Group Of Occupational Therapists Research Articles

Just Keep MOVEN: An Evidence-Based Approach to Improving Outcomes in Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation

Just Keep MOVEN: An Evidence-Based Approach to Improving Outcomes in Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation

Doing and being occupation centred in challenging settings: reflections on implementation strategies and professional rewards

Abstract Introduction In order to centralise occupation in challenging settings, therapists need a supportive process and distinct strategies to assist them as they re-design and implement services which are truly occupation centred, based and focussed. Objectives The aim of this article is to illuminate the strategies utilised by a group of occupational therapists working to centralise occupation in a forensic mental health service in Australia. It also highlights the subsequent professional rewards they experienced from being more occupation centred in everyday practice. Method A Community of Practice Scholars was formed by participants. They then used a Practice Based Enquiry (PBE) approach – a type of action methods research - involving iterative cycles of data collection, analysis, critique and implementation of practice innovations. Results Seven major themes emerged from the study. The theme of Strategies in, and Rewards of, Occupation Centred Practice is the focus of this article, with inclusion of data from the theme of Communicating with Certainty. Additional themes are discussed through other, related publications. Conclusion This article highlights the process of moving beyond “knowing that” occupation centred practice is important, to “knowing how” to re-design an occupational therapy service to achieve this aim. Becoming more occupation centred in practice can be experienced as more professionally rewarding for occupational therapists, especially those working in challenging settings.

Opinions of occupational therapists on the positioning of vocational rehabilitation services in Gauteng Public Healthcare

INTRODUCTION: A collaborative effort to transform occupational therapist's vocational rehabilitation services in Gauteng's public healthcare was hampered by the fact that role players were unclear as to what the scope of the service should be within the various sectors and staffing levels of public healthcare. This article reports on the opinions of occupational therapists on the positioning of vocational rehabilitation services in the Gauteng Province. METHOD: A collaborative action research team launched a non-experimental descriptive inquiry within the planning phase of a larger transformative project. Data were generated through an opinion survey to capture the perspectives of occupational therapists on the potential positioning of vocational rehabilitation services in the province. The opinions of three groups of occupational therapists were collected, i.e. clinicians working in Gauteng public healthcare, experienced vocational rehabilitation practitioners from all fields of service delivery who acted as critical friends and occupational therapy academia. RESULTS: The purposive sample was composed of 307 potential respondents. A low response rate of 31% was achieved. There was a lack of consensus as to which vocational rehabilitation services occupational therapists should render in public health care. The results reflected the need to address the scope and position of vocational rehabilitation services in public health care. CONCLUSION: Positioning of vocational rehabilitation services in public health care remains a point of contention. However, the process of asking occupational therapists their opinion created awareness and directed continuous efforts to address the issues within the field of practice. Key words: occupational therapy, vocational rehabilitation services, public healthcare action research, opinion survey

Occupational therapists’ pain knowledge: a national survey

Purpose: This study surveyed Canadian occupational therapists to identify whether their pain knowledge is current or if the gaps identified in past studies have remained the same. The findings will provide information to guide the development of targeted pain knowledge translation strategies for occupational therapists. Method: A self-report survey, including demographic questions and part of the City of Boston’s Rehabilitation Professionals’ Knowledge and Attitude Survey (COBS), was disseminated electronically to all members of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. Results: A total of 354 therapists, most came from Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia and working in the community, acute care and private practice, participated. Over 50% had 10 years or less of experience. Deficit knowledge areas were identified in pediatric pain, chronic versus acute pain, pain assessment and medications. These findings are largely consistent with deficits identified in pre-2000 studies. Conclusions: Pain knowledge gaps persist among Canadian occupational therapists and this can, and should, be addressed within the occupational therapist (OT) curriculum and in professional development initiatives. It is concerning that this study identified similar knowledge gaps as those identified in previous studies of OT students and clinicians. Pain is a growing and complex issue with negative impact on occupational performance across the lifespan. Knowledge dissemination of occupational therapy pain assessment and management approaches should be a priority for the profession.Implications for RehabilitationPain is a prevalent condition in all age groups of occupational therapists’ clients.There appear to be gaps in occupational therapists’ evidence-based knowledge of aspects of pain.Occupational therapy training programs and occupational therapy associations should provide education with a particular focus on identified pain knowledge gaps.

Occupation-focussed practice in justice health and forensic mental health: Using a practice-based enquiry approach

Providing occupational therapy services in secure settings can be challenging due to a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the limitations of the physical environment. Maintaining an occupation focus in such environments can also be difficult, especially if there are competing institutional philosophies. In this article, we describe a project undertaken by a group of occupational therapists in NSW, Australia which focuses on centralising occupation in the programmes they provide in a number of units within state funded Justice and Forensic Mental Health Services. The project utilises a practice-based enquiry approach through which the practitioners engage in a reflective analysis of their everyday practices and the artefacts produced in practice. Collectively, the group of practitioners together with an academic have formed a community of practice scholars who both critique and support each other's enquiry processes and actions aimed at transforming practice. Whilst the project is only in its early stages at the time of writing, it is hoped that the findings will inform other occupational therapists hoping to ‘reclaim occupation’ in their practice setting.

Occupational therapy influence on a carer peer support model in a clinical mental health service.

Current policy frameworks call for the participation of consumers and carers in all levels of mental health service delivery in Australia. Such inclusion leads to better outcomes for all, however, it is recognised that carers have needs and occupations beyond their carer role. The aim of this article is to describe an innovative carer peer support program developed by a group of occupational therapists. The article describes the rationale, phases of development and the role that occupational therapists played in developing and sustaining the model. This is followed by an exploration of the occupational therapy attitudes, knowledge and skills that contributed to the conceptualisation and implementation of the model. Five occupational therapists engaged in a review process involving documentation, literature review, evaluation, reflection and discussion. Four of the occupational therapists had either coordinated or managed the service described. The fifth author facilitated the process. Review of the model indicates it equips carers to perform their caring occupation and helps carers recognise the need for occupations beyond caring, for their health and wellbeing. Employing carers as paid workers values their 'real life' experience in their caring occupation. Findings also illustrate that the attitudes, knowledge, skills and competency standards of occupational therapists are well suited in enabling this emerging area of service delivery. Although this model has been developed in a clinical mental health setting, the key principles could be applied with carers or consumers across a variety of settings in which occupational therapists are employed.

Poster 70: Knowledge Translation Through a Community of Practice

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of a community of practice for knowledge translation among rehabilitation therapists. Design: Exploratory prospective cohort. Setting: Acute care hospital. Participants: A group of occupational therapists who meet monthly during lunch hour (n range, 4–15). Interventions: A community of practice is a group that meets voluntarily to share concerns and learn about what the members do. Evidence shows that knowledge translation is more effective through interpersonal strategies than guidelines, and community of practices have not been studied for effectiveness in knowledge translation.

Stressful expectations of junior occupational therapists: 2

In the first article of this two-part series, the author reviewed the background literature on occupational stress and therapists' expectations of their work. This article develops this material by reporting a study that explored the interaction of these variables in a group of occupational therapists who qualified from St Loye's School of Health Studies in 2000.

Test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the French version of the Ontario Society of Occupational Therapy (OSOT) Perceptual Evaluation

This article presents the results of a study conducted to verify the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the French version of the Ontario Society of Occupational Therapy (OSOT) Perceptual Evaluation. Designed to evaluate the perceptual deficits in patients with brain injuries, this tool uses a 5-points scale (0-4) to measure 18 different tasks. The scores obtained for each task are added to establish a total score. In the early 90s, the instruction manual of the OSOT Perceptual Evaluation was translated in French by a group of occupational therapists from l'Institut universitaire en gériatrie de Sherbrooke. To ensure the reliability of this version, a study was conducted to determine the test-retest reliability and the simultaneous inter-rater reliability. Thirty-two francophone subjects with brain injuries were each evaluated twice by the same therapist to determine the test-retest reliability of this tool. At one of the two encounters, a second therapist completed the score sheet to verify the simultaneous inter-rater reliability. The results show that, despite a few weak kappas' scores for certain tasks, the test-retest reliability and the inter-rater reliability of the total score were excellent (test-retest reliability: intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.93, with a confidence interval of 0.87 to 0.97; and inter-observer reliability: = 0.98, with a confidence interval of 0.97 to 0.99). The findings of this study show that the French version of the OSOT Perceptual Evaluation can therefore be used confidently by francophone occupational therapists.

Utilizing assistive devices: comparison of the American model with the reality of the needs of Quebec

In order to understand better the nature of the success or failure of a recommendation of a technical aid, a group of occupational therapists from Québec became interested in an American assessment called "Assistive technology device predisposition assessment". This assessment is based on the "Matching Person and Technology" model proposed by Scherer in 1994. The model describes 40 factors that can influence the use (or the non use) of technical aids. A participative and qualitative study was conducted with the collaboration of 10 francophone occupational therapists, in order to verify if the tool can be adapted to Québec's context. Each had to reconstruct two case studies following the recommendation of a technical aid: the first showing a satisfactory use of a technical aid and the second, a non use of a technical aid. According to the participants' experience, the results show that the American assessment focuses well on the pertinent factors of technical aids, providing that seven other specific factors are added. This article describes four of the case studies that show the importance of considering different influential factors that could render other significant results. Finally, the study generated two proposals for further research in the area of technical aids.

Das Ergotherapeutische Assessment als Prozess

In Germany, geriatric clients are traditionally being assessed by means which have been developed by physicians. Now a group of occupational therapists is in the process of creating an assessment specifically to be used by our profession. It is designed to be an instrument to assess the client and to support therapy planning, documentation and evaluation. In this article we will impart the application of assessments used in Germany, focus and illustrate the development of the occupational therapy assessment. We also wish to achieve international discussion about assessments.

Working with Clients with Learning Disabilities and Multiple Physical Handicaps: A Comparison between Hospital and Community Based Therapists

This comparative study looked at hospital and community based occupational therapists who worked with clients with learning disabilities and multiple physical handicaps. The factors that were examined were the time spent by occupational therapists with this group, the interventions that were used, and the learning support that was needed for the therapists. Information was gathered from questionnaires and semistructured interviews. The results showed a distinct difference between the two groups of occupational therapists, with remedial activities being the focus in the hospital setting and functional activities in the community. Most of the respondents felt that they had not had either sufficient education at college or sufficient support when they started their service. A change in role from therapist to consultant was found in those working in the community and this group also placed more emphasis on keeping up to date with developments in this specialist field.

The impact on occupational therapists of the reorganisation of psychiatric care in Sweden

AbstractThe present study focuses on the on‐going reorganisation of psychiatric care in a major county council in Sweden. The aim of this study is to describe the impact of these changes from the perspective of one group of occupational therapists. Data were collected by a mailed questionnaire. Results showed an acceptance of the current policies towards restructuring psychiatric care, especially on the focus on alternative living and work/occupational facilities. Strong criticism was raised concerning the lack of trans‐institutional facilities. Loneliness and isohtion were seen as a main problem of the patients. Strong doubts were raised concerning independent living as the best alternative for most of the patients. The new professional role in community psychiatric care has brought the occupational therapist closer to die individual patient. Feelings of shortcomings and frustration in this group of occupational therapists regarding the reorganisation of psychiatric care were linked to the insufficiency of community support facilities designed to meet these new challenges.

Evidence for Content and Discriminant Validity of the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test Competency Exam

This article presents an overview of the evidence for content and discriminant validity of the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) Competency Exam. First, a summary of certification vs. licensure is presented. Second, the five requirements for certification in administration and interpretation of the SIPT (Ayres, 1989) are presented. Third, a discussion of the differences between the SIPT and the SIPT Competency Exam is presented. Fourth, a historical log of how content validity was built into the SIPT Competency Exam is presented. Fifth, evidence for discriminant validity of the SIPT Competency Exam is presented by reporting on a study investigating performance on the exam by different groups of occupational therapists. Finally it is concluded that preliminary evidence suggests that the SIPT Competency Exam is a valid test for use by Sensory Integration International as one of the five requirements for certification in the administration and interpretation of the SIPT (Ayres).

L'Ergothérapie dans les Maisons de Repos: facteur de bien-être?

A group of occupational therapists prepares a job description of the occupational therapist's role in the home for elderly to increase their well-being. The evolution of occupational therapy does n...

High and low job satisfaction: some characteristics of two groups of occupational therapists.

From a sample of 1400 occupational therapy respondents, the characteristics of two groups, those scoring high on the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (N = 280) and those scoring low (N = 280) on this measure of job satisfaction, are compared on age, position, educational levels and the value and salience scales of the Life Roles Inventory. The implications of these findings for occupational therapy unit management and supervision are discussed and recommendations for continuing professional education are made.

Strategies for community occupational therapy program development.

Occupational therapists who wish to see services expand in community settings must be prepared to take an active role in program development. The article examines 12 program development strategies which are illustrated using the experience of developing a rural program in a social service system. Community occupational therapy services in Prince Edward Island were initially developed, from 1977 to 1979, by a small group of occupational therapists. The group obtained Federal Welfare Demonstration Grant funding for a pilot project which was administered by the provincial Department of Social Services. In 1979, the Prince Edward Island Provincial Government approved on-going funding for an Island-wide community occupational therapy service.

Clinical Audit: Measuring the Quality of Individual Clinical Performance

Measurement of quality of performance is increasingly seen as part of the provision of a service within the National Health Service. This article describes how a group of occupational therapists in Southampton and South West Hampshire looked at a process known as clinical audit that is practised within the medical profession to see if it would be a suitable method of evaluating performance within occupational therapy. The group viewed it as a most suitable method and this study will be followed by pilot studies of the practice of clinical audit.

Apparatus for Assessing Vision after Stroke

This article describes the development of an electronically controlled test apparatus used to detect visual deficits following neurological damage. A group of occupational therapists and an electronics engineer expanded ideas given at a sensory integration course to produce the hardware as well as the test format and protocol to produce a useful test. The hardware includes a display board containing an array of lights and a control box with corresponding switches as well as an automatic control switch to permit both manual and programed testing. The test identifies deficiencies in the areas of visual neglect, hemianopia, visual memory, extinction, and variation in performance as a result of change in length of stimulus. Information gained by using this test provides valuable assistance to the occupational therapist and to other team members in setting realistic expectations and treatment goals. More information regarding production of this test is available on request.

Study Workshops Established by North West Thames Regional Group of Occupational Therapists

Study Workshops <i>Established by</i> North West Thames Regional Group of Occupational Therapists