Occupational Therapy: An Intervention to Improve the Quality of Life for Mental Disorder Patients in Community

Abstract: The issuesforpost-hospital disorder patients include facing stigma, having low self-esteem, avoiding social contact, and losing friends. Patients with mental disorders such as schizophrenia have worse quality of life than other patientsin general, evencompared to patients with physical illnesses. However, rehabilitation forpatients with mental disorders could be facilitatedthroughoccupational therapy.This research aims to determine the effect of occupational therapy on the quality of life formental disorderspatients. The researchpopulation was all patients with mental disorders in Kebasen Community Health Center(Puskesmas)inCentral Java, Indonesia. The sample of 50patientswas divided into two groups:25inthe intervention group and 25inthe control group. The intervention group was given occupational therapy and drug therapy treatment for four weeks, while the control group was only given drug therapy. The effect of occupational therapy on quality of life was tested by paired t-test.Research results showed a significant difference in the quality of life score before and aftertheoccupational therapy treatment forthe intervention group (p-value 0.00).In contrast, the control group receivedno significant difference in the quality of life score before and after (p-value0.07). Also, there wasa notablecontrast inthe mean difference ofquality of life scores between the intervention and control groups(p-value0.00).Occupational therapy has a significant effect on improving the quality of life formentaldisorderpatients in the community. It could be usedas rehabilitative therapy for treatingmental disorderpatients to help improvetheirquality of life