Is it Time for a Mental Health Pathway in Undergraduate Programmes?

Abstract

As a group of occupational therapists working in mental health practice, education and research, we have concerns about the development and honing of occupational therapists' knowledge and skills for modern mental health practice. There are always competing priorities in occupational therapy curricula, but recent mental health policy and legislative developments prompted us to question whether the profession should radically reorganise the delivery of occupational therapy education in the United Kingdom. We recommend a wide debate about occupational therapy education and an exploration of different models of curriculum design. This opinion piece is a contribution to this debate.