Group items tagged

This exert is specifically from the VA handbook in regards to supervision specifically for health professionals and trainees. This resource provides a strict breakdown of the supervision requirements for supervisors and trainees. It is clear through this policy that strict guidelines are to be followed within this system and this is what I have experienced in my time there. I was intrigued however, that supervisory roles are seen as an educational experience. The following tenet was the first under supervisor regulation--" Supervision is an educational experience provided by a qualified supervising practitioner with a trainee. This relationship is evaluative, extends over time, and has the simultaneous purposes of enhancing the professional functioning of the trainee while monitoring the quality of services delivered. Supervision is provided through observation, consultation, directing the learning and activities of the trainee, and role modeling". I feel that this really stressing the educational importance of being a supervisor.

This article specifically relates to the importance of treating PTSD among veterans with appropriate psychotherapies. This article relates directly to the work I am currently involved in at the VA as many of the patients I see struggle daily with PTSD symptoms. In addition, an interdisciplinary team approach is used at the VA and pt's and staff work closely with psychologist and psychiatrists to ensure appropriate care. In looking at this article it is important to see that symptoms of PTSD are treated appropriately and with the best means available.

This is a forum entry about implementing evidence-based practice within the VA. I found this interesting since evidence-based practice is something that not all OT's follow but we learn a lot about in school. The article talks about how some believe in evidence and some believe in clinical experience. This is probably an issue that will always be around, but reading different points of view is always helpful as we become OT's.

This article, published by AJOT in July 2006, is titled Occupational Therapy Activities and Intervention Techniques for Clients With Stroke in Six Rehabilitation Hospitals. As the title suggests, this article discusses various occupational therapy intervention strategies, as well as their effectiveness, for the treatment of patients with CVAs. Control of upper extremity exercises as well as activities of daily living practice were the most common form of occupational therapy intervention techniques utilized.

I chose this article because I treat many CVA patients in my setting. I was curious to see how the typical VA treatments related to other hospitals with their treatments. The results were very similar. Mainly we work on functional activities and we add in some exercising to strengthen and further enhance the functional abilities.

This test could be used in acute care. This assessment offers a hospital version (MET_HV) that would be appropriate in the VA setting. This test was developed for use with a wider range of participants than the original version; it has more concrete rules, simplification of task demands and space provided on the instruction sheet for the patient to record the information they were to collect. There are 12 separate subtasks within four sets of simple tasks. These four task sets are as follows: 1. The patient must complete six specific errands (purchase 3 items, use the phone, collect and envelope from reception and send a letter to an external address), 2. The patient must obtain and write down four items of designated information (e.g. the opening time of a shop on Saturday), 3. The patient must meet the assessor outside of the hospital reception in 20 minutes after the test had begun and state the time, 4. The client must inform the assessor when he/she finishes the test. The test cannot be administered to patients confined to bed due to the nature of the questions. The test would be difficult to complete on patients instructed to only get up with help as they would have to have a nurse available at the time they need to meet some of the task requirements. Both validity and reliability have been established for this test for various populations (see citation for specifics).

This handout can be useful for VA hospitals to introduce Veterans to the services OTs can provide in terms of their mental health, including the ability to address psychosocial needs and rehabilitate using occupations.

Promoting functional hand activities is a crucial rehabilitation goal for persons with tetraplegic spinal cord injury (SCI) [1-4]. Some people with mid- to low-level cervical (C) SCI achieve useful tenodesis grasp, which is opposition of the thumb and the index and middle fingers through reciprocal wrist extension and finger flexion, with the aid of a wrist-driven flexor hinge orthosis (WDFHO) [5-6].

The purpose of this study was to to determine the feasibility and efficacy of home-based MusicGlove therapy. The findings of the study showed MusicGlove therapy was not superior to conventional tabletop exercises for the primary end point but was nevertheless feasible and led to a significantly greater increase in self-reported functional use and quality of movement of the impaired hand than conventional home exercises.

This purpose of this study was to discuss the different measurement tools available for evaluating the upper limb of persons with tetrapelgia and if they are accurate. Findings show that the grasp and release test is recommended for clinical trials involving persons in the chronic stages of SCI. While muscle strength testing and electrodiagnostics can be useful measures in acute clinical trials and outcomes studies, standardized measures of hand function are difficulty because they require a sitting balance and endurance tat many people with acute tetraplegia simply do not have. Overall, the study found that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to determine the best assessment tool for upper limb function in SCI.

PSYCHOSOCIAL:Assessments measuring quality of life in individuals with spinal cord injury is lacking. The author of this article looks at quality of life consisting of 3 components: quality of life as a subjective well-being, quality of life as a utility, and quality of life as achievement. For those with spinal cord injury, they experience so many changes in their environment, affecting every aspect of life. For many, they become depressed, are not hopeful, and have even committed suicide. This article suggest ways in which quality of life can be assessed, which can assist the therapist in developing treatment plans which fulfill not only the client's physical needs, but their mental and social needs as well.

This study aims to discover the impacts of an occupational therapy driving intervention with returning combat veterans. A single-subject design with three phases was used and conducted by a certified driving rehabilitation specialist. The three phases included a baseline pre-test, intervention with three 1-hr training sessions, and a post-test. Participants were recruited from several VA clinical in northern Florida. Inclusion criteria for participants included service in OEF or OIF, presence of a mTBI or orthopedic injury with PTSD, participation in driving prior to medical condition, valid driver's license residence in community, score of a least 24/30 on Mini-Mental State Examination. Outcome measures included the OT-CDRS and Optec 2500 for visual abilities, Useful Field of View for visual attention and processing speed, MMSE for general cognitive abilities, Trail-Making Test Part B for shifting, foot tap test for peddle control in car and right lower extremity ROM. One subject was selected and showed improvements in outcome measures. The subject showed improvements in visual search skills post-intervention. Patient also showed improvements in his appropriateness of searching skills post-intervention. Patient was also shown to improve on his on-road communication skills and recognition of need to inform other road users of intended actions. Although there were improvements in the veterans driving abilities, the threats to internal validity pose limitations to the study. The investigators intend to use data and address limitations in the hopes of conducting a random-controlled trial with more participants.