bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Therapists' Perceptions of how Teamwork Influences Client-Centred Practice
Authors: Sumsion Thelma , Lencucha Raphael 
Published: April 2015

This qualitative study adds to the client-centred literature by focusing on occupational therapists' experience of working on teams that support clients with a severe and persistent mental illness from a client-centred perspective. The paper reports on the second category of data relating to a previously published paper, which replicated the work of Sumsion (2004). Interviews were conducted with 12 therapists to capture their experience and interpretation of this approach to practice. The multiphased analysis included template analysis and open coding. It resulted in the creation of the category of meaningful goals, which addressed the work done to ensure that the goals towards which everyone was working were meaningful for the client. The facilitators related to these goals included team cohesion, the structure of the system and family collaboration and support. The challenges were differing perspectives and paradigms, competitive frameworks and time. This study identified the unique contribution that families provided to a client-centred approach. Overall, the study makes a significant contribution to the literature and to therapists' understanding of the factors that influence the therapist's ability to facilitate client-centred practice.
Developing the Occupational Self Assessment: The Use of Rasch Analysis to Assure Internal Validity, Sensitivity and Reliability
Authors: Kielhofner Gary , Forsyth Kirsty , Kramer Jessica , Iyenger Anita 
Published: April 2015

This paper reports the results of three studies that examined the internal validity, sensitivity and reliability of the Occupational Self Assessment (OSA), a self-report of Occupational Competence and Value for occupational performance and participation (Baron et al 2006). All three studies used a Rasch measurement approach to explore the psychometric properties of iterative versions of the OSA. The first study showed that the ‘Myself’ Occupational Competence and Values items constituted a unidimensional construct, but did not discriminate optimally between participants. The results also suggested that the two ‘My Environment’ scales did not contain enough items to exhibit adequate measurement properties. Next, the rating scales were changed from three-point to four-point categories. The second study examined these changes and provided evidence to support the use of a four-point Occupational Competence scale. The Values rating scale was further revised because sensitivity did not improve. The third study confirmed that the OSA items in combination have good internal validity and measure the unidimensional constructs of Occupational Competence and Values. Further, both four-point rating scales resulted in improved person separation, indicated increased sensitivity, and could be used in a consistent manner by 90% of participants with a range of disabilities from a variety of contexts.
Living with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Parents' Experiences of Treatment Regimens and Home Exercise Programmes
Authors: Jones Fiona , Rodger Sylvia , Broderick Sarah , De Monte Rachel 
Published: April 2015

The parents of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis have been identified as pivotal facilitators of children's involvement in treatment regimens, including home exercise programmes. As such, parents' perspectives regarding the factors that influence participation in their children's treatment regimens, and in particular home exercise programmes, are addressed in this study. In depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 families. Rigour was ensured through a rich description of participants, peer and member checking, field journals and audit trails. Four key topics related to the process — the experience of the child's diagnosis, community access and participation, treatment regimens and the impact of these regimens on the parent's roles and relationships — and were addressed. Seven key themes emerged, namely the difficult process of diagnosis, the emotional toll, medications, exercises, life revolves around arthritis, parents' relationship with their child and other family members, and parents and paid work. The implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.
Occupational Therapy in Mainstream Primary Schools: An Evaluation of a Pilot Project
Authors: Hutton Eve 
Published: April 2015

This article describes the outcome of an evaluation of a paediatric occupational therapy intervention piloted in two primary schools in East Kent. Two therapists were based in schools and worked in partnership with teachers and teaching assistants (TAs). They spent the equivalent of 2 days a week in the school, with the aim of increasing the knowledge and skills of teachers and TAs in the engagement and participation of children in a range of school-based occupations. Interviews with the teaching team carried out at the conclusion of the intervention explored the impact on the knowledge and skills of the school staff and the quality of the children's school experience. The positive response of the schools has led to the development of a bank of occupational therapy resources for primary schools. The work associated with the development of the resources has been supported by a 2008 Training Development Agency for schools Research and Development Award. The possibilities of extending this approach are explored.
Reviewing the Theory and Practice of Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Rehabilitation
Authors: Waghorn Geoff , Lloyd Chris , Clune Alexis 
Published: April 2015

The delineation of evidence-based practices in supported employment for people with schizophrenia now represents a paradigm shift in the theory and practice of mental health rehabilitation. The principles and methods of traditional vocational rehabilitation and traditional mental health rehabilitation are giving way to evidence-based practices in supported employment, which are consistently proving two to three times more effective at producing competitive employment outcomes. These practices include close coordination with optimal forms of mental health treatment and care and highly individualised forms of intensive supported employment. There is a focus on the vocational services being provided, whereas the traditional and currently prevailing approach follows a more gradual and stepwise process with less of an individual focus, and where individual characteristics are considered important predictors of vocational rehabilitation success. This paradigm shift now challenges occupational therapists working in mental health rehabilitation to revise their theory and practice critically in order to support the implementation of evidence-based practices in supported employment for people with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. This article discusses how occupational therapists can adapt to this paradigm shift and revitalise their theory and practice in mental health rehabilitation.
Taking up Arts and Crafts in Later Life: A Qualitative Study of the Experiential Factors That Encourage Participation in Creative Activities
Authors: Reynolds Frances 
Published: April 2015

Background and aim: Creative occupations promote wellbeing among older people, but how people discover creative occupations in later life, or why they intensify their participation in certain creative occupations after retirement, is unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the experiential factors that older women perceive as encouraging their take-up of, and participation in, visual art-making during later life. Method: Twelve older women (aged 61–80 years) were recruited through a magazine for an older readership. Their interview transcripts were subject to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings: A variety of distal and proximal factors appeared to encourage the take-up of art-making in later life. Distal factors included pre-existing craft skills, family role models and positive attitudes to managing change. Proximal factors included the need to fill occupational voids and the sensitive encouragement of husbands and friends. Serendipitous events featured in some accounts. Conclusion: The participants did not uniformly regard themselves as creative. None had participated in the visual arts throughout adulthood. The multiplicity of influences that enabled these older women to participate in art in later life extends previous research findings and may encourage occupational therapists to help clients to regain wellbeing through exploring novel creative arts occupations.
On-road driving assessment and route design for drivers with dementia
Authors: Berndt Angela H , May Esther , Darzins Peteris 
Published: April 2015

Introduction Dementia causes the progressive loss of cognitive capacities and thus impairs social and daily living skills. Dementia, to varying degrees, influences driver performance and safety. Eventually drivers affected by dementia must stop driving so they do not harm themselves or others. However, having to stop driving can result in loss of mobility and social connections. Therefore, assessing drivers with dementia is important. Driving assessment is susceptible to possible biases, including unreliable driving performance measures or driving routes that are inconsistent in the levels of difficulty of the driving tasks and manoeuvres. The aim of the study was to determine what measures of driving performance could optimally be applied to occupational therapy on-road driving assessments. Method All drivers with dementia underwent a 60 minute, set route on-road driving assessment that consisted of 110 pre-programmed observation points. Results The study identified 80 sufficiently challenging driving tasks and described the relationship of driving error to that task, for example, critical errors at unguided intersections. Conclusion The results of the task-demand by error type analysis identified a list of task items that can be applied to assessment route design to increase consistency of on-road assessment for people with dementia.
Determining fitness to drive: A systematic review of the methods and assessments used after mild traumatic brain injury
Authors: Baker Anne , Unsworth Carolyn A , Lannin Natasha A 
Published: April 2015

Introduction Limited evidence is available to support knowledge of the time-frame and capacity for fitness to drive after mild traumatic brain injury. The aim of this systematic review was to identify what methods and assessments are, or could be used to determine fitness to drive for this population. Method We undertook a systematic search of six electronic databases. Two authors rated all studies for methodological content and quality, and standardised data were extracted. Narrative analysis was conducted to understand the content of eligible studies. Findings A total of 2022 articles were retrieved; seven articles met the inclusion criteria. Self-reported questionnaires, non-standardised assessments, questionnaires completed by next-of-kin, and simulator tests were the primary methods used to determine fitness to drive. Only one assessment has been used to aid recommendations about fitness to drive in the acute hospital setting. Six additional standardised assessments were identified that have the potential to predict fitness to drive in this population group; however, these assessments require further psychometric testing prior to use. Conclusion While a variety of methods and assessments are currently used, there is little research evidence to suggest when individuals are able to return to driving after mild traumatic brain injury. Research is urgently required to determine a consistent and standardised approach to assessing fitness to drive following mild traumatic brain injury.
Goal Planning with the Severely Mentally Handicapped
Authors: Illott I. 
Published: April 2015

Goal planning is a method which has been used successfully at the Gloucester Centre with profoundly mentally handicapped adults from May, 1978 to April, 1979. In this article I will briefly describe the Gloucester Centre including the philosophy of the Centre, organisation of the Activities Centre and the residents' day, the residents involved in the programme; Goal planning based on Houts with an example, the present situation and goal planning with an example, based at Kushlick. I am sure that as you read the article you will see the relevance of goal planning to other areas of Occupational Therapy.
Assessment and Management of Psychogeriatric Patients (Acute Admission) at High Royds Hospital
Authors: Perkins Linda M. 
Published: April 2015

The aim of this project was to improve the occupational therapy psvchogeriatric assessment service at High Rovds Hospital. It is hoped that the service will be reviewed in the future at regular intervals to keep up with the changes continuously being made within the hospital, to meet with the patients' needs.
Nursing and Occupational Therapy: Focus for the Future
Authors: Dunkin E. N. , Goble R. A. 
Published: April 2015

The professions allied to medicine demonstrate considerable overlap when it comes to defining the unique aims, responsiblities and treatment methods of each. Research is needed in order to discriminate the particular quality and/or quantity of each professional contribution. This paper examines the areas of possible collaboration between nurses and occupational therapists by asking and debating several pertinent questions. What evidence suggests that there might be differences between nurses and occupational therapists? Pre-training During training Post-training What is expected of the newly qualified nurse and Occupational Therapist? (in terms of competence to practice) Who makes these demands on the qualified nurse and occupational therapist? Nursing is frequently seen as offering a service to patients with acute problems (prevention or delay of death) whereas Occupational Therapy is traditionally viewed as being involved in long term rehabilitation (acquisition of independence skills, enhancement of social skills, etc.). However, no one can say precisely where the need for nursing plus the patient's efforts, as a complementary pairing, declines and the need for occupational therapy plus the patient's efforts should take over in the recovery process. Measures in this field are notoriously difficult since both nursing and occupational therapy may be added to a series of prior and/or concurrent treatments which may produce additive or cumulative effects in terms of the eventual outcome. Such problems highlight the importance to each profession of identifying and measuring all achievements that are legitimately deemed to be promoted by nurses and occupational therapists. Areas of debateable responsibility are amendable to plotting on a series of dimensions, each having a continuum of dependence/independence of the patient under treatment. These dimensions, in turn, can be classified in many ways. For instance, the type of disorder yields possibilities of looking at physical, psychological or social aspects of illness and recovery. Attempts are urgently needed to identify the points of key ‘efficiency’ for the two professions on these continuums in order to ensure that we will work closely together in the most effective delivery of our professional skills.
Legal Aspects of Occupational Therapy: Part 2
Authors: Dimond Bridgit 
Published: April 2015

The second article looks at occupational therapists' duty under their contract of employment with their employers, the duties which flow from that contract and their rights to apply to an industrial tribunal if they are unfairly dismissed. The rights of a pregnant employee are also considered. The occupational therapist's liability as a registered professional is examined, together with the powers and regulations relating to the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine and the Disciplinary Committee. This article also considers specific areas of particular concern to occupational therapists: Their liability for their work in the community, the anxieties they have over assault and trespass, and the extent to which they can compel a patient to undergo treatment or be admitted to an institution. The remedies available to them if they should be injured in a client's home and their position in law if they go outside their job description are also included.
Core Skills and Competencies: Part 1, What is Experience?
Authors: Hollis Vivien 
Published: April 2015

In this first article of a series of four, the focus is on outlining the perception of authors who are concerned with the acquisition of professional expertise. This work is related to the reasons for and the difficulty in defining specifically what occupational therapists do without having to resort to listing technical tasks. This is especially relevant now, more than ever, as occupational therapists are asked to justify and defend local and national career structures in terms of input and outcomes for clients' needs. Part 2 will describe the competency approach as a method of clarifying the input of occupational therapy practitioners. Part 3 will detail research carried out in this field and give examples of the competencies of occupational therapists from basic grade to head level, showing graded levels of expertise. Lastly, part 4 will demonstrate the practical application of this work.
The Clinical Usefulness of the Rivermead Perceptual Assessment Battery: Statistical Considerations
Authors: Matthey Stephen , Donnelly Sharon M , Hextell Donna L 
Published: April 2015

The Rivermead Perceptual Assessment Battery (RPAB) is designed to assess visual perception deficits in people suffering from stroke and head Injury. It Is one of the few standardised perceptual assessments specifically developed for occupational therapists. This article examines some aspects of the statistical background of the RPAB. The RPAB authors have reported limited statistical data, which Is Insufficient to understand fully the clinical usefulness of this assessment tool. Reliability and validity are examined and the implications of test results are discussed. The true score range for patients on each subtest is calculated, as well as the amount of change over time required before clinicians can be confident that such change represents a real improvement or decline In the patient's ability. Further, the discriminative power of each subtest is examined, as are the criteria for determining the presence and type of perceptual deficit. These statistical analyses were based on the data reported in the test's manual, as well as from patients assessed at The Prince Henry Hospital, Sydney, over a 2-year period.
Learning Morse Code in Rehabilitation: Visual, Auditory, or Combined Method?
Authors: Jarus Tal 
Published: April 2015

The use of Morse code in rehabilitation applications is usually taught by visual or auditory methods. Yet, people experienced in Morse code use in land-line and radio telegraphy suggest that encoding and decoding rates can be enhanced through primary reliance on auditory methods for mastering the code. This study investigated the best way to learn Morse code. Sixty healthy adults with no preliminary knowledge of Morse code, ages 18 to 30 years, participated. Subjects were randomly divided into three groups to learn the Morse code through three different methods: visual chart reference method; auditory method using computer software; and combined method. After the practice period, the encoding rate and accuracy were tested using a handwriting test. One-way analysis of variance was used for each of the two measurements: time and error. Subjects from the combined method group were significantly faster than subjects from the visual method, and had significantly fewer errors than subjects in the auditory method. Therefore, if both time and accuracy of conveyance are important, it appears that learning through both the visual and the auditory systems allow the subjects best to internalise the codes as language. These conclusions should apply not only for the teaching of clients, but also when mastering the Morse code as clinicians.
Attitudes, Values and Orientation to Professional Practice: A Study of Australian Occupational Therapists
Authors: Adamson Barbara J , Sinclair-Legge Gael , Cusick Anne , Nordholm Lena 
Published: April 2015

In recent years, the biomedical approach in the delivery of health care has been challenged by the ‘new public health’ model which promotes a humanistic, holistic approach to health care. Whilst occupational therapy has traditionally embraced this latter approach, evidence suggests that within the profession there is concern that technical advances (for example, the introduction of increasingly sophisticated equipment) have eroded many of the characteristics of a humanistic orientation to therapy. The extent to which occupational therapists endorse this new model was addressed in a survey of attitudes of practising occupational therapists (n = 378). A 22-item questionnaire, including aspects of therapist's knowledge and techniques, client characteristics, client-therapist relationships and approaches to professional practice, was modified and adapted for use with occupational therapists. The findings indicated that attitudes reflecting the new public health model — emphasising client-therapist interaction, client responsibility and holistic attitudes toward health care — prevailed, together with the therapist's knowledge and skills. Age and years of professional experience yielded significant differences, with older (30 or more years of age) and more professionally experienced (6 or more years) therapists endorsing a humanistic approach to therapy to a greater extent and with a greater emphasis on promoting the resources of the client than their younger and less professionally experienced counterparts. Recommendations for the education of occupational therapists and for professional practice are made, together with suggestions for further research.
Prevocational Training within a Secure Environment: A Programme Designed to Enable the Forensic Patient to Prepare for Mainstream Opportunities
Authors: Garner Ruth 
Published: April 2015

In England, employment training is continually moving towards funding according to, in part, outcome or progression of clients. Courses are becoming generally shorter and access to training is becoming more competitive. The flexibility within employment training to accommodate the mental health user is slowly disappearing. Add to that the label of ‘offender’ and even more barriers face the individual. At Reaside Clinic, the West Midlands Regional Secure Unit, a prevocational programme has been developed over the past 3 years. This has enabled forensic inpatients to access training that allows for fluctuations in mental state, restriction orders, pace of learning, medication and lack of knowledge of vocational opportunities. The programme has equipped the participants with the skills to compete realistically in mainstream provision. Funding of the development has been ‘creative’ but the organisation has been committed to the programme because of the value to the patient, the networking that has been achieved within Birmingham, and the awareness that this has raised within other organisations of issues related to mental health in general and forensic psychiatry in particular.