ated that women were most likely to advocate for nontraditional treatment interventions for their symptoms of depression, such as exercise and yoga (Shivakumar et al., 2014). Yoga is shown to have a significant positive impact on PPD in a random controlled trial (Buttner, Brock, O'Hara, & Stuart, 2015). Leisure-time physical activity was additionally found to have a significant impact on participating women with PPD’s perceptions of self-worth, empowerment, and an overall reduction in susceptibility to depressive symptoms (Lloyd, O’Brien, & Riot, 2016).
Engaging in social support related to a church or spiritual organization was highly valued and of positive impact on both women of color (Keefe, Brownstein-Evans, & Rouland Polmanteer, 2016) and Hispanics in rural settings (Kim & Dee, 2017). While one study found that an arts-based program for women with PPD lead to verbalized feelings of improved quality of life, perceptions of self-efficacy and gained satisfaction from informal social support in the 10-week course (Morton & Forsey, 2013). Selix and Goyal (2015) elaborate upon the importance of empowering women with adaptive strategies for returning to the workplace to resume professional occupations, as 80% of women who are employed during their pregnancy return to their professional roles within the first year of the newborn’s life.
Perhaps most importantly, the transition to the maternal role and the ability to engage in the occupation of maternal self-care while balancing the demands of child-rearing is the immediate focus of occupational intervention. This maternal skill set is referred to by Barkin and Wisner (2013) as maternal functioning, further articulating the seven functional domains of maternal self-care as “social support, self-care, psychological well-being, infant care, mother-child interaction, management and adjustment” (pg. 1051). Familiarization with this new occupational domain may require redefining the cumulative occupational profile that is known to the individual previously, prior to the arrival of the infant. An occupational therapist has the unique skills and education to facilitate assessment and intervention strategies that integrate all of the potential benefits relative to occupational intervention.
APPLYING A BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL
As articulated in the prior section covering Endometriosis & Chronic Pelvic Pain, the occupational therapist has a unique educational background in facilitating both physical modalities of intervention as well as psychosocial aspects of intervention; they are uniquely situated to deliver patient-centered care from a biopsychosocial model. This model allows the therapist to consider the diverse factors of biological, psychological, and sociological influences when creating an intervention plan (Gentry, Snyder, Barstow, & Hamson-Utley, 2018). Each of these dimensions of care has been shown to have a direct impact on the intermediate and final rehabilitation outcomes (Gentry, Snyder, Barstow, & Hamson-Utley, 2018). Gentry and colleagues’ (2018) adapted the Biopsychosocial Model for use in the OT practice addresses the needs of client across the continuum of care, incorporating seven key elements:
Characteristics of the condition (previously termed injury characteristics)
Sociodemographic variables that impact
Psychological variables, and
Social-contextual variables (which reciprocally interact with each other), to impact
The following presentations depict Case Vignette 2 - Nadine, which provides a client-specific scenario utilized to provide context to the completion of the biopsychosocial chart (as outlined in the previous section covering Endometriosis & Chronic Pelvic Pain, Figure 1), elaborated within the secondary presentation on Applying the Biopsychosocial Model as adapted for occupational therapy.
Case Vignette 2 - Nadine
Applying the Adapted Biopsychosocial Model for OT
CONSIDERING OTHER MODELS IN ACTION
As stated in the previous section on Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain, the Adapted Biopsychosocial Model for OT is only one example of an applicable m