Online occupational therapy • Eight weeks

Everyday Performance

Move • Eat • Sleep

Work towards a meaningful everyday goal through movement, eating and sleep routines that fit your life.

Everyday Performance is an eight-week online occupational therapy program for adults with psychosocial or neurological disability. Start with something you want to do more independently or consistently, and work with an occupational therapist to build practical routines that support that goal.

Enquire about the pilot

Pilot enquiries welcome. Dates and fees will be confirmed before enrolment.

Your goal gives the program direction.

What would you like to make easier in your everyday life? Your goal might relate to looking after yourself, studying, working, managing your home or taking part in your community.

Together, we turn that goal into manageable steps. Depending on what matters to you, this could include:

  • Building a morning routine that helps you get ready for study or work.
  • Planning and preparing meals more independently.
  • Managing your energy so you can participate in a valued community activity.
  • Establishing a more consistent sleep and wake routine to support your day.
  • Finding achievable ways to include movement in your week.

Your starting point, preferences, sensory needs and available support shape the plan.

Three everyday routines. One personal goal.

Move

Explore ways to include movement in daily life that suit your abilities, interests and energy. Build participation at a pace that feels achievable.

Eat

Develop practical routines around planning, shopping, preparing meals and eating. Work through the everyday barriers that make these tasks harder.

Sleep

Explore your sleep and wake patterns, evening routines and environment. Trial changes that support a more consistent rhythm for your day.

Why movement, eating and sleep?

Everyday routines can support psychological wellbeing and brain health.

Research provides a reason to pay attention to how we move, eat and sleep. Studies have found benefits for depressive symptoms, sleep-related mental health difficulties and some aspects of memory and thinking. The findings below explain why these routines are part of Everyday Performance. [1–6]

Movement: supporting mood and memory

A 2024 review of 218 trials found that exercise, including walking or jogging, yoga and strength training, reduced depressive symptoms compared with active controls such as usual care. Confidence in the estimates was low or very low because of limitations in the studies. [1]

Brain health research also offers encouraging findings. In a trial of 120 older adults, a year of aerobic exercise increased the size of the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory, and improved spatial memory. This does not establish the same effects for every age, disability or movement program. [2]

Eating well: supporting mental health and thinking

In the Australian SMILES trial, 67 adults with depression were allocated to dietitian-led dietary support or social support. After 12 weeks, the dietary support group had a greater reduction in depressive symptoms. This was a small trial of dietary support alongside existing care, rather than a test of meal preparation routines alone. [3]

A separate trial in older adults at high cardiovascular risk found benefits on some combined measures of memory and thinking with a Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil or nuts. These findings are specific to that population and do not show that dietary changes reverse neurological disability. [4]

Sleep: supporting wellbeing, learning and memory

A review of 65 trials found that interventions which improved sleep also reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Many studies used structured sleep treatments, so the results should not be interpreted as evidence that a bedtime routine alone has the same effect. [5]

Sleep also supports learning and memory. The US National Institutes of Health explains that insufficient sleep can interfere with learning, remembering information and everyday performance. [6]

Turning the evidence into everyday action

Our OT focus is to help you put useful strategies into practice: finding achievable ways to move, making shopping and meal preparation more manageable, and developing sleep and wake routines that fit your needs. We link these steps to your own participation goal and review what works for you.

An evidence-informed approach. These studies support the rationale for the program; they have not tested the Everyday Performance pilot itself. Outcomes vary, and evidence differs across conditions. The program complements your existing care, with other health professionals involved when needed.

Evidence and further reading

  1. Noetel, M., et al. (2024). Effect of exercise for depression: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ, 384, e075847. doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-075847.
  2. Erickson, K. I., et al. (2011). Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 3017–3022. doi:10.1073/pnas.1015950108.
  3. Jacka, F. N., et al. (2017). A randomised controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the ‘SMILES’ trial). BMC Medicine, 15, 23. doi:10.1186/s12916-017-0791-y.
  4. Valls-Pedret, C., et al. (2015). Mediterranean diet and age-related cognitive decline: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Internal Medicine, 175(7), 1094–1103. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.1668.
  5. Scott, A. J., et al. (2021). Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 60, 101556. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101556.
  6. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (n.d.). Sleep. National Institutes of Health. Accessed 21 September 2026.

How the eight weeks work

  1. Choose your goal. Identify what you want to work towards and the everyday barriers you want support with.
  2. Make a practical weekly plan. Agree on manageable actions linked to your goal, with adjustments for your capacity and support needs.
  3. Learn and practise. Join a weekly 45–60 minute online group OT session, then try your strategies in everyday life.
  4. Check in and adjust. Complete an end-of-week check-in. Your OT reviews your progress and provides personalised feedback to help shape the next steps.
  5. Plan what comes next. Review progress towards your goal and identify routines and supports you can carry forward.

Individual calls may be arranged when clinically required. The program does not include a guaranteed weekly individual appointment.

Who is the program for?

The program may suit adults with psychosocial or neurological disability who:

  • Have a meaningful everyday goal relevant to occupational therapy.
  • Want support to develop movement, eating or sleep routines that help them work towards that goal.
  • Have access to a smartphone and reliable internet, with support to use them if needed.
  • Can participate in online group sessions and brief weekly check-ins, independently or with agreed support.
  • Are willing to try manageable changes between sessions.

An occupational therapist will review each enquiry and complete a brief screening conversation before confirming whether the program is a suitable fit.

For NDIS participants and referrers

The focus is on building capacity for everyday activities and participation. Each participant’s personal goal guides the strategies they practise and the progress reviewed during the program.

We will discuss suitability, fees and any proposed funding arrangements before enrolment. Making an enquiry does not confirm acceptance or NDIS funding.

Interested in Everyday Performance?

Participants, family members and support coordinators are welcome to enquire about the pilot. Tell us you’re interested in Everyday Performance and how you would prefer us to contact you.

Enquire about the pilot

The referral form is being finalised. For now, contact Integrative Therapy by email and we will explain the next steps.

Everyday Performance is not a crisis or emergency service. If immediate assistance is required, call 000.