The mental health teaching-learning process in occupational therapy: a literature review

Abstract

Introduction: Contemporary academic training has been demanding updates on the skills and competencies to be acquired by future professionals to keep up with changes in the paradigms of health and psychosocial care. The training of occupational therapists for the mental health context is analyzed from the perspective of the teaching-learning process. Objective: The objective of the research was to analyze scientific productions and identify theoreticalmethodological references on the teaching of mental health in the training of occupational therapists. Method: An integrative review of the literature was carried out using the descriptors “occupational therapy”, “teaching” and “mental health” in the Web of Science and Scopus databases of articles published between 2020 and 2024. Results: Five scientific articles were part of the final sample of review, being a reflection article and the other experimental articles. The reflection article (n=1) discussed professional practice based on the concepts of meaningful occupation focused on autonomy and social inclusion of users. The experimental articles (n=4) described interventions carried out with students to bring them closer to professional practice, through the effective inclusion of users in the course and curriculum, and encouraging the use of virtual reality devices. Conclusion: Trends were highlighted for carrying out additional research, such as compliance with global teaching standards and the evaluation of user integration and the use of simulation technologies for teaching in the Brazilian reality.