Educating Tomorrow’s Practitioners: Influences on Community Mental Health Occupational Therapy Education

Abstract

The World Health Organization has identified mental health problems, mental illnesses, and the promotion of mental health as major issues currently facing the global population. This paper identifies several influences in the field of community mental health and explores how influences such as changing demographics, increasing diversity, a recovery paradigm, and workplace mental health issues are influencing the education of occupational therapy students. The authors present examples from the occupational therapy Masters Curriculum of the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada to stimulate discussion on how internationally recognized frameworks, such as mental health promotion and the International Classification of Functioning can be incorporated in occupational therapy education to prepare students for practice in dynamic, shifting, and new practice environments.

Keywords:

• mental health promotion
• occupational therapy education
• Canada
• diversity