https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2636435&resultClick=3

Project TEAM empowers transition-age youth with disabilities to identify environment barriers and generate solutions to increase participation. Youths with developmental disabilities and their parents reported that the purpose, procedures, and perceived benefits of Project TEAM supported the youths' current and future participation.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2636327&resultClick=3

This research evaluates the implementation of Complete Streets across the United States, including a case study in Buffalo, New York. Findings will equip rehabilitation professionals, policymakers, and designers with best practices to create more social participation opportunities for a wider range of users.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2646442&resultClick=3

The authors conducted a systematic review of theoretical models, professional practice, and research findings to understand occupational therapy's role in the treatment of addiction. Although occupational therapy has been involved in the treatment of people with substance addiction and, more recently, with behavioral addictions for more than half a century, the research that has been published is poor.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2636321&resultClick=3

Infant-maternal reciprocity may be captured and represented through play. Play construction, purpose, object choice, and type were observed and coded using a retrospective analysis, demonstrating an increase in frequency and duration in most categories.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2646440&resultClick=3

Suicide in the U.S. military veteran population is an epidemic with a wide-ranging impact on individuals, families, and society. Death by suicide is preventable. The purpose of this article is to ignite a professional discussion about veteran suicide, a serious mental health issue that is underrepresented in the occupational therapy research literature. Occupational therapy practitioners respond to the changing needs of populations and promote preventive measures to improve health. Actively exploring occupational therapy's role in suicide prevention is a professional responsibility aligned with tenets of the Centennial Vision and Vision 2025. Applying the concept of the scholarship of integration, the authors present a case for the inclusion of suicide prevention training as a professional competency and explore opportunities to address suicide risk through the use of evidence-based interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder, combat stress, and depression. Professional implications include the need to advance professional knowledge through education, advocacy, and intervention research targeting the veteran population.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2646444&resultClick=3

This systematic review evaluated the effectiveness of environment-based interventions that address behavior, perception, and falls in the home and other settings for people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related major neurocognitive disorders (NCDs). Strong evidence indicates that person-centered approaches can improve behavior. Moderate evidence supports noise regulation, environmental design, unobtrusive visual barriers, and environmental relocation strategies to reduce problematic behaviors. Evidence is insufficient for the effectiveness of mealtime ambient music, bright light, proprioceptive input, wander gardens, optical strategies, and sensory devices in improving behavior or reducing wandering and falls. Although evidence supports many environment-based interventions used by occupational therapy practitioners to address behavior, perception, and falls in people with AD and related major NCDs, more studies are needed.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2645783&resultClick=3

The authors mapped the literature on animal-assisted therapies (AATs) and institutionalized adults with dementia onto the Lived Environment Life Quality (LELQ) Model as a guide for future services and research. The findings offer proof of the concept that canine-assisted therapies are feasible and can elicit positive quality-of-life experiences in institutionalized people with dementia. Researchers and practitioners need to elucidate the theoretical foundations of AATs. The LELQ Model may serve as a guide for client-centered, occupation-focused, and ecologically valid approaches to animal-assisted occupational therapy.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2648712&resultClick=3

The purpose of this systematic review was to describe the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions designed to establish, modify, and maintain occupations for adults with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related neurocognitive disorders. Occupational therapy practitioners should integrate daily occupations, physical exercise, and error-reduction techniques into the daily routine of adults with AD to enhance occupational performance and delay functional decline. Future research should focus on establishing consensus on types and dosage of exercise and cognitive interventions.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2657263&resultClick=3

The objective of this study was to describe the effects of curriculum activities on changing attitudes of health professional students toward people with intellectual disabilities (IDs). Level I fieldwork significantly improved the attitudes of occupational therapy students toward people with IDs, whereas a lecture did not.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2657430&resultClick=3

In her presidential address at the American Occupational Therapy Association's 2017 Annual Conference & Centennial Celebration, Amy Lamb honored occupational therapy's past and embraced its future. Occupational therapy practitioners have the power to serve as change agents, demonstrating their value during everyday opportunities as they design the future of occupational therapy.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2659594&resultClick=3

We sought to define an occupational therapy intervention to promote medication management and to evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of the intervention. Occupational therapy is an acceptable intervention for medication management, and it can lead to self-perceived improvements and the adoption of new medication management behaviors. Further research is warranted.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2663418&resultClick=3

During the first 100 years of occupational therapy, the profession developed a remarkable practice and theory base. All along, technology was an active and core component of practice, but often technology was mentioned only as an adjunct component of therapy and as if it was a specialty. This lecture proposes a new foundational theory that places technology at the heart of occupational therapy as a fundamental part of human occupation and the human experience. Moreover, this new Metaphysical Physical-Emotive Theory of Occupation pushes the occupational therapy profession and the occupational science discipline to overtly consider occupation on the level of a metaphysical-level reality. The presentation of this theory at the Centennial of the profession charges the field to test and further define the theory over the next 100 years and to leverage technology and its role in optimizing occupational performance into the future.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2665226&resultClick=3

This article documents the convergent validity of the Sensory Profile (SP) and the Sensory Processing Measure (SPM)-Home Form for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study provides further evidence of convergent validity between both tools. The SPM-Home Form identifies more children with ASD who present with sensory features for every domain measured by both tools.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2665225&resultClick=3

This systematic review examines the evidence for the effectiveness of cognitive and occupation-based interventions to improve self-regulation in children and youth who have challenges in processing and integrating sensory information. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guided the methodology. Five studies identified through a comprehensive database search met the inclusion criteria and were separated into categories of cognitive and occupation-based interventions. Articles that did not specifically measure sensory integration (SI) or processing challenges were omitted. Synthesis of the articles suggests that self-regulation (e.g., sensory processing, emotional regulation, executive functioning, social function) improved with cognitive and occupation-based interventions. Because the number of studies that measured sensory processing or SI challenges was limited, researchers are encouraged to include these measures in future research to understand the impact of a broader range of cognitive and occupation-based interventions.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2665228&resultClick=3

This case report describes the process used to engage clinicians in redesigning the peer audit system and the outcome of this effort at the Rehabilitation Therapies department of the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. A wide variety of peer audit processes, tools, and requirements have been used across disciplines and clinical sites. Rehabilitation therapy staff participated in a group project using a project charter to design the new approach to the peer audit. A single peer audit tool and unified audit process were developed for use across therapy disciplines and care settings. A survey was used to collect pre- and postrevision data. Responses to all survey questions indicated favorable change. Broad engagement of clinical staff in the redesign resulted in a peer audit process that was completed more consistently and was more likely to be perceived as resulting in meaningful discussion, encouraging critical thinking, and improving clinical skills.

Occupational therapy practitioners play a significant role in supporting adults with Alzheimer's disease and related major neurocognitive disorders, as well as their caregivers, through all phases of the disease process. This editorial highlights the systematic reviews completed in collaboration with the American Occupational Therapy Association's Evidence-Based Practice Project that summarize the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions within the scope of occupational therapy practice for this population. Readers are encouraged to translate and integrate this updated knowledge into everyday practice.

https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2247272&resultClick=3

This study found that occupational therapists can aid parents of children with CP in their normalization process; recognize that because play is an everyday occupation, the facilitation of play can place a burden on parents; enable parents to understand an expanded concept of play; and recognize the importance of play for play's sake. By explaining child development theory, OTs may enable parents to better understand that their child's play is normal but that their child's progression through the developmental stages is slower than that of a typically developing child. OTs may be able to help reduce the need for parents to facilitate play by teaching children independent play skills that allow parents the opportunity to carry out other household tasks.

file:///C:/Users/mruby/Downloads/7004290030p1.pdf
https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2525288&resultClick=3

This study evaluated factors contributing to activity limitations in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and found that decreased handgrip strength and hand ROM most frequently resulted in activity limitations, followed by decreased dexterity and impaired vitality. The results of this study have the following implications for occupational therapy practice: 1.) factors associated with activity limitations in people with RA are complex and varied; 2.) decreased handgrip strength and hand ROM were most strongly related to activity limitations, followed by decreased dexterity and impaired vitality; and 3.) occupational therapy evaluation of people with RA should take into consideration all the factors discussed in this article; a sole focus on activity limitations should be avoided.

file:///C:/Users/mruby/Downloads/386.pdf
https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=1865854&resultClick=3

This study found that participants commonly demonstrated potentially risky keyboard postural behaviors, particularly in the hands and fingers. Therefore, occupational therapists evaluating keyboard users should examine not only body postures but also wrist and finger postures to determine whether and how often a client assumes a potentially risky postural behavior. Additionally, occupational therapists need to assess both the left and the right sides of the body while evaluating a client using a keyboard to determine variations in performance by side. Through accurate identification of client-specific problem areas, the occupational therapist can more efficiently and effectively implement interventions that will reduce potential risk factors.

file:///C:/Users/mruby/Downloads/101%20(1).pdf
https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=1853002&resultClick=3

This study examined caregiver awareness of the American Academy of Pediatrics' prone play recommendation, determined the primary sources of the recommendation, and examined why some infants are not provided "tummy time." This study's results suggest that many caregivers are not informed of the importance of tummy time and complications that can occur if it is not provided, such as motor delays and positional plagiocephaly. Health care providers, including occupational therapists, must educate caregivers on the importance of prone play time and provide information on how to increase infant tolerance for prone play time to reduce the risk of developmental motor delays and flat spots on the head.