Action Over Inertia introduces readers to an occupational time-use intervention that aims to re-engage community-dwelling individuals with serious mental illness with meaningful activity, positively influencing levels of occupational balance and engagement.
Included in the publication are step-by-step instructions, worksheets and resources to use directly with individuals and groups.
Back Page Narrative:
In her seminal article Recovery: The Lived Experience of Rehabilitation, Patricia Deegan (1988) described the despair and anguish experienced by people whose daily lives become characterized by “inertia” in the wake of serious mental illness. In this article she poignantly described the role that mental health service providers can play in instilling the possibilities of hope that can encourage movement beyond this inertia.
Action Over Inertia is an intervention workbook that focuses on enabling the recovery of meaningful activities -and the health and well-being benefits of these activities -for people with serious mental illness. Drawing on the core skills of enabling and a range of evidence-based intervention practices, this workbook guides service providers and the people they serve through a collaborative process of moving beyond the complicated and disempowering forces that sustain “inertia” to experience a daily life rich in opportunities and possibilities for participation in meaningful activities. Developed by occupational therapists, the workbook provides a wide range of worksheets and resources, including tools and ideas for monitoring and evaluating outcomes. Action Over Inertia raises the profile of activity health as an important concern in routine service delivery in the mental health field. It adds to the growing list of resources available to service providers to enhance their ability to support the recovery process for people with mental illness.
