovative service

Stress, anxiety and depression are a feature of modern society. Here, Karin Orman, lead professional advisor from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, explains how occupational therapy can help these people

MENTAL health is a hot issue at the moment. Over recent years there has been growing awareness that health is not solely physical but also involves our brain and our emotions.

There is growing concern too that stress, anxiety and depression are a feature of modern life and society and existing health services are not equipped to provide the support and interventions people need.

Current statistics show that 85% of people first disclose mental health problems to their GP – yet less than 5% of mental health professionals such as occupational therapists work in GP services.

This means that the majority of people with mental health problems have to reach “crisis” before they can access any kind of help.

‘Getting My Life Back: Occupational therapy promoting mental health and wellbeing in Wales’, the latest report from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ ‘Improving Lives, Saving Money’ campaign, reveals a range of innovative occupational therapy services that focus on prevention and early intervention in mental health services.

Our starting point for the report was articulating what is unique to occupational therapy. Occupational therapists believe that all humans have a natural drive to be active and to take part in the world around them.

This drive enables us to learn and develop into adults. Our occupations (activities) shape our identity, our feelings of self-worth and give us a sense of purpose.

We found examples of the importance of healthy occupations in helping young people transition well into adulthood whereby occupational therapists were employed in universities to support students; how healthy occupations were helping people with serious long-term mental health problems engage in society and move away from secondary care; occupational therapists supporting people both into and return to employment and, crucially, how they were intervening early at primary care level and preventing mental health issues from escalating.

One such example of this type of service is the Healthy Prestatyn Primary Care Multidisciplinary Team Service.

This innovative NHS service teaches self-management approaches and offers and social prescribing to meet people’s needs.