Patient experiences and outcome of treatment in psychiatric occupational therapy – three cases

The experiences and outcome of treatment among three patients, following a group programme in psychiatric outpatient occupational therapy are described in this article using qualitative and quantitative measures. They were members of a group of 20 individuals whose course of outcome are also briefly outlined. Two of them were women with fairly similar initial pre‐treatment status. One of the women improved during treatment, reported positive experiences, and patients attributed her development to the occupational therapy programme. The other woman improved to a minor degree and held a negative opinion of the programme. At a 1‐year follow‐up she seemed to have reached the same level of progress as the other woman with a large improvement during treatment, partly due to another form of therapy. The third patient, a male, made a notable improvement. At discharge, and at follow‐up, he was functioning at a normal level. He ascribed his progress partly to the occupational therapy programme. The patients' different courses of change seemed related to how they perceived the ward atmosphere – the most improved patient was most content and the least improved least satisfied with the ward atmosphere.