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Occupational Therapy with Long-Stay Service Users

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Long-Term Forensic Psychiatric Care

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to present an overview of occupational therapy intervention with long-stay forensic mental health users. It begins by defining occupational therapy and summarising its origins and domain of concern. The foundation of occupational therapy intervention is the promotion of health and well-being through engagement in meaningful occupation and the development of life skills and competencies to enable participation. The theoretical underpinning of occupational therapy emphasises the importance of understanding the transactional relationship between the individual, their environment and their occupations and understanding how these interactions can influence health and well-being. This unique perspective can contribute to all forensic contexts and at every stage of a service user’s journey, from pre-admission assessments to discharge, and can particularly augment and enhance occupational opportunities for long-stay users. The chapter provides an overview of approaches and interventions focused on well-being/quality of life and participation in meaningful occupations. It concludes by outlining some areas for future occupational therapy research.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Katie Robinson and an anonymous reviewer for comments on an earlier draft.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Allied Health, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Judith Pettigrew

  2. National Forensic Mental Health Service, Central Mental Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

    Roisin O’Regan, Alyssa Kidd & Padraic O’Flynn

Authors
  1. Judith Pettigrew
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  2. Roisin O’Regan
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  3. Alyssa Kidd
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  4. Padraic O’Flynn
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judith Pettigrew .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, University Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Birgit Völlm

  2. Pompe Foundation Department LFPC, Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, Zeeland, The Netherlands

    Peter Braun

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Pettigrew, J., O’Regan, R., Kidd, A., O’Flynn, P. (2019). Occupational Therapy with Long-Stay Service Users. In: Völlm, B., Braun, P. (eds) Long-Term Forensic Psychiatric Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12594-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12594-3_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12593-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12594-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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