Occupational Therapy: Community Mental Health Team (CMHT)
How Occupational Therapy is delivered as part of the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) service and what this offers
People with serious mental illness often disengage from typical activities of daily living and may lose their motivation or sense of identity. This can have a major impact on their ability to recover from their illness and on their wider social life.
Occupational Therapy can help people experiencing mental illness to have insight into the impact of their illness and to begin to address that. Physical activity, time in nature and social activities are all evidence-based ways to reduce anxiety and improve mood.
Occupational Therapy tools help both the patient and their mental health workers to understand the person as an individual. They also help the person find ways to re-engage with activities that are meaningful to them, as well as building constructive routines again.
The Occupational Therapists for this specialism are based in the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) alongside other members of the team such as mental health nurses, social workers and support workers.
For some people the Occupational Therapist (OT) will be the Care Co-Ordinator. For others the Care Co-Ordinator may be a member of a different profession team, but they may refer to the OT for an assessment. More information on the role of a Care Co-Ordinator can be seen at a link included in the ‘What should patients expect before, during and after appointments’ section of this webpage.
Locations of the service
Please see the following link to the ‘Community Mental Health Team’ webpage on the Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB) website, for this information:
Your Local Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) - Powys Teaching Health Board (nhs.wales)
How you can access the service
The Occupational Therapists for this specialism are based within the Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs), so to access the OT service, you need to have been referred to the CMHT. Details on how to access the CMHT service can be seen below. The OTs are not able to accept referrals directly, or see anyone who is not referred to the CMHT.
However, if you are referred to the CMHT and would like to see an OT please speak to your Care Co-Ordinator.
Please see the following link to the ‘Community Mental Health Team’ webpage on the PTHB website, for information regarding the overall CMHT service:
Your Local Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) - Powys Teaching Health Board (nhs.wales)
What should you expect before, during and after appointments?
You will be referred for Occupational Therapy because you have difficulties completing typical daily activities or routines. Your Occupational Therapist (OT) will introduce themselves and their role. The first sessions will be “getting to know you” sessions, where the OT will use standardised Occupational Therapy assessments to understand which areas you need to work on.
The appointment will usually be in person, either in your home, in the community or in your local Community Mental Health Team office. The appointment will be arranged with you, usually over the phone, and the OT will arrange with you where and when the appointment will take place. There may be times where appointments may take place over the phone. This will be mutually agreed by you and the therapist in times where meeting in person may be difficult.
You can have a copy of any assessments that your OT completes with you. If your OT is your Care Co-Ordinator, they will also complete a care and treatment plan with you to keep track of any areas where you require support. More information on the role of a Care Co-Ordinator can be seen at the following link:
The Mental Health Wales Measure 2010 (gov.wales)
Your OT will then help you to set goals and explain how you can work towards them, perhaps creating a plan together of the work to complete over a time period. Your OT or a Support Worker from the team will then carry out work towards the goals with you. You may also see a Psychiatrist within the team, who will provide medical support and advice if needed.
If other services are required you may be referred on for them as necessary. This may for example include one or more of the following:
- The National Exercise Referral Scheme (NERS)
- Groups run by mental health charities
- Community groups or activities arranged via a Community Connector from the Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations (PAVO)
- The Psychology service at Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB)
- The online SilverCloud service that provides Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques
- Or other relevant mental health sessions with the Local Primary Mental Health Support Service (LPMHSS).
Links to these services can be found in the ‘Advice and support resources’ section on this page.
If you have any physical health issues your OT can support you to get the appropriate treatment referrals, or prescribe you equipment if you have a long-term physical disability.
Advice and support resources
Contacting the service
Please see the following link to the ‘Community Mental Health Team’ webpage on the PTHB website, for this information:
Your Local Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) - Powys Teaching Health Board (nhs.wales)
Meet the team
The OT team within the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) is currently comprised of the following staff roles, located across the following PTHB service locations:
- Ystradgynlais – A part time Specialist OT and a part time OT Assistant
- Brecon – Part time Specialist OT
- Llandrindod Wells – Part time Specialist OT
- Newtown / Welshpool – Full time Specialist OT
Patient feedback
We welcome any feedback you might have about your experience with a mental health OT in the CMHT at Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB).
You can access our feedback survey by clicking on the following link. Alternatively, you can scan the associated QR code image below with a smartphone / other device if you wish to complete the survey via a different device. This will take you to the same webpage location as the link.
Please see the following link to the ‘Community Mental Health Team’ webpage on the PTHB website, for information on providing feedback to the wider CMHT Team:
Your Local Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) - Powys Teaching Health Board (nhs.wales)