Participation in day centres for people with psychiatric disabilities: Characteristics of occupations

Abstract

People with psychiatric disabilities (PD) are a vulnerable group, and should be offered support and rehabilitation when needed. Day centres that provide individually matched daily occupations are an important link to provide that. The present study aimed at gaining knowledge regarding the occupations performed in day centres, in terms of the participants' descriptions of what they were doing. Eighty-eight persons with PD completed a time-use diary that focused on the most recent day. The participants were selected from six different day centres, meeting-place-oriented as well as more work-oriented ones. By qualitative content analysis six categories were identified, representing the occupations performed; social occupations, maintenance occupations, creative occupations, manufacturing occupations, service occupations, and information-focused occupations. A main theme termed “being at the day centre means participating in occupations with different levels of demand” was also discerned. The day centres served as a social meeting point and an opportunity to be involved in occupations with different levels of demand. This study highlights the role day centres could play in the rehabilitation of people with PD, and the potential that lies in the knowledge of the levels of occupational demands when meeting individual occupational needs and when analysing and planning interventions.

Key words::

• activity day centres
• community mental health
• mental health day services
• occupational therapy
• severe mental illness

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by The Swedish Board of Health and Welfare and the Swedish Research Council. We thank the day centre staff and visitors for being so helpful throughout the data collection. We are also grateful to Elisabeth Argentzell and Christel Leufstadius for collecting parts of the data.

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