Group items tagged

This article is from the American Journal of Occupational Therapy. I felt that it went along with our discussion about becoming fieldwork educators in the future. This study researches the effectiveness of case studies that influence clinical reasoning vs, typical educational case studies. This study goes into depth about clinical reasoning and how it influences educational experiences of students. The research participants, OT students, were asked to complete intervention plans based on client needs and in response to both the medical model of clinical reasoning and paper case study educational methods of learning. Information was qualitatively reviewed to analyze the intervention plans and videotaped discussions were used to guide clinical reasoning process/learning experience. The results showed that clinical reasoning case studies, compared to traditional case studies, promoted three main themes including increased quality of intervention plans, participant confidence levels in treatment plans, and enhanced understanding of the clinical reasoning process. This study is important for FEs and educators to increase clinical reasoning process of students as well as interventions for clients.

Individuals experiencing mental health disorders are susceptible to impairments in occupational functioning due to decreased concentration, memory, thought processes, insight, judgement, decision-making, reality orientation, regulating emotions, understanding perception, motivation, and psycho-motor activity. This is a quantitative study out of the South American Journal of Occupation Therapy that studied the effects of slow vs. fast tempo of music on symptoms of psychosis during occupation. There were 160 individuals with diagnosed psychological disorders in a psych hospital in South Africa. The subjects participated in a leatherwork activity while listening to either fast paced/upbeat music or low tempo/slow music. Attention/focus, ability to follow instructions, directedness towards the activity, and motivation were measured in groups of individuals who had psycho-motor agitation or psycho-motor inhibition psychosis. The study found that listening to music during an activity has the ability to improve all three variables in both agitation and inhibited-motor psychosis. Fast-paced tempo significantly improves attention in individuals with inhibited motor-psychosis. The ability to follow instructions improved in both fast and slow tempo music for both agitated and inhibited individuals. Directedness and motivation did not significantly improve in any of the groups. This study indicates that music can improve the ability to perform occupations and activities in individuals with mental health disorders. Music is very individualized and it may be difficult for OT practitioners to work with groups of individuals when introducing music. IT is important for an OT to gather a good understanding of a patient's preferences and determine if they would be a good candidate for the use of music during therapy. More research is recommended in this area to further determine the effects of music on occupation in this population.

This article is the AOTA's position on how to set professional boundaries with patients. The article provides examples of ethical documents within the the profession of OT, such as the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics Standards. It then goes on to define professional boundaries and how to set them. Case study examples are provided for how to set professional boundaries, in a variety of contexts.

This is a great article pertaining directly to ethics of occupational therapy practitioners in skilled nursing facilities. The article clearly defines each ethical principal outlined in the AOTA code of ethics and how they relate to practice. The article then has several case studies that give specific ethical dilemmas and solve the dilemma with evidence from the AOTA ethical principals. One specif case study explained how it was unethical to treat a family member to do potential violations of justice and fairness.

This is a great article pertaining directly to ethics of occupational therapy practitioners in skilled nursing facilities. The article clearly defines each ethical principal outlined in the AOTA code of ethics and how they relate to practice. The article then has several case studies that give specific ethical dilemmas and solve the dilemma with evidence from the AOTA ethical principals. One specif case study explained how it was unethical to treat a family member to do potential violations of justice and fairness.

Janszky, J., Blom, S., Georgiades, A., Laszlo, K., Alinaghizadeh, H., Ahnve, S. (2007) study aimed to evaluate the effect of a 1-year stress management program, aimed at reducing symptoms of depression and vital exhaustion (VE) in women in coronary heart disease (CHD). The study included 247 women who were conveniently recruited after a cardiac event of AMI, PCI, CABG at Karolinska University Hospital at Huddinge or at St. Gorans Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. The experimental group which included stress management (20 2-hour sessions) and medical care by a cardiologist or the control group that consisted of usual care health post heart surgeries with no stress management session. The study had many limitations, first were women who did not want to participate in the 1 year intervention were not compared to those who did. The study also did not enroll subjects who may have been considered healthier. The subjects in the treatment group were in the care of a cardiologist and the self-rated vital exhaustion and depressive symptom measures may have been biased. The results of the study included that vital exhaustion for both groups improved over time and the decreased amount of VE was more pronounced in the intervention group. The change in depressive symptoms between the two groups did not differ.

This study was particularly interesting considering we are currently paired with clinicians during our level II rotations. The study aimed to determine whether a difference in productivity exists between clinicians supervising and not supervising a Level II occupational therapy student and whether factors including clinician years of experience, practice setting, and clinician productivity without a student could predict clinician productivity while supervising a student. Results indicated no difference in clinician productivity with or without a student. Clinician years of experience, practice area, and productivity without a student were significant predictors of clinician productivity while supervising a student. Study results contradict the belief that supervising Level II fieldwork students lowers clinicians' productivity. Findings suggest that practice area and productivity without a student are important factors influencing the productivity of clinicians supervising a fieldwork student.

This qualitative study adds to the limited knowledge of OT practitioners in the rural settings.The study gave view points that OT's in the rural setting are not just generalists. This search went under the category of professionalism as this is a behavior that changes with the setting and population that you deal with.

This qualitative study adds to the limited knowledge of OT practitioners in the rural settings.The study gave view points that OT's in the rural setting are not just generalists. This search went under the category of professionalism as this is a behavior that changes with the setting and population that you deal with.

I am using this study as an example of clinical reasoning in the field. The systematic review of k tape effectiveness for musculoskeletal injuries found 6 studies that met inclusion, exclusion, and quality criteria. Only 3 of the 6 studies found K tape to have significant positive outcomes, 2 studies concluded that K tape had positive short-term benefits for shoulder injuries and 1 study found to have positive short-term benefits for whiplash injuries. The review concluded that there is insufficient evidence for or against K tape effectiveness on musculoskeletal injuries, however, the patient may perceive a benefit from its use. After reading this article a therapist has to use there best clinical reasoning when treating there patients with K tape . A therapist has to consider that K-taping may provide a perceived pain reduction to the patient and should be used in conjunction with other modalities and therapy approaches. However K- tape is not meant to be a stand-alone treatment. Patients experience and clinical observation by skilled therapists should be taken into account for K-tape use.

Beckie, T., Beckstead, J. (2010) aimed to study was to focus on the quality of life among women in a traditional cardiac rehabilitation program compared to those completing a tailored program that included motivational interviewing of behavior changes. The study included 252 participants over that age of 21 with myocardial infarction, Angina, CABG, and PCI were studied 3 days a week for 6 months. The participants were divided into two groups. The experimental group included the tailored program and motivational interviewing and the control group used a traditional cardiac rehabilitation program. The study had multiple limitations that included all women were of one ethnicity from a single institution in southeastern U.S. Lastly, studying the efficacy of a program like this is difficult and it is unaware to know if the treatments observed would persist beyond the 6 months. The tailored group showed a positive influence on the subjects QOL. Women with CHD may be better served by first identifying the important psychological and psychosocial variables that influence QOL.

This study aimed to focus on the quality of life among women in a traditional cardiac rehabilitation program compared to those completing a tailored program that included motivational interviewing of behavior changes. The study included 252 participants over that age of 21 with myocardial infarction, Angina, CABG, and PCI were studied 3 days a week for 6 months. The participants were divided into two groups. The experimental group included the tailored program and motivational interviewing and the control group used a traditional cardiac rehabilitation program. The study had multiple limitations that included all women were of one ethnicity from a single institution in southeastern U.S. Lastly, studying the efficacy of a program like this is difficult and it is unaware to know if the treatments observed would persist beyond the 6 months. The tailored group showed a positive influence on the subjects QOL. Women with CHD may be better served by first identifying the important psychological and psychosocial variables that influence QOL.

The purpose of this study was to obtain a better understanding of strategies use in response to problems performing daily occupations by those with dementia. This qualitative study analyzed several different studies. From the studies used, it was discovered that those with dementia who continued to participate in occupational tasks has a better quality of life and it also improved the caregivers quality of life and their abilities to care for their loved ones. Occupational therapists play a vital role with those who suffer from dementia and care assist them, while education there caregivers on the importance of participating in daily occupations.

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 examines how structured activities assist medically-students learn professionalism. According to the article, professionalism is made up of parameters, behaviors and responsibilities. Also, the article points out that we as future health professionals should be able to coordinate, collaborate and communicate in interdisciplinary teams to make decisions. The study itself involved recruiting students across various health-related disciplines and providing them with an orientation and clinical experience with another discipline. After the completion of these activities the students were provided with a survey to rank the effect that the experiences had on their level of professionalism. Overall, the study found that such experiences were beneficial to the development of a greater sense of professionalism. However, the study also found that the logistics of coordinating such activities was a huge barrier. I really enjoyed the study despite the fact that Occupational Therapy was not included. I feel that this would be a great idea for future classes to do at Shawnee if possible.

This study was performed to identify the ability for individuals to adjust following spinal cord injury and acute rehabilitation treatment using the PAIS, the psychological adjustment to illness scale. Although this article is dated 1991- I feel that it has extreme relevance to the population. Specifically results of this study were extremely variable, some individuals were able to adjust without difficulty while others reported extreme difficulty with the major life change. I feel that this can be applicable to any traumatic injury--even outside of spinal cord in that experiences and adaption can be very individualized and should be approached as such. (Exactly why OT's approach to individuality and looking at the person as a whole is so crucial following a traumatic injury)

This purpose of this study was to measure the gains in hand function during a 3 month rehab period for people with c5 injuries when wearing a static orthosis at night compared to individuals who did not wear the splint at night. They found that the there was no significant difference in hand function when wearing the splint. The conclusion of this study was that future studies need to examine if increased daily wear or longer period of time wearing the splint (more than the 3 month study) would allow splits to have more an effect on hand function. t

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the factors influencing the clinical reasoning of occupational therapists and how they manage the decision-making process. Twelve occupational therapy practitioners working in mental and physical dysfunction fields participated in this study. The sampling method was purposeful and interviews were continued until data saturation. There were three main themes. The first theme: socio-cultural conditions included three subthemes: 1- client beliefs; 2- therapist values and beliefs; 3- social attitude to disability. The second theme: individual attributions included two subthemes 1- client attributions; 2- therapist attributions. The final theme was the workplace environment with the three subthemes: 1- knowledge of the managers of rehabilitation services, 2- working in an inter-professional team; 3- limited clinical facilities and resources. Research indicates that numerous complex factors can influence the clinical reasoning of occupational therapists. The knowledge and situation of the clients; the attributions of the therapists, social attitudes to disability and the workplace conditions of the therapists can positively or negatively influence reasoning and clinical decisions. In this study, the influence of the attitudes and beliefs upon reasoning was different to other studies. Understanding these factors, especially the socio-cultural basis can play a significant role in the quality of occupational therapy services and has a role in training occupational therapy students in clinical reasoning in this social context.

This is a great example of a future study that will consider the psychosocial aspect of individuals after a musculoskeletal injury and subsequent occupational therapy intervention. The study focuses on hand injuries and this type of injury is extremely relevant to my current clinical setting which is an outpatient hand clinic. The studies primary outcome measure is return to work vs no return to work. The secondary outcome measures focus on psychosocial questioners, work environment, demographics, and motor and sensory testing. This is a great idea for a study that would take into account the psychosocial aspect of the individuals with hand injuries and see if there is any correlation with returning to work.

The study evaluated an occupational therapy nutrition education program for children who are obese with the use of two interactive games. A quasi-experimental study was carried out at a school Brazil. A convenient sample of 200 children ages 8-10 years old participated in the study. Data was collected through interviews, observation, and focus group, comparing two interactive games based on the food pyramid (video game and board game) used individually and then combined. Both play activities were efficient in the mediation of nutritional concepts, with a preference for the board game. The attention strategy was most applied at the video game. It was concluded that both games promoted the learning of nutritional concepts. It was also confirmed that the effectiveness of the games was also affected by the child's environment. This study needs further research and should be addressed with a larger sample size.