May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

May is mental health awareness month and there is so much that can be done by occupational therapists in schools to support positive mental health for children. Occupational therapists focus on multiple domains of occupation and health management is one of those domains.

Management of one's health includes the awareness of and the ability to manage one's mental, physical, and spiritual health to promote well being and participation in life.

This month, blog posts will incorporate different resources, ideas, and information about child mental health, school mental health, maternal-infant health, and the mental health of young children.

An excellent resource for therapists in schools to use is the American Occupational Therapy Association's School Mental Health Toolkit. This toolkit is available to support school based OT practitioners in the gaining knowledge to support mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention. It also helps practitioners to guide interventions in schools that can be embedded into different parts of the school day.

Occupational therapy has its professional roots in mental health. Expand your school based practice to embrace these resources that can help to guide students of all ages to learn positive mental health strategies, improve coping skills, manage stress, and build resilience.

More to come this month on all things mental health for schools and for young children and families!