The future of ot and mental health in Australia

Philipp Herrmann, SquareCircle Consulting

Occupational therapists play a critical role in Australia’s mental health system, with mental health interventions at the core of occupational therapy practice. Occupational therapists can be found working in all mental health settings, whether individually or as part of multidisciplinary teams. They provide a unique lens and toolkit of highly effective, profession-specific skills that help people with mental illness achieve outcomes and engage in meaningful occupations.

The role of occupational therapists in the mental health system is not always recognised or understood, however, with many consumers and referrers lacking awareness of mental health occupational therapy. In the public system, mental health occupational therapists may find themselves in non-disciplinespecific roles or the only occupational therapist in a larger mental health team, making it more difficult to provide occupational therapy-focused supports. Governments and other funders have at different times excluded the profession or discipline-focused interventions when designing funding programs.

To address these issues, OTA began the Thinking Ahead: Mental Health project in late 2021 with the aim of positioning the profession as a key part of the contemporary mental health system, and expanding its capacity to support and advocate for occupational therapists working in mental health. The work has focused on the key areas of advocacy and policy, professional development and awareness. All three areas are closely connected, but each will have a range of focused activities aimed at addressing issues and taking advantage of opportunities identified.

OTA advocacy and policy work has focused on understanding the issues and barriers that may impact the ability of occupational therapists to provide timely and appropriate supports to consumers. It has examined a broad range of funding schemes and settings, and begun a range of advocacy activities aimed at addressing the issues that occupational therapists have raised. Findings from the project are contributing to work on the Medicare Better Access evaluation, and work with WorkSafe Victoria has resulted in the launch of new mental health occupational therapy items on 1 January this year. OTA is continuing to work with WorkSafe Victoria to consider models of care, funding and referrer education, and will look to build on that work in other states and territories.

The work on professional development for mental health occupational therapists has focused on identifying the skills and capabilities needed to develop a wellrounded, occupational therapy mental health professional. OTA is looking to provide more guidance to the profession, employers and other stakeholders about how to best support a mental health occupational therapy workforce operating at the top of its scope through a professionspecific lens. Importantly, it is also working on building a more focused, continuing professional development program for mental health occupational therapists. The other key focus of the project is improving awareness of mental health occupational therapy across the mental health system. OTA aims to provide more information through its website and own channels, as well as developing resources for occupational therapists and improving the accuracy of other sources of mental health information for consumers and referrers. It welcomes any suggestions about where consumers are most likely to search for information about mental health services. Suggestions can be sent to haveyoursay@otaus.com.au

A project of this size cannot be undertaken without the support of the profession. OTA acknowledges the incredibly generous contributions of the many mental health occupational therapists that have taken the time to participate in workshops, respond to the OTA workforce survey, or take part in one-on-one conversations. OTA is incredibly grateful for this support as it ensures the outcomes of the project are built on the expert knowledge and input of occupational therapists working in mental health.

If you are interested in reviewing the outcomes of consultation activities, please visit the Thinking Ahead: Mental Health Project page on the OTA website. You can find this in the references below.

References can be viewed by scanning the QR code