Roots of recovery: Occupational therapy at the heart of health equity
Children, young people, and families
Children learn through doing. The health and development of children and young people is significantly affected by the conditions in which they are born, live, learn and play. Children and young people at highest risk of poor health outcomes are those living in deprived areas,61 and unequal access to education has profound consequences for individuals and communities.
There is a strong correlation between educational attainment, physical and mental health and life expectancy, within and across generations. Similarly, there is a correlation between income, employment and quality of life.9.62
Marmot et al reported that ‘inequalities experienced during school years have lifelong impacts – in terms of income, quality of work and a range of other social and economic outcomes including physical and mental health’.4 Factors associated with inequalities in educational attainment include economic disadvantage, ethnicity, disability, gender, and whether a young person has been in care or has special educational needs.63
Occupational therapists can enable children, especially those most at risk of disadvantage, to develop skills and resilience to access education and realise their potential. They have the skills and expertise to:
- Identify the occupations that children or young people do well and those that they find difficult.
- Identify the personal, environmental and task-specific factors that support or limit children’s performance and participation.
- Recommend alternative approaches or techniques, teach new skills and suggest changes to equipment or the environment to support children’s development, participation and achievement64
Occupational therapists address the needs of children and young people at home, in early years settings, in mainstream and special schools, and at college/university. Young people may require different levels of service provision at different times as their needs change.65 Occupational therapy is delivered through a framework of universal, targeted and specialist interventions:
- Universal interventions – provision of training, information and support to help parents/carers and the children’s workforce embed opportunities to promote physical and mental health into children’s daily routines and activities, optimising their development, health and wellbeing.
- Targeted interventions – delivered in partnership with families, educators and third sector organisations and working across traditional service boundaries to provide early intervention for children/young people whose development, health and wellbeing is at risk.
- Specialist interventions – direct intervention with individuals with the most complex needs/circumstances, using a strength-based approach that fosters self-management and independence.