Introduction: Low self–esteem has a long-lasting relation with chronic psychiatric disorders. Occupational therapy increases self- esteem by having patients perform purposive activities and develop deep-seated belief regarding the relation between occupation and health. This research, examines the effect of day-care occupational therapy services on patients’ self–esteem and the length of hospitalization in patients with chronic mental disorder.
Materials and Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study through which 20 patients with chronic mental disorder received the psychiatric services in a day-care psychiatry center as the experimental group and 20 patients with chronic psychiatric disorder did not receive these services as the control group. The subjects voluntarily participated in the study. Day-care occupational therapy sessions were held 2 days a week for three months. Each session lasted for 5 hours. To assess their self-esteem, the participants were asked to complete the Coppersmith's Self-Esteem Scale. The mean of hospitalization days was calculated for one year before the initiation and one year after the termination of intervention. Chi-Square test and variance analysis were conducted for statistical analysis of the data using SPSS software, version 19.
Results: Patients' self-esteem scores significantly increased after occupational therapy intervention (P=0.04). Also, the length of hospitalization decreased in the studied population after the intervention (P=0.03).
Conclusion: The better oral language skills among 4-to-6 year-old boys can be considered as a facilitative factor in expressing their relational aggressive behaviors.