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The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into physical and mental rehabilitation has the potential to significantly transform these fields. AI innovations, including machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, and computer vision, offer occupational therapists advanced tools to improve care quality. These technologies facilitate more precise assessments, the development of tailored intervention plans, more efficient treatment delivery, and enhanced outcome evaluation. This review explores the integration of AI across various aspects of rehabilitation, providing a thorough examination of recent advancements and current applications. It highlights how AI applications, such as natural language processing, computer vision, virtual reality, machine learning, and robotics, are shaping the future of physical and mental recovery in occupational therapy., Competing Interests: The author declares no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Amir Rahmani Rasa.)

Forensic populations in the United States are increasing, driven largely by a rise in individuals determined to be Incompetent to Stand Trial (IST). Across most states, including California, the number of mentally ill inmates awaiting competency restoration has increased dramatically in recent years. Traditionally, competency restoration has taken place in state hospitals, but incompetent inmates often experience a significant wait for state hospital beds because of the rising demand for beds in such facilities. The resulting waitlists, which range from days to months, have led to states being held in contempt of court for violating limits placed on how long incompetent defendants can be held in jail. Therefore, alternatives to state hospitalization for IST patients have been developed, including jail-based competency (JBCT) restoration programs. JBCT programs provide restoration services in county jails, rather than in psychiatric hospitals. The following article will review the nature of JBCT programs and will emphasize the structure and evolution of such programs within California.

Objective: This article addresses the rise of individual placement and support (IPS) within vocational services for people with severe mental illness (SMI), the current state of affairs, and future directions of IPS in the Netherlands., Method: Review of the literature on IPS in the Netherlands, analysis of registration data, and exploration of future avenues for IPS in Dutch mental health care., Findings: In the first decade of this century, an implementation study showed that IPS was feasible in the Netherlands, and a multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) indicated that IPS was also effective in the Dutch context. Nationwide, from the start of 2016 to the end of 2017, the number of enrolled IPS participants doubled from 1,038 to 2,100, which was largely due to the introduction of preliminary national funding of IPS. Future directions include expanding the IPS practice in terms of target groups, types of providers, goals, and added interventions., Conclusions and Implications for Practice: Involvement of clinicians and the employment opportunities for people with SMI have increased, which is mainly due to the successes of IPS. However, considerable efforts are still needed to make IPS more widely available. Important facilitators are regular meetings of stakeholders in mental health care and vocational rehabilitation, stakeholders' experienced ownership of IPS and collaboration, the mandate and influence of the decision makers involved, and secured IPS funding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: to analyze Therapeutic Follow-Up (TF) and Network Intervention (NI) as devices for social network/Psychosocial Care Center (CAPS - Centro de Atenção Psicossocial) user staff construction., Method: an ethnographic study. Data collection instruments were participant observation, field diary, semi-structured interviews and Sluzki's Minimal Map of Relationships. The research site was at a CAPS II of the city of São Paulo. Participants were CAPS user, their family network, professionals and other users. Data analysis took place through Minayo's thematic content analysis framework and Sluzki's personal maps., Results: TF and NI led to greater social participation, autonomy and reorganization of family roles and treatment in CAPS., Conclusion: the TF associated with NI was potent in strengthening the user's personal/social network and in including them in community activities.

Objective: The use of serious games and gamification to promote learning has a long history. More recently, serious games and gamification have been used in clinical settings to promote treatment and recovery. Yet there is little evidence to support their use with populations that experience serious mental illness., Methods: A scoping review was used to answer the following research question, What is the current state of knowledge about how games and gamification are used to promote treatment of serious mental illness? Scoping reviews clarify, define, and develop conceptual boundaries within a topic area. Twenty studies were identified and reviewed by using thematic content analysis., Results: A range of game types, formats, and technology were assessed. Six themes emerged from analysis. Serious games and the use of gamification to promote treatment have potential to engage persons with serious mental illness in game content and promote treatment outcomes. Game design that supported clear instruction, a coherent narrative, a smooth interface between mechanics and play, and service user involvement early in the process of game design were important for the successful promotion of engagement and learning. Games reviewed offered the opportunity for problem solving, collaboration, and goal-oriented activity that supported the delivery of therapeutic outcomes., Conclusions: The use of serious games and gamification to promote treatment of serious mental illness had high levels of feasibility and acceptability among both users and providers. The potential treatment value of games, however, is dependent on key features related to the games' design, operation, and rationale.

Objective: to analyze the perception of workers and managers about the psychosocial care network in a medium-sized municipality in the inlands of the state of Minas Gerais., Method: qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study involving twelve participants from different points of the network. The semi-structured interviews were analyzed in the light of Pierre Bourdieu's framework of constructionist structuralism., Results: the actions offered by the services were based on the perspectives of resocialization, user embracement, group and multiprofessional care, and on approaches to harm reduction, recreation and daily organization. These were configured as the network resources/capital. Tensions were identified in family embracement and in relationships between families and users, as well as in the prejudice towards people with mental disorders. Final considerations: the social agents were willing to contribute to processes of change in order to overcome the focus on specialties, the lack of training of some teams, lack of infrastructure and of some components, especially those related to leisure and community life.

This special issue on psychiatric rehabilitation for veterans celebrates the Department of Veterans Affairs' commitment to innovation in psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery through service delivery and research. The scope of the articles also raises issues about the evolution of the field and how one defines psychiatric rehabilitation. Special issues such as this provide the opportunity to push at the boundaries and encourage the field to continue to advance how psychiatric rehabilitation efforts are defined, measured, evaluated, and put into practice across the care continuum. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives. To explore effects of coalitions (Community Engagement and Planning [CEP]) versus technical assistance (Resources for Services [RS]) for depression collaborative care and the effects of social determinants on long-term remission outcomes. Methods. We randomized 95 health care and community programs in Los Angeles County, California, to CEP or RS. In 2010, 1246 depressed (Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-8] ≥ 10) adults enrolled and were invited for baseline and 6-, 12-, and 36-month surveys. Of 598 3-year completers, 283 participated at 4 years (2016). We examined effects of CEP versus RS, social factors (e.g., family income, food insecurity) on time to and periods in clinical (PHQ-8 < 10) and community-defined (PHQ-8 < 10 or PHQ-2 < 3; mental health composite score [MCS-12] > 40, or mental wellness) remission during the course of 3 years, and at 4 years. Results. We found that CEP versus RS increased 4-year depression remission and, for women, community-defined remission outcomes during the course of 3 years. Social factors and clinical factors predicted remission. Conclusions. At 4 years, CEP was more effective than RS at increasing depression remission. Public Health Implications. Coalitions may improve 4-year depression remission, while addressing social and clinical factors associated with depression may hold potential to enhance remission.

Background: Clinically operated community-based residential rehabilitation units (Community Rehabilitation Units) are resource intensive services supporting a small proportion of the people with severe and persisting mental illness who experience difficulties living in the community. Most consumers who engage with these services will be diagnosed with schizophrenia or a related disorder. This review seeks to: generate a typology of service models, describe the characteristics of the consumers accessing these services, and synthesise available evidence about consumers' service experiences and outcomes., Method: A systematic review was undertaken to identify studies describing Community Rehabilitation Units in Australia, consumer characteristics, and evidence about consumer experiences and outcomes. Search strings were applied to multiple databases; additional records were identified through snowballing. Records presenting unique empirical research were subject to quality appraisal., Results: The typology defined two service types, Community-Based Residential Care (C-BRC), which emerged in the context of de-institutionalisation, and the more recent Transitional Residential Rehabilitation (TRR) approach. Key differentiating features were the focus on transitional care and 'recovery' under TRR. Schizophrenia spectrum disorders were the most common primary diagnosis under both service types. TRR consumers were more likely to be male, referred from community settings, and less likely to be subject to involuntary treatment. Regarding outcomes, the limited quantitative evidence (4 records, 2 poor quality) indicated C-BRC was successful in supporting the majority of consumers transferred from long-term inpatient care to remain out of hospital. All qualitative research conducted in C-BRC settings was assessed to be of poor quality (3 records). No methodologically sound quantitative evidence on the outcomes of TRR was identified. Qualitative research undertaken in these settings was of mixed quality (9 records), and the four records exploring consumer perspectives identified them as valuing the service provided., Conclusions: While there is qualitative evidence to suggest consumers value the support provided by Community Rehabilitation Units, there is an absence of methodologically sound quantitative research about the consumer outcomes achieved by these services. Given the ongoing and increasing investment in these facilities within the Australian context, there is an urgent need for high-quality research examining their efficiency and effectiveness., Trial Registration: PROSPERO ( CRD42018097326 ).

Objectives: Video games and virtual reality have recently become used by clinicians for training or information media or as therapeutic tools. The purpose is to review the use of these technologies for therapy destined for schizophrenia patients., Methods: We conducted a review in October 2016 using Pubmed, Scopus and PsychInfo using the following Medical Subject Headings (MESH): "video games", "virtual reality" and "therapy, computer-assisted/methods", each associated with "schizophrenia". Papers were included in the review if: (a) they were published in an English, Spanish or French-language peer-reviewed journal, (b) the study enrolled patients with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder, (c) the patients used a therapeutic video game or therapeutic virtual reality device., Results: Eighteen publications were included. The devices studied are mainly therapeutic software developed specifically for therapeutic care. They can be classified according to their therapeutic objectives. These targets corresponded to objectives of psychosocial rehabilitation: improvement of residual symptomatology, cognitive remediation, remediation of cognition and social skills, improvement of everyday life activities, support for occupational integration. Very different devices were proposed. Some researchers analysed programs developed specifically for patients with schizophrenia, while others were interested in the impact of commercial games. Most of the studies were recent, preliminary and European. The impact of these devices was globally positive, particularly concerning cognitive functions., Conclusions: Computer-assisted therapy, video games and virtual reality cannot replace usual care but could be used as adjunctive therapy. However, recommending their use seems premature because of the recent and preliminary character of most studies. Moreover, a link is still lacking between this field of research in psychiatry and other fields of research, particularly game studies. Finally, it might be interesting to analyse more precisely the neuropsychological impact of existing commercial games which could potentially be useful for psychosocial rehabilitation., (Copyright © 2018 L'Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To describe the strategies of the Psychosocial Rehabilitation conducted in the Network of Psychosocial Care of the western region of the municipality of São Paulo., Methodology: Descriptive qualitative study, carried out with 123 professionals, from September 2015 to July 2016. Data processed by the software Alceste and analyzed in light of the analytical category Psychosocial Rehabilitation of Benedetto Saraceno and complementary literature., Results: Three classes emerged that address the potential and scarcity of therapeutic residential services as a space to resume the daily life; importance of cultural activities for the exchange of identities and care beyond the scope of health; the potential of projects to generate work and income to regain the contractual power., Conclusion: The strategies contribute to the construction of subjectivity and the resumption of the citizenship. In order to sustain the Psychosocial Rehabilitation it is necessary to overcome the weaknesses of human, physical and structural resources. Still, there is potential in the collaborative work and accountability of the teams.

The rehabilitation of severely mentally-ill patients and their return to the community are related to historical progress. Their potential of achieving these goals is higher or lower depending on the presence of more or less stigma attached to their condition. Watts and Bennett have divided psychiatric rehabilitation into three phases: Phase 1: Very little was done because there was not much to be done. Patients were rejected and received mistreatment. Phase 2: Their vulnerability was admitted and protection was given to the disabled; services were provided by charity and voluntary religious institutions; there was no clear distinction between illness and poverty. Phase 3: Modern psychiatric rehabilitation began after the two World Wars in the 20th century, with attempts to modify and to oppose disability with the development of other skills. Psychiatric rehabilitation programs help these patients to resume life in the community and prevent their social isolation. By ensuring continuity of their treatment, rehabilitation programs reduce relapses and hospitalizations, thereby contributing to preserve family life and social inclusion. This reduces treatment costs to both families and communities, while promoting patients' reinsertion and recovery in the community according to their individual needs.

In this article, the authors summarize current trends in the development of domestic and foreign mental health services, results of the reforms of national psychiatric services, and the state of inpatient and community-based psychiatric care systems. Actual problems and prospects of development of system of psychiatric help are discussed.

The role of law in regulating mental health detention has come to engender great contention in the legal and sociological disciplines alike. This conflict is multifaceted but is centred upon the extent to which law should control the psychiatric power of detention. In this manner the evolution of law regulating mental health detention has been seen in terms of a pendulous movement between two extremes of medicalism and legalism. Drawing on socio-legal literature, legislation, international treaties and case law this article examines the changing purpose of mental health law from an English and Council of Europe perspective by utilizing the concepts of medicalism, legalism and new legalism as descriptive devices before arguing that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities goes further than all of these concepts and has the potential to influence mental health laws internationally., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)