Occupational Therapy's Role in Pediatric Mental Health Doctoral Capstone Project by Anna Nafziger, OTDS

Areas of Focus: Advocacy, Program & Policy Development, Research Skills

Areas of Practice: Mental Health

The Vision

To advocate for occupational therapy’s role in pediatric mental health in order to prevent negative mental health outcomes for children and youth, to promote improved access to occupational therapy services, and support the wellness of the pediatric population in Elkhart County, Indiana.

The Mission

To increase awareness of occupational therapy’s role in pediatric mental health through collaboration with local pediatric mental health providers and local children’s organizations in Elkhart County, Indiana.

Needs Assessment

• Requests by the Director of The SOURCE to initiate collaboration between occupational therapy practitioners and the SOURCE staff. Currently there is no occupational therapy practitioner on staff with The SOURCE.
• Requests from child-serving agencies, as well as team members of The SOURCE for education and training on occupational therapy strategies and interventions available to support positive mental health outcomes for pediatric populations.
• Interest from staff members at The SOURCE requesting consultative services to support child-care staff, families, and children in the Elkhart County communities.
• Limited access to formal occupational therapy services for Elkhart County residents (long wait lists, financial barriers, insurance coverage, etc.)

Literature Review

• Research shows minority, low-income, and publicly or uninsured youth experience a disproportionate risk of exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); adverse childhood experiences are historically defined as exposure to abuse, neglect, and household challenges (Bethel et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2018).
• Research has identified connections between increased exposure to ACEs and an increased risk for experiencing poor mental and physical health outcomes long term (Bomysoad, & Francis, 2020).
• Children from racial minorities, ethnic minorities, and low socioeconomic status populations are more likely to experience additional barriers to accessing treatment through primary care providers and additional related services (Liu et al., 2021).

Due to inequities in access to healthcare and the potential of developing physical and mental health issues in at-risk populations, there is a need for occupational therapists to advocate for OT services to be incorporated into community health promotion initiatives across The United States.

Research supports implementing OT mental health services through community-level interventions, OT programming, collaborating with inter-professional, multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary teams, and through consultations with direct service providers in the community (Cahill et al., 2020; Gronski et al., 2013; Wallace, 2014).

"The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do with our blessings. Some people have many blessings and hoard them. Some have few and give everything away." --Fred Rogers

“A person’s most useful asset is not a head full of knowledge, but a heart full of love, an ear ready to listen and a hand willing to help others.” -- Kotaku Wamura