Geriatric Mental Health

I have been an occupational therapist for ten years, during which I have been a staff therapist and Director of Rehab in skilled nursing facilities. Over the years, I have noticed more and more of my clients have had symptoms of mental health conditions that have significantly impacted their quality of life and our therapy. As I looked for resources to help me develop the skills I needed to effectively assess and provide intervention for these clients, I was disappointed by the lack of resources available. Since I have been working on my OTD, I realized that I could use the skills and knowledge I am developing through my studies to create the course I wish I could have found. As the COVID-19 pandemic has developed, the mental health of my clients has become a more significant issue, which inspired me to create this class now. I sincerely hope that it can help other occupational therapy practitioners and students as they work to serve their geriatric clients.

This course is designed for licensed occupational therapist professions to learn about the prevalence of mental health conditions among geriatric clients and the role of OT in meeting mental health needs. It reviews common mental health conditions, occupational therapy theories relevant to mental health practice, assessment tools, a review of evidence-based interventions, and documentation tips.

After participating in this course, you will be able to:

•Describe mental health conditions that are common among older adults and how these conditions can affect their functioning.

•Understand how assessing and treating these mental health conditions fits within the scope of occupational therapy practice.

•Describe a variety of occupational therapy theories that can be used to guide assessment and intervention of mental health conditions.

•Identify several assessment tools that can be used to identify functional problems related to mental health conditions.

•Implement evidence-based interventions to address mental health that are within the scope of OT practice.

•Effectively document the services you provide, including writing goals to address functional problems related to mental health conditions.