Highlighting OT's role in mental health: An innovative fieldwork program for community-based mental health

Our country has been in a state of crisis with a pandemic that killed more than 1 million individuals and left others with disabilities and long-range symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and even suicide. Those who didn’t contract COVID-19 underwent their own long-term challenges, including isolation and anxiety. As a result, city and state government officials are finally seeing the necessity of investing in mental health services. Governor Kathy Hochul of New York State announced in January 2022 a $10 billion, multi-year investment in health care, the largest in state history, to rebuild, grow, and strengthen the health care system, including additional priorities in mental health, school-based services, practice, and suicide prevention (Democrat and Chronicle, 2022).