Occupational Therapy at UM

This month our department was involved in several outreach sessions to diverse establishments . At Dar Tal - Provvidenza, training on Sensory Approaches to support the daily living of persons with multiple disabilities was provided to over 50 Ability Promoters and Care Staff. Paola Primary School staff engaged in a practical workshop on Universal Design for learning and a Whole School Approach whilst members of Christian Life Communities (CLC) discussed Work life Balance from an Occupational Science and Sensory lens.All sessions were very well received and valued by the participants.

Dr Nathalie Buhagiar from our Department together with Professors Josianne Scerri and Michael Galea,from the Department of Mental Health, took part in a 5 day capacity building event with Educators and Policy Makers held on the 7th, 8th,11th,12th and 13th May 2026 in Valletta Malta. Forming part of the Research team from University College Cork all the UM professionals, supported the facilitation of a number of workshops .Data collected during this and previous events will eventually contribute to the development of a mental health policy and toolkit for children in Maltese schools.This event was part of the EmpowerMe Project- a project co-led by the Ministry of Social Policy and MEYR with the involvement of the Health Directorate. A great example of Interprofessional collaboration.

Earlier this month Dr Nathalie Buhagiar, presented at the FMCHS Conference" .Her session was entitled " Harnessing the Senses: The Power of Sensory Approaches in Mental Health and Well Being"- a very important topic for Mental Health Promotion and prevention in today's world.

Thank you Gaby Meli and Chelsea for such an interesting discussion with our 4th year students. Our students loved your enthusiasm and sense of entrepreneurship.

You have been a great source of inspiration.

Updated with programme.

Attention all students.

Why “Men Don’t Seek Help” Doesn't Sit Well With Me,
and frankly shouldn't sit well with you either...

Each time su***de is brought up, one familiar phrase comes up: men don’t seek help. (This practice happens so much, it’s begun to seem less like a question than a conclusion.) And frankly, it doesn’t sit well with me.

Not that it’s entirely wrong. Indeed, there is compelling evidence that men, on average, are less likely to access formal mental health services. But the way this notion is framed is too narrow and, at times, misses what is really going on in the room when you sit with men.

I associate with male partners, sons, and fathers. The clarity of that statement doesn't match what I see.

Men Do Communicate. Just Not Naturally in the Way We Expect.

A lot of the men I meet are in distress. They just haven't always done it with words like "I'm struggling" and "I need help."

Instead, it manifests in:

behaviour
withdrawal
irritability
overworking
silence
altered daily practices or activities

These are not communication absences. But they are communication behaviours that typically go unnoticed and unrecognised. If we define “seeking help” strictly as verbal disclosure in clinical or emotional language, then yes, many men don’t meet that threshold. But that might reveal more about the definition than about the men.

“I’m there for everyone else. No One Is There for Me.”

I hear the same pattern over and over again.

Men who feel responsible for others.
Those men who show up help keep things steady, and help change.
Men who have relationally heavy roles.
And behind that, a gentle sentence: “I don’t feel like anyone is there for me.”

This is not about men not wanting to communicate. It’s often about an imbalance. A feeling that they’re positioned to hold, not be held. To reply, not to be responded to.

Research on masculinity and help-seeking supports this, too. Help-seekers often fear that seeking help will threaten identity or competence, especially in environments where self-sufficiency is appreciated. Simultaneously, it has been found that men often reach out indirectly or non-verbally, with a lower likelihood of being acknowledged and accepted.

So, it’s not just lack of effort. It is sometimes communication in a language mismatch. Making the Narrative Incorrect. When we say “men don’t ask for help” over and over again, we risk two things:

We individualise the problem. It begins to feel like a personal failure. As if the answer is just to work harder to speak.
We ignore the system surrounding them. How we listen. What we recognise as distress. If our services and relationships are in fact suited to meet men where they are.

This matters, because su***de is not spurred on by one thing. It is often linked to a combination of factors, acute stress, social isolation, substance use, and access to lethal means. So there’s a breakdown in communication as a part of the picture, but not in the simplistic way it is usually presented.

Deepening What We Look at for “Communication”.
If we’re serious about prevention, then we need to expand our lens.

Communication is not only verbal.
It is behaviour.
It is tone.
It is presence or absence.
It is not just what is said but also what is altered.

Someone who stops showing up like he used to is communicating.
A man who gets short and angry where he used to be patient is communicating. A man who isolates, distracts, or over-functions is communicating.
The question is whether, as a society, we know how to read those signals and when.

Not Every Man, Not One Story.

It’s important to be clear. Not every man will agree with me.

Men are not a homogeneous group. Some just communicate openly and directly. Some seek therapy early. Some have significant and reciprocal support structures.

Any serious discussions need to be respectful of that variability.
But to explore patterns, especially when we see men on the brink of crisis, we see the same message: misunderstood communication, a theme that crops up far enough that we cannot dismiss it.

Where This Leaves Us.

If we keep repeating that men fail to ask for help, we’ll keep creating solutions that are supposed to get men talking more.
Some of that is necessary. But it is not sufficient.

A more constructive direction would be:

Are we acknowledging the ways men already communicate distress?
Do we establish spaces where a variety of expressions stand together?
Are we listening beyond words?

Because if someone is communicating and they haven’t been understood, then the result almost always looks like silence.

But it is here the real risk lies.
It is not a THEM problem but an US one.

I chose this picture cause this is what a depressed, lonely man looks like sometimes....

The INSPIRE Conference" Smart Tools for Strong Lives" held on the 24th April 2026 at "The Notch Conference Centre" in Kappara brought together Occupational Therapy Students, expert Clinicians, Academics and Researchers from UM as well as Overseas colleagues.These all came together to delve deeper into how assistive technology can support more inclusive and accessible lives. A special mention goes to Dr Bryan Boyl from UCC who was one of the presenters, Dr Vickie Gauci from the Department of Disability Studies who chaired the Panel and Mr Matthew Bonello, a research support officer from the Department of Engineering who showcased Digiclap+, a project that our department is involved in.
Well Done to the organizing team for such an inspiring Conference.