How Occupational Therapists Are Well Positioned For Play A Leadership Role On Healthcare Teams

As occupational therapy services diversified, serving a variety of clients in many different settings and with societal influences, the field began to evolve. During the 1990s occupational therapists began to shift away from reductionist medical model toward a more holistic client-centered approach. Services focused on enhancing individuals’ quality of life across the lifespan meaning before, during, and after therapeutic intervention. The profession began to better acknowledge the value of client education, injury and illness prevention, health screening, and health maintenance (Cole & Tufano, 2008). The field created more preventative initiatives, and focused services on improving quality of life and optimizing the independence of

When asked to describe what makes Canada unique compared to other countries, many outsiders might yell out “Hockey!” “Cold Weather!” or “Free Health Care!.” Health care is definitely one of Canada’s most noticeable trademarks when compared to the United States, but the reality is that our health care services are not what they are made out to be. Canadians tend to take pride in the fact that they have a Government funded health care system, but the system is failing at a rapid pace. One can gage the quality of health care in our country while at the emergency ward in any hospital, where most Canadians realize its downsides. The Government spends most of its budget towards health care but Canadians are not feeling an improvement. Waiting

Stigma is a destructive shadow which follows mental health, inevitably impacting on the process of recovery. In Australia, statistics show that one in five individuals experience mental illness, of those 74% (SANE Australia,2013) reported being affected by stigma. With such statistics, it is crucial to understand the recovery process in mental health and the extent to which stigma influences on this process.

The concepts and principles in the Founding Vision of 1917 and the Centennial Vision of 2007 establish a connection between our past and present. Comparing the two Visions shows that many of our modern day values were first outlined by occupational therapy’s founders a century ago. The Founding Vision reads, “The particular objects for which the corporation is formed are as follows: The advancement of occupation as a therapeutic measure; for the study of the effect of occupation upon the human being; and for the scientific dispensation of this knowledge” (National Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy [NSPOT], 1917). Where the Centennial Vision reads, “We envision that occupational therapy is a powerful, widely recognized, science-driven,

While stigma may not necessarily be a cause of a person’s mental disorder, it can certainly contribute to the complication and perpetuation of their illness. The effect of stigma goes well beyond just the patient and provides a commentary on society’s overall level of intolerance of those who are considered different from the majority. By recognizing the level of stigma that exists, perhaps we can alter that behavior and gravitate towards a more productive attitude towards mental illness.

Within the past two decades there’s been a revival in efforts to reduce stigmatization attached to mental illnesses. It was concluded that if mental illnesses were perceived better as ‘real’ diseases by the public that stigma would go down greatly. Reports proposed the idea that better scientific understanding of mental illnesses by the general public could greatly reduce stigma. Stigma is intensely rooted in social and cultural norms it’s patterns devalue and dehumanize groups of individuals within society (in this case mentally ill people). Stigma constructs barriers for individuals, barriers that limit a person’s abilities to have equal opportunities for employment, safe housing, health care and social relationships.Efforts to reduce stigma in recent years have

In this article, Patrick J. Corrigan, Scott B. Morris, Patrick W. Michaels, Jennifer D. Rafacz, and Nicolas Rüsch discuss various approaches to challenge the stigma that surrounds mental

Two emerging trends in Canada’s healthcare system are the aging population and higher survival rates from accidents and injuries. These are just two of the many current trends affecting the field of occupational therapy. Occupational Therapists are health care professionals that provide occupational therapy, which enables people to perform the occupations that encourage and promote health and well-being. Furthermore, this enables a fair society which allows individuals to participate to their potential in their daily occupations of life. Since Occupational Therapists work in diverse settings such as homes and communities, institutions, and industries and businesses, these health care professionals are well positioned to play a leadership role on healthcare teams.

To start off this lecture is about, “Comparative Health Policy: Health on the Frontlines”, with our two quest speaker. The first quest speaker Dr. Jim Sugiyama, MD, discussed the front lines of primary care. Also, Tim Heffernan, retired high school teacher and member of Socialist Alternative, Politics of education. Dr. Jim discussed the various perspectives in health policy. His perspective was on the view on the health care system being a part of collectivism, mutual support, and health rights. He explains that the health care system is a part of non-medical structure of Canadian determinates of health. Finally, the lecture touched base on how our health systems fit into the greater structure of Canadian governance, and how it is globalized,

At some point in time, we all must have had a chance of sitting in a waiting room of a hospital. I had a chance to visit the doctor last week and it was horrible, I had to wait to meet the doctor for around 4 hours While I was dying of pain. That made me to curse the whole hospital system in Canada and that 's the main reason that lead me to prepare this essay . British Columbia health care system with emphasis on " Providing " patient-centred care". which is defined as "Shifting the culture of health care from being disease-centred and provider-focused to being patient centered". This represents a great polished political language which they use to make people feel content and confident by confusing without them knowing that they are being confused.

Policies have an important role in regulating and shaping the values in a society. The issues related to mental health are not only considered as personal but also affecting the relationships with significant others. The stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health can be traced to the lack of legislation and protection of rights (Rodriguez del Barrio et al., 2014). The policy makers in mental health have a challenging task to protect the rights of individuals as well as the public (Swigger & Heinmiller, 2014). Therefore, it is essential to analyse the current mental health policies. In Canada, provinces adopt their own Mental Health Acts (MHA) to implement mental health services. As of January 15, 2016, there are 13 mental health acts in Canada (Gray, Hastings, Love, & O’Reilly, 2016). The key elements, despite the differences in laws, are “(1) involuntary admission criteria, (2) the right to refuse treatment, and (3) who has the authority to authorize treatment” (Browne, 2010). The current act in Ontario is Mental Health Act, 1990.

Mental health is defined as an individual’s optimal care in managing the stress of everyday life, through their own unique approach and can efficiently and successfully make vital contribution within the community they live in (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, 2013). Since a break in a person’s optimal mental state affects not only the individual but society, it is important to understand what it means to have a break in one’s state of mental health and the different categories that is associated with mental illness. Focus will also be paid to why there is a need for the reformation of the mental health act in Canada; the social determinants that is associated with mental health and their contribution to society’s health’s. Finally, focus also need to be placed on how mental health is being promoted to society the stigma generally associated with it.

Brent Braveman suggests recognizing any achievement of the occupational therapy within the frameworks of the approach and the Triple Aim concept. The specific competencies must be created for practitioners and researchers which allow identifying the effectiveness and the future perspectives of the population health (Braveman, 2015). To date, the framework of the competencies does not relate to the issue of the population health directly, living many questions open for consideration. In addition, there are no clear accreditation standards, which would contain the detailed description of the population health. Only standards for doctoral-level occupational therapist programs have information regarding population interventions. Finally, the author explains the growing number of occupational therapy practitioners and students because of the increasing demand of the population, especially if to take into account growing numbers of patients with autism, diabetes or

It is estimated that 43.5 million Americans, adults 18 or older, live with mental illness. This number represents 18.1% of all U.S. adults (National Institute of Mental Health, 2014). Stigma toward those who are seen as different have existed for as long as civilization itself, with the stigma for mental illness being one of the most prominent and long lasting that society has had to face throughout its ages (Arboleda-Florez & Stuart, 2012). Increased understanding and awareness for those individuals suffering from mental illness is necessary for us to overcome the impacts stigma has on our society.

During a mental health event the First Lady, Michelle Obama said, “At the root of this dilemma is the way we view mental health in this country. [...] Whether an illness affects your heart, your leg or your brain, it’s still an illness, and there should be no distinction.” This shows that mental illness stigma in society is based on mental illness being perceived more negatively than other physical illness when it should actually be seen as the same. Stigma around mental illness has had very immense adverse effects on the willingness of undiagnosed suffers to not seek treatment when they need it. As a result of this one in five people with a mental illness will not get the treatment they need which has the effect of high suicide rates among the untreated sufferers. In an effort to reduce stigma around mental illness, so that more undiagnosed sufferers seek treatment, schools should devote more time to increasing awareness of mental illness and its effects.