Historically, the development of occupational therapy arose from the treatment of mental health diagnoses.
In 1928, Dr William Rush Dunton Jr., founder of the National Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy (now known as the American Occupational Therapy Association), wrote “…occupation is as necessary as food and drink.”
The history of occupational therapy is well documented, but what about the future of the profession and what role will technological advances such as the “big data” trend play in the development of occupational therapy in the future?
The use of data is a vital need for the future of mental health occupational therapy. Data provides an insight into trends, showing us what works well and what perhaps doesn’t work quite as well. This data can also allow the public to make informed decisions around occupational therapy and its effectiveness.
Occupational therapy focuses on a holistic approach, which makes it perfect for mental health treatment and support plans. Activities can be tailored to match every individual based on their needs and abilities.
Data collected from studies on occupational therapy and mental health provide evidence to prove clinical effectiveness. This is important for justifying the use of occupational therapy in recovery models. There have been a number of studies conducted on the benefits of mental health occupational therapy, and the British Journal of Occupational Therapy produced a special issue that was solely focused on mental health occupational therapy.
The data from the results of the studies included in the British Journal of Occupational Therapy special issue have provided valuable insight into the role of occupational therapy and the impact it has on mental health, and has been beneficial in influencing further research.
One highlight in the special issue was a study conducted by Vaughan-Horrocks et al., 2020. The study looked at the impact of occupational therapy on UK veterans who were receiving mental health treatment.
The participants engaged in an occupational therapy and resilience workshop, and the results showed that following the workshop, the majority of participants developed occupational goals, started to make lifestyle adjustments, and appreciated the value of occupation.
This study is a great base point that provides evidence to suggest occupational therapy is influential in helping individuals to understand the impact of occupation on their health.
Over the last couple of years, public knowledge around data collection and usage has increased, and there has been a rise in privacy controls around what data we share with who. In 2018, the Data Protection Act was updated, ensuring more transparency around the collection and usage of data.
Although there has been growing concern over the use of data, this doesn’t mean that data collection is all bad – in fact, it is a valuable asset to help shape decisions, especially within mental health occupational therapy.
The Open Data Institute advocate for the ethical use of data and highlight that without the use of data to make decisions, societal and structural inequalities will continue to occur.
They say, “It’s important to find a balance between the potential harms of implementing a new digital technology or use of data, and the potential harms or loss of benefits from not trying to use it – particularly when these lost benefits might be felt most by those already facing structural disadvantages in a society.”
Source: Open Data Institute: The UK National data strategy 2020: doing data ethically.
Trends across other industries show that the use of data is continuing to rise as we begin to understand the value behind it. Big data trends have allowed companies of all sizes to improve productivity and make informed business decisions. It’s important we can translate the value and positive outcomes from other industries to occupational therapy.
In December 2021, the British Journal of Occupational Therapy published an article on occupational therapy data highlighting the importance and value of accurate and comprehensive data.
The article was written by Suzanne England, Occupational Therapist and Health Informatics Lead at the Royal College of Occupational Therapy, and looks at the positives and the drawbacks of the usage and sharing of data when making decisions around occupational therapy.
The article highlights the fact that there is a relative lack of discussion around the data generated by professionals in the sector, and there is also a lack of professional interest in exploring the different audiences of the content too.
The Royal College of Occupational Therapy Data and Innovation Strategy 2021-2023 recommends that all occupational therapists “understand the role they play in improving the structure and the quality of occupational therapy data that is recorded in electronic health and care records; and developing their data literacy skills.”
It also recommends that as a sector, occupational therapy embraces digital transformation, and works towards compatible, linked information systems to simplify the logging of information and make sharing information between different care teams or organisations easier.
Here at Northern Healthcare, we know the benefits of demonstrating the effectiveness of recovery models and the important role occupational therapy plays in mental health recovery, and that’s why we have a team of occupational therapists who provide support to all of our residents. Read more about our support model.
Are you interested in joining our occupational therapy team? Find out more here.
You can also view our current vacancies here.
Hannah Vaughan-Horrocks, Carly Reagon, Alison Seymour, 2020. The experiences of veterans with mental health problems participating in an occupational therapy and resilience workshop intervention: an exploratory study. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0308022620977818
Open Data Institute, The UK National data strategy 2020: doing data ethically. https://theodi.org/article/uk-national-data-strategy-2020-ethics/, accessed 28/1/22, 14:00.
Royal College of Occupational Therapists, Royal College of Occupational Therapists Data and Innovation Strategy 2021-2023 https://www.rcot.co.uk/practice-resources/informatics, accessed 28/1/22, 15:17.
Photo by Conscious Design on Unsplash.
