A process for developing a student led programme in an acute mental health setting

This paper will describe the process used to develop a student led programme, within a mental health setting. The goal was to provide an effective occupational therapy student placement while increasing the capacity of the service to take students. The student led role enhanced the clinical team’s capacity to supervise students. Access to evidence based interventions was increased for service users while student interest in the field of mental health was increased.Student placements in mental health should be structured to include a specific clinical role that enables students to assume responsibility while contributing to ongoing service development.