Asset Details
Do you wish to reserve the book?
Barriers and facilitators for the practice of occupational therapy in mental health: findings from a global practitioner survey of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists
Hey, we have placed the reservation for you!
By the way, why not check out events that you can attend while you pick your title.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place the reservation. Kindly try again later.
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
Barriers and facilitators for the practice of occupational therapy in mental health: findings from a global practitioner survey of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists
Do you wish to request the book?
Barriers and facilitators for the practice of occupational therapy in mental health: findings from a global practitioner survey of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists
Please be aware that the book you have requested cannot be checked out. If you would like to checkout this book, you can reserve another copy
We have requested the book for you!
Your request is successful and it will be processed during the Library working hours. Please check the status of your request in My Requests.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place your request. Kindly try again later.
Journal Article
Barriers and facilitators for the practice of occupational therapy in mental health: findings from a global practitioner survey of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists
2025
Overview
Background
Occupational therapists are health professionals with knowledge and capacity to address mental health (MH) needs and reduce MH workforce shortages worldwide. However, occupational therapists working in MH are often underrepresented within the MH and occupational therapy workforce.
Aim
Using the perspective of occupational therapists with MH practice, the study aimed to: identify barriers and facilitators for occupational therapy practice in MH, and analyze differences in respondent or country level characteristics.
Methods
The study involved secondary ecological analysis of survey responses. The survey was developed and disseminated by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists. Ordinal logistic regressions were used to determine whether individual- and country-level variables (e.g., demographic, socio-economic factors) significantly affected the survey responses.
Results
Survey responses (
n
= 1102) were obtained from 67 countries or territories. Of the nine surveyed factors, six (66%) were rated more often as barriers for practice, including “waiting times”, “services funding”, “intervention costs”, and “therapists availability”. “Screening & referral” and having “education /preparation for MH” were practice facilitators. Responses did not substantially vary by respondent or country-related factors, except for the Socio-Demographic Index which substantially and significantly affected the response pattern for “safety concerns” (estimate: 11.08; 95% CI:7.09-15.07;
p
<.0001).
Conclusion
The results of this large worldwide survey of occupational therapists on the facilitators and barriers for practice in MH can help inform strategies to strengthen practice in this field. While referral and screening mechanisms should be reinforced to facilitate access to occupational therapy, such actions need to be complemented with adequate service funding, career attractiveness, and therapist availability; otherwise, increased service demands may result in unmet needs and service constraints. Further research is needed to investigate why “safety concerns” was a reported barrier particularly for countries with a lower Socio Demographic Index.
Publisher
BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
