Routine measurement of outcomes for mental health care users attending occupational therapy

Abstract

Introduction: The lack of accurate routinely collected data regarding mental health services is one of the several ongoing challenges facing healthcare services in South Africa. The increasing emphasis on routine outcome measurement within the field of mental health has urged occupational therapists to demonstrate the impact of their intervention on mental health care users. Therefore, the aim of this study was to implement routine outcomes measurement in the occupational therapy department in order to describe and document changes in activity participation in MHCUs at Tintswalo Hospital situated within a rural site of Mpumalanga province. Methodology: Quantitative methods were employed in this study with a sample size of 64 MHCUs. One group pre/post- test design was used in order to collect data using an Activity Participation Outcome Measure (APOM). Results: The key findings demonstrated that the majority of participants improved significantly across all of the APOM domains during hospitalisation. A decline in the APOM domains was noted in the follow-up stages yielding insignificant results as demonstrated by the value of the effect sizes. Conclusion: Results of this study demonstrate the relevance of routinely measuring outcomes in mental health. The study generated evidence of change in activity participation during hospitalisation and follow-up and emphasised the need for future research in this regard.