Occupational Therapy Intervention Analysis Report: Cassie Jay's Case

This report delves into the realm of occupational therapy, exploring various intervention types and their applications. The report begins by defining occupational therapy and highlighting the importance of appropriate skills and interventions for diverse patient needs, ranging from physical to mental health issues. It then outlines different occupational therapy interventions, including occupations and activities, preparatory methods, education and training, advocacy, and group interventions. The report uses a case study of Cassie Jay, an 18-year-old freshman struggling with depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies, to analyze the suitability of each intervention. Through this analysis, the report concludes that group intervention is the most appropriate approach for Cassie's mental health challenges. The report emphasizes the benefits of group interventions, particularly for individuals dealing with mental health issues, highlighting the importance of socialization and collaborative healing processes. The report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of occupational therapy interventions and their relevance in addressing various patient needs.

Running head : OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Student’s name
University

1OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Body.................................................................................................................................................3
Range of occupational therapy interventions..............................................................................3
Evidence......................................................................................................................................8
Factors that may impact the intervention.....................................................................................9
Core skills required....................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13

2OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Introduction
Occupational therapy refers to professional intervention into physical and mental health
issues, with appropriate and professional skills, for the purpose of aiding the patient availing the
therapy with the daily activities in both their personal and professional lives (Creek and Lougher
2011). It is for this reason why the main thing that has to be considered is the fact that
appropriate skills in the field are vital for the purpose of occupational therapy, as well as the way
in which the intervention would have to be made (Creek and Lougher 2011).
There are several kinds of patients who would be requiring occupational therapy owing to
several different kinds of problems, varying from physical to mental issues. For example, a
patient who would be requiring occupational therapy could be well suffering from stroke or a
temporal paralysis, or even from depression and anxiety, that has been affecting their day to day
activities in their lives, and they need to be more productive to lead a better and hassle free life
(Kielhofner 2009). It is for this reason why they need this professional help in the first place. As
it could be understood from the discussion on skills and the range of issues that could possibly
prompt a person to seek occupational therapy, it could be inferred that different issues and needs
for intervention require different skill sets and types of interventions associated with it. An
occupational therapist may not have all of the core skills required to be an occupational therapist,
but his or her skills might be perfect for one type of intervention, that would be suited for one
kind of patients (Kielhofner 2009). This is exactly what this report aims at discussing.
The following sections in this report would be based on outlining the various types of
interventions in occupational therapy, and would be focusing on one type to analyze it in regards
to a particular situation. For this reason, a case study has been chosen, the story of which could

3OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
be further known in details from the reference video of the same provided for it. In brief, Cassie
Jay is an 18 year old freshman, who had lost his mother at a very young age. Apparently not
living with his father, Cassie has a hard time dealing with the trauma all by herself, coupled with
the issue of being bullied at school. Cassie has attempted suicide on a number of occasions and
has also done self harm numerous times. This depression and state of sustained and recurring
anxiety has not only taken a toll on her studies, but also on the job that Cassie has to be doing for
the purpose of sustaining a living on her own (YouTube 2011). If this continues for her, Cassie
might not be able to sustain herself for too long as she would be unproductive in both her studies
and her job. This is a serious situation that actively calls for appropriate occupational therapy.
Body
Range of occupational therapy interventions
1. Occupations and activities
This is a kind of intervention that would be requiring intervention on a daily basis. This is
not just suited to one particular type of issue, but covers a range of issues, both from physical and
mental health. The only drawback of this type of intervention is the fact that this kind of an
intervention is often not feasible if the resources for the planned intervention is comparatively
low (Legg, Drummond and Langhorne 2006). This is because of the fact that due to the daily
activities and exercises that are required in this type of intervention, it not only requires finances
for the therapist to be conducting the intervention on a daily basis, but the resources that are
needed for the scheduled and designed activities would also have to be paid for on a daily basis.
This is best suited for patients who have been having acute problems that could pose a grave
threat to their sustainability in their future, such as strokes, temporal paralysis or even suicidal

4OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
tendencies. It is for this reason why the main thing that has to be noted in this regard is the fact
that the need for this constant and daily care for these patients is because the issue requires
urgent attention to it, to save the lives of patients requiring them (Legg, Drummond and
Langhorne 2006). For example, for someone suffering from temporal paralysis, it would need
daily activities to recover fast from it and effectively, and the activities may include exercises
such as swimming. In that case, the intervention would be requiring multiple instructors for
physically aiding the patient constantly through his or her daily tasks, and also for the required
activities for the planned intervention. Resources like a swimming pool would also be required
(Legg, Drummond and Langhorne 2006). All of these resources hence, would be required on a
daily basis. Therefore, it could be understood that this type of intervention is best suited for
people suffering from acute physical health issues.
2. Preparatory methods and tasks
This is another form of intervention in occupational therapy that is the best suited for
patients who have been suffering from physical illness. Preparatory methods refers to a
intervention type in occupational therapy, in which the main purpose is to make sure that the
patient is given preparatory sessions, before moving into full fledged activities for the purpose of
being healed. For example, before aiding a temporal paralysis patient with planned and designed
physical exercises, it always appropriate to be able to first aid the patient in his or her hand
movements, and then feet movements (Legg, Drummond and Langhorne 2006). It is obvious that
a patient with temporal paralysis would not be able to swim, but would rather be requiring
professional help in aiding him or her to move or walk in water, as it has been proven to be
healing temporal paralysis like a catalyst. For that to happen, before jumping into the pool
straight away, it is always understandable and reasonable to prepare the patient for the same

5OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
(Legg, Drummond and Langhorne 2006). Even when this form of an intervention is applied to
healing mental illnesses, it is reasonable. It is a very common practice for counselors to first
initiate a conversation with the patient to make him or her comfortable, so that the connection
between the two work as the foundation for the treatment that follows next. This is the exact
philosophy that goes behind this kind of an intervention. It has often proven to be a successful
form of intervention for the purpose of preparing patients to be able to get adapted to the
upcoming activities that would be taking place as a part of the actual intervention plan (Legg,
Drummond and Langhorne 2006).
3. Education and training
In this form of intervention, the main thing that has to be considered is the fact that
pedagogical skills are highly efficient in making sure that a patient is aware of a range of factors
that have been affecting him or her or their progress or the real hindrance that is posed to their
development in their daily lives (Söderback 2009). Educating them on the matter would be a
highly feasible and sensible thing to do, since they would not only understand how they should
be dealing with the problems, but would also give them analytical abilities to be able to judge for
themselves regarding how to act or behave in certain situations when they do not have an
operational therapist around them, through the knowledge that they would have gained
(Söderback 2009). This knowledge could be anything from what exactly is stopping their
progress and what they are actually suffering from, how the illness works, and how to mitigate
those obstacles and keep moving forward. It is for this reason why this kind of an intervention is
so much suitable for both physical and mental issues related intervention (Söderback 2009). This
makes this kind of an intervention to be highly plausible to become the intervention that would
be adopted for the case that the case would be studying.

6OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
4. Advocacy
Advocacy in occupational therapy is a form of therapeutic intervention, in which an
occupational therapist is responsible assisting a patient or a client in achieving his or her own
personal needs and goals in life, through either knowledge, research or expertise (Söderback
2009). Generally, this form of intervention is not meant for any acute or serious situation, and
sometimes, clients only require an advocate occupational therapist just for the sake of availing
their assistance in getting to achieve their own personal needs and goals. The therapist may also
be able to guide the client on the path and warn of the obstacles towards realizing those goals and
needs, and also how to possibly overcome them (Söderback 2009). In some instances, the
therapist may also discourage the client from achieving certain goals, with rationale, but must be
able to make sure that he or she never forces that upon the client. This kind of an intervention is
less intense, with only a few specific sessions requiring regular attention (Söderback 2009). It is
for this reason why this intervention is not a very wise choice of intervention for the case that the
report is investigating. It is however well suited for minor cases, in which a client does not need
any special attention on an urgent basis. This form of intervention is also highly feasible because
of the less amount of sessions and activities that are related to this intervention (Söderback
2009).
5. Group interventions
Group interventions is another form of occupational therapy intervention that has been
becoming popular in the recent times. The idea is to look for communities that need assistance
related to occupational therapy and assist them in a collaborative effort. In other words, the idea
is to come forward by identifying communities that do need help and collectively joining hands

7OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
with them for the purpose of moving forward with togetherness towards a suitable healing
process (Söderback 2009). Although this kind of an intervention is suitable for any given kind of
health issue, it is most appropriate for patients who have been dealing with mental health issues.
This is because of the fact that people who have been suffering from depression, require a high
amount of socialization for mental healing, which is a scope that is perfectly provided by this
particular occupational therapy intervention. Benefits and opportunities are discussed in unison
with the groups, to provide a more democratic framework for the patients or clients regarding the
path to choose towards getting to the desired objectives. All of these factors combined, makes
this form of occupational therapy intervention a contender for investing the case that this report
is dealing with (Söderback 2009).
Therefore, from the discussion so far, each of the common intervention types have been
thoroughly analyzed, with their strengths and weaknesses. The next objective is to identify a
particular type of intervention that would be suitable to the case mentioned in the introduction of
this report. The main thing that has to be noted in this regard is the fact that the case that this
report is dealing with is related to mental health, and a serious one, which could possibly pose an
irreversible threat to the sustainability of Cassie’s life.
To tackle with such a situation, the only intervention that could be best suitable for Cassie
is that of group intervention. What Cassie is going through is that of anxiety and depression, due
to which she has not been able to concentrate on her studies and work. She needs to be able to
put the depression behind her, or be able to cope up with it, so that she could concentrate on the
important aspects of her life which hold stakes in the sustainability of her life. Group
intervention perfectly provides that opportunity by making sure that clients or patients get
enough opportunities to speak their problems out to one another, and have a vessel in which they

8OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
could vent out their sorrows. When patients are able to do that, they would most likely feel better
and have a grant that they have somewhere to vent their emotions out, which would enable them
to be more efficient at work and studies.
Evidence
Group interventions have a better advantage than individual interventions. This is
because of the fact that this provides a platform for a community to be built up altogether, which
would be in turn immensely helpful in making sure that the clients or participants in the
intervention have a guarantee that they can get their thoughts out to the people who have been
going through similar problems, and thereby, collectively come up with constructive solutions to
various problems, and even have various perspectives to a similar problem that would be able to
help patients or clients have a range of possible solutions to their difficulties (Haslam et al.
2016).
Furthermore, this kind of an intervention has been proven to be more effective in case of
healing depression and anxiety than any other type of occupational therapy intervention, because
of the socialization factor (Haslam et al. 2016). Haslam et al.’s (2016) research suggests that this
type of intervention also provides the gateway for future treatments and professional help to be
directed in a much better and accurate manner, addressing the needs of every participant. These
needs of every individual could only be collected because of the fact that they have been able to
express themselves openly because of the emotional connection shared between the participants
(Haslam et al. 2016). Therefore, this suggests that not only does this provide a great opportunity
for people with depression and anxiety with social aids, but also directs future treatment in a
more personalized manner.

9OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Research by Thornicroft (2016) also suggests that socialization drops down suicidal
intentions by a significant degree in people dealing with mental health issues, and also works as
a progressing factor in their lives, to effectively boost up their productivity personally and
professionally. This is because of the fact that in past research, participants themselves have
pointed out that the main thing that has helped them in coping with their daily stress is the belief
that they have a vent in their personal lives that make them feel better in the end, and that no
matter what happens to them throughout the day, they are not afraid to face the world outside,
since they know that they can vent it out to people who they can connect and relate to, and that
makes them feel better and perform better in life (Thornicroft 2016).
This is not only indicative of occupational performance, but also occupational
participation. Firstly, the fact that there exists a belief of having people with similar problems
whom the participants can relate to, works as the catalyst and attractive factor for people with
mental health problems to come together to participate in the intervention. This is often just for
the sake of making sure that these people feel stronger in themselves. Alongside, the very fact
that this provides for a platform for the participates to vent out their emotions and feelings to
make them feel lighter and better so that participants can do better in their personal and
professional lives, proves that this is an intervention method that would be able to help people
like Cassie suffering from mental health issues with both occupational performance and
occupational participation.
Factors that may impact the intervention
There could be several factors that might impact the intervention process in the planned
group intervention. It is because of this factor that the main thing that has to be done is to make
sure that these factors are well looked into and the challenges are eliminated through strategic

10OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
planning. This report would be taking a look at personal, environmental and occupational factors
that might impact the intervention altogether.
The personal factors could be too many. However, this report would be taking in the most
probable ones in consideration, keeping the case of Cassie in mind. The main thing that has to be
kept in mind is the fact that the trauma that Cassie has gone through in her childhood, which is of
losing her mother, is something that a girl might not feel comfortable talking about in person to a
group of people. Some may argue that she has already done that on YouTube with millions of
views for the video. However, it has to be noted that she has only specified that this was the
incident that started her trauma in the first place, without going into details of how it has affected
her. This little information would not help in the therapists to dig deep into the matter to
understand the psychology in her head, to better address her needs. If she is not specific about
these information, it could be a challenge for the therapists and the group overall to try and heal
her from her depression. Furthermore, if her beliefs and values desire her to be conservative
about this matter and not seek professional help for any of the depression and anxiety that she is
going through, it could also be a challenge to her occupational participation. Occupational
performance, as a result, will be unaffected by the intervention, which means that the
intervention would be in vain. Her spiritually could also be a factor. If she is a person who is
motivated to find a purpose and meaning for life, the intervention could positively impact her
occupational performance and participation. However, if she is not much matured spiritually, she
would be trapped in the situation, feeling unmotivated despite the intervention to make herself
feel better and come out of the mental health issue that she has been facing for a long time As per
Neimeyer, Fortner and Melby (2001), these factors, which are values, beliefs and spirituality,
form the base for the personal factors that may impact a group intervention of this kind.

11OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
The environmental factors include how much the environment around the client is
supportive of her. People who suffer from depression and anxiety often complain that people
around them are not supportive of their thoughts and feelings (Bourbonnais et al. 2006). It is for
this reason why it has already been argued in the report why positive socialization is a necessity
for people suffering from depression. The environment around Cassie has to be supportive.
Support and empathy are the most critical factors that have to be taken care of by the planners of
the intervention. Furthermore, the type of environment, that is whether an authoritarian or a
democratic one, would also directly impact the occupational performance and participation
(Bourbonnais et al. 2006) of Cassie.
While discussing the factors that may impact the intervention process, one cannot only
focus on the factors from the perspective of the client. The perspective of the therapists
responsible for carrying out the intervention is also equally important. Work stress, work culture
and performance expectations are the major factors that would impact the delivery of the
intervention process (Turcotte et al. 2018). Work stress would be inversely proportional to the
quality of the intervention if it is higher than the tolerable level, a poor work culture would
adversely affect the intervention process, and the performance expectations would only have a
positive effect to a certain level, after which, the quality of the intervention would start to go
down. Therefore, it is important that the occupational therapists are only put under a reasonable
stress, with reasonable and positive expectations, within a constructive and supportive work
culture (Turcotte et al. 2018).
Apart from this, finances also have to be considered. This is because of the fact that a
group intervention would not be effectively executed by a single therapist, and numerous
therapists would be required for numerous days, since sustained depression would require a lot

12OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
of time to heal. A spacious room where the sessions could take place also has to be considered,
since mental health issues would not be appropriately discussed in a clustered room. Staffing is
also a factor, and staffs have to be selected based on vigorous interviews to assess how much
they are able to connect to clients. The ideal plan would be to recruit 1 therapist for every 10
clients.
Core skills required
As discussed in the earlier section, the recruitment of the staffs is a process that has to be
undertaken in a very meticulous manner. Following are the key core skills that a therapist must
have in the intervention process.
The first skill that is required is that of empathy. The client must feel that the person in
charge of healing her of her mental trauma indeed feels with her, so that she could connect more
with the person. This connection and trust is critical for the process of the entire intervention
(McGillivray and Kershaw 2015).
The therapist must also have proper listening skills. This is because he or she must be
able to know and have every detail of the problems that are being faced by the client. This would
be immensely helpful for the purpose of making sure that the client gets all of her problems and
concerns addressed (McGillivray and Kershaw 2015).
Communication skills are also very important for the therapist to have. This is because he
or she must be able to perfectly express his or her opinions and suggestions at the perfect time
and appropriately, keeping a perfect tone in the communication process, to be able to make sure
that the message, the medium are constructed and delivered in a way that would have a desired
effect. This knowledge in how the communication process could be used to have a desired

13OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
outcome is critical for a therapist while trying to have a positive effect on a client suffering from
depression and anxiety (McGillivray and Kershaw 2015).
Apart from this, critical thinking is also an ability that would be required by the therapist
for the purpose of intervening effectively. This is because for several problems being faced by
the client, the therapist would have to apply his or her knowledge into his thought processes to be
able to find out a way in which a situation could be healed. A therapist must be able to analyze a
situation perfectly to understand pros and cons of an alternative, and suggest remedies
accordingly (McGillivray and Kershaw 2015).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion in the report it could be concluded that for
situations such as handling depressions and anxiety, the best form of occupational therapy
intervention that could be adopted is that of group intervention. The main idea behind this is to
address a specific community that has been going through similar kinds of problems and aim at
resolving them, through active participation and discussion of all of the participants involved in
the group intervention. It has to be noted in this regard that having a democratic approach and
enabling the participants to be active decision makers through discussions that cannot be
overlooked in terms of group intervention in healing depression and anxiety. The key skills that
an occupational therapist has to have to be able to properly execute a group intervention to
address depression and anxiety include critical thinking, empathy, proper communication skills
and also perfect listening skills. Values and beliefs of the participants are the main thing that
have to be properly understood by the therapists for the purpose of addressing their occupational

14OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
needs perfectly. Apart from this it also requires the practitioner to be able to perfectly control the
environment for the participants that would best suit their occupational participation intentions.
The evidence that this form of occupational therapy intervention is perfectly suited for
depression and anxiety is definitely not weak as it has been proven in multiple researches that
this form of occupational therapy intervention provide platforms for positive socialization and
empathy that are critical for the clients availing the service in this field. However a more
scientific approach of how exactly socialization can aid people cope up with depression needs a
little more thought as this would prove to be a ground breaking evidence of this form of
intervention being the perfect form of occupational therapy intervention in the case of depression
and anxiety. This has to outline the parts of the brain that respond to positive socialization with
respect to the parts of the brain affected by depression and anxiety. The evidence will be
cemented if a link between these two factors could be established scientifically.

15OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
References
Bourbonnais, R., Brisson, C., Vinet, A., Vézina, M., Abdous, B. and Gaudet, M., 2006.
Effectiveness of a participative intervention on psychosocial work factors to prevent mental
health problems in a hospital setting. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 63(5), pp.335-
342.
Creek, J. and Lougher, L., 2011. Occupational therapy and mental health. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
Haslam, C., Cruwys, T., Haslam, S.A., Dingle, G. and Chang, M.X.L., 2016. Groups 4 Health:
Evidence that a social-identity intervention that builds and strengthens social group membership
improves mental health. Journal of affective disorders, 194, pp.188-195.
Kielhofner, G. (2009). Conceptual foundations of occupational therapy practice. FA Davis.
Legg, L., Drummond, A. and Langhorne, P., 2006. Occupational therapy for patients with
problems in activities of daily living after stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (4).
McGillivray, J.A. and Kershaw, M., 2015. Do we need both cognitive and behavioural
components in interventions for depressed mood in people with mild intellectual disability?.
Journal of intellectual disability research, 59(2), pp.105-115.
Neimeyer, R.A., Fortner, B. and Melby, D., 2001. Personal and professional factors and suicide
intervention skills. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 31(1), pp.71-82.
Söderback, I., 2009. International handbook of occupational therapy interventions (pp. 1-553).
New York: Springer.

16OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Thornicroft, G., Mehta, N., Clement, S., Evans-Lacko, S., Doherty, M., Rose, D., Koschorke, M.,
Shidhaye, R., O'Reilly, C. and Henderson, C., 2016. Evidence for effective interventions to
reduce mental-health-related stigma and discrimination. The Lancet, 387(10023), pp.1123-1132.
Turcotte, P.L., Carrier, A., Roy, V. and Levasseur, M., 2018. Occupational therapists'
contributions to fostering older adults' social participation: A scoping review. British journal of
occupational therapy, 81(8), pp.427-449.
YouTube. (2011). A reason to live.. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=pB4giUlOVAw [Accessed 27 Aug. 2019].