Time Use among People with Psychiatric Disabilities: Implications for Practice

Topic: This paper reviewed the current literature regarding time use among people with psychiatric disabilities. Purpose: The purpose was to investigate what characterizes time use, occupational balance and occupational patterns among people with psychiatric disabilities, how time use relates to health in this group, and how time use can be used in research designs and addressed in assessments and interventions. Sources: The databases CINAHL and PubMed were searched, by combinations of terms such as: time use, time geography, occupational balance, occupational pattern, assessment, intervention, occupational therapy, lifestyle redesign, well-being, and mental health. Conclusions: Time use for people with psychiatric disabilities is often restricted to sleeping, eating, caring for oneself, and performing quiet activities. The target group is at risk of being both over- and under-occupied, and occupational imbalance may be regarded as an expression of the disability, thus shaped by a misfit between the person's capacities and environmental opportunities and demands. Several time-use methods exist for the study of daily occupations in people with psychiatric disabilities, but no intervention based on time use was found. Principles for a time-use based intervention are discussed. However, such an intervention needs to be investigated for relevance and effectiveness in future research.