COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course presents the role of the Occupational Therapy Assistant in the psychosocial area of Occupational Therapy practice. Students will learn selected frames of reference, and explore the effects of psychosocial dysfunction on areas of occupation. Students will learn skills necessary to assess, implement and document intervention in a variety of mental health settings. Client factors, including culture and diversity, therapeutic interactions and methods are studied. Students will develop skills in administering individual and group interventions, professional communication, conflict resolution, and advocacy. Lab activities, site visits and Level I fieldwork opportunities will enable students to participate in and apply psychosocial principles to practice.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Student will understand the historical origins of psychiatric occupational therapy and the past and current theoretical foundation on which mental health practice is based.
- Explain the concept of mental health and mental illness. (B.2.6)
- Understand the context of the occupational therapy intervention process and psychiatric diagnosis, treatment settings, medications and special groups of consumers.
- Review the role of occupations in promoting health, preventing disease & disability.(B.2.2)
- Develop therapeutic use of self though focus on relationships with patients/clients/consumers.
- Apply therapeutic use of self in groups, teams and individual interaction in service delivery. (B.5.6)
- Proficient in data gathering and evaluation and intervention and documentation.
- Use practice framework language and process in formulating mental health strategies per diagnostic data.(3.2)
- Develop professional skills; the OTA student will understand the purpose and use of supervision.
ACOTE Standards: B.1.4, B.1.5, B.2.5, B.2.6, B.2.9, B.2.10, B.4.1, B.5.2, B.5.7, B.5.8, B.5.25, B.8.2, B.8.3, B.8.8
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM PHILOSOPHY AND DESIGN:
~Professional excellence, ethical leadership, and social responsibility~
Interventions and tools in behavioral health support the curriculum design by educating future OTA practitioners on seeing clients holistically and as occupational beings. This course addresses mental health and psychosocial practice through a fieldwork placement in our own community. In addition, this lecture and labs will provide students with the opportunity to practice their learned skills, identify community resources for the mental health population, and advocate for mental health clients and their families within their community. Students will not only practice and learn how to use traditional methods of locating research based methods, such as medical journals and textbooks, but also how to utilize the internet to locate appropriate treatment methods and evaluate their effectiveness. The utilization of the internet and online learning opportunities will foster and promote life-long learning of the students, as they will be able to determine appropriate training, methods, education, research, and their own accessibility to materials online. Professional, ethical, and social responsibility are key concepts in this course.