Preparing occupational therapy students to address mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention in school-based practice

ABSTRACT

Directors of entry-level occupational therapy (OT) programs were surveyed regarding how their programs prepare students to become mental health practitioners in schools. Analysis of quantitative data included descriptive statistics to examine participants’ ratings of their program’s ability to prepare students for mental health practice. We found that OT education programs address the role of school-based occupational therapists but provide limited didactic and experiential learning opportunities relating to OT’s role in mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention in schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental health services
• school health services
• occupational therapy
• curriculum
• education

Acknowledgments

The following people should receive special acknowledgement for their contributions to this study: Susan Bazyk, Kathy Preissner, Gail Fisher, Elizabeth Peterson, Valeta Njoroge, Patricia Donovan, and Michelle Savrann.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.