Group items tagged

Home modifications aim to enhance safety and occupational performance in the home. However, given the complexity and unique meaning of the home, they can impact aspects other than function. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to explore the impact of home modifications on clients and their family's experience of home. The study found that home modifications impacted positively and negatively on five dimensions of the home environment, the personal, occupational, physical, temporal and social dimension. The outcomes of the modifications and the home modification process were influenced by three themes, workmanship, consultation or involvement in decision-making, and the societal dimension of the home environment. Conclusions: The negative outcomes and poor consultation experiences suggest the need for occupational therapists to understand their client's personal experience of home and to comprehensively follow-up and evaluate these following home modifications.

This study aimed to identify the factors influencing ethical behavior of pediatric occupational therapists at work. The researchers conducted a study of 12 currently practicing pediatric occupational therapists. Researchers interviewed these therapists with questions regarding factors affecting ethical beliefs and ethical behaviors. From the interviews, 4 main themes were revealed: 1. organizational factors (some participants believed lack of human resources or therapy space impacted ethical behaviors), 2. therapist related factors (some therapists believed that things such as self esteem, competence, family/home life all impacted ethical behaviors), 3. client family issues (some therapists thought that a child's family/parents could impact a therapists ethical behaviors. For example, a parent may instruct a therapist NOT to stop a child for crying, versus other parents instructing the therapist to punish the child for crying), and 4. Social factors (some participants believed that social factors, such as an overall societal decline in ethical behaviors, such as not having financial support systems or insurances not covering occupational therapy and thus causing for mistakes. In another perspective, participants pointed out that in the past if a patient could not pay for services the therapist would still help them, but now therapy can only be provided if they can pay for it or have enough insurance.

This study examined participation among very old individuals in daily activities and their interactions with their environment. Occupational therapists are beginning to address community well-being more frequently. Currently, the majority of occupational therapy interventions occur within the home for this population. However, the results of this study indicate that there is a potential to successfully address some of these needs on a societal level.

This AJOT article is titled Occupational Therapy for Servicemember and Veteran Recovery, Resilience, and Reintegration: Opportunities for Societal Contribution and Professional Transformation. It was published earlier this month (July 2014) and discusses opportunities for future growth and professionalism.