This research study outlines the effectiveness of occupational therapy for treating individuals with dyspraxia. Importantly, the researchers discuss that in order for a treatment approach to be effective in treating dyspraxia, the clinician should create the perfect match between the challenges of the activity and the ability of the child. Throughout the article, the researchers also discuss in detail how to integrate motor learning and motor control in practice.

With prevalence on the rise, it is important to understand the effectiveness of occupational therapy services in addressing autism spectrum disorders. This fact sheet is a quick resource for practitioners and/or caregivers

As occupational therapists, its important to understand the ethical guidelines related to the OT/OTA partnership. This article provides guidance to practitioners regarding the ethical standards of the profession. It also discusses trends in the workforce, strategies for ensuring appropriate supervision of OTAs, and effective teamwork strategies.

This is a great resource for clinical educators and fieldwork students. It provides insight on the 'buddy approach'. Its all about the importance of collaboration and teamwork in order to create a rewarding experience for the student and supervisor.

This article from AOTA discusses the various ethical dilemmas occupational therapy practitioners may face in the current health care environment. This is a great review of such problems that may arise in a variety of practice environments. The authors outline the importance beneficence, competence, informed consent, autonomy, education, and advocacy.

This article is a great resource for individuals who have suffered from a traumatic brain injury, family members, and health care practitioners. It outlines the the common problems addressed in inpatient rehabilitation for these individuals, the role of each member of a rehabilitation team, and discharge planning.

Rhythmic movement training (RMT) has been an effective intervention strategy used at my rotation to target unintegrated infant reflexes. This website discusses the importance of this approach and how it helps children and adults with coordination.

At my current rotation, my CI uses a SOS (sequential oral sensory) approach to treat problematic feeding behaviors. This website is a good resource that outlines this approach.

This article discusses the importance of the role of occupational therapy in pulmonary rehabilitation. Occupational therapists have the skills and expertise to treat individuals with pulmonary disorders such as COPD. For individuals with COPD, fatigue and shortness of breath impact their ability to successfully complete ADLs such as brushing their teeth, getting dressed, bathing, and grooming. Activities become very laborious and require too much endurance to be performed routinely. In order to help these individuals gain the strength and endurance they need to complete purposeful occupations, the author of this informative article explains that OTs should educate their clients! Education should focus on proper body mechanics, energy conservation techniques, safety/fall prevention, relaxation, management of anxiety/panic attacks, and breathing techniques. These skills should be practice while completing functional activities such as cooking, shopping, self-care skills- with and without oxygen.

This article discusses evidence regarding the effectiveness of treatment for people with Parkinson's disease. The researchers focused on a multidisciplinary approach within the inpatient rehabilitation environment. The study included 68 subjects with a diagnosis of Parkinson's. Throughout their length of stay, subjects participated in a combination of OT, PT, and ST for a minimum of 3 hours per day, 5-7 days per week. Intervention focused primarily on functional training, stretching, ROM, flexibility, and strengthening exercises. Following their intense rehabilitation, significant improvements in FIM total, cognitive, and motor scores were demonstrated in 71% of the subjects.

This article discusses the importance of family-centered care when treating children with cerebral palsy. The researchers explain that there has been a growing understanding of the role of the family in the child's life and the importance of the insights of parents and caregivers into a child's abilities and needs. This approach has recently grown substantially in the field of pediatric rehabilitation. Studies apart of this systematic review demonstrate that family-centered service is highly valued by both parents and service providers. This article included random control trials, cross sectional studies, and case studies which all demonstrate support for family-centered service in order to target the psychosocial needs of pediatric clients with CP.

The alert approach involves Assessment, Listen, Experience, Repetition, and Transformation. It's a simple guide to the essential components of an effective fieldwork supervision experience. Assessment involves assessing the students' readiness to meet fieldwork expectations. Close communication with the academic programs will provide an understanding of performance competencies. Assessment is an ongoing process throughout fieldwork as your students deepen learning in specific practice areas. Listen helps the educator close gaps between their applied knowledge and the student's skill competence. The author suggests that the supervisor listen to what each student knows and then build upon this foundation. Experience involves thoughtfully selecting fieldwork experiences with the goal of facilitating students' learning and readiness for practice. Repetition involves the student forming richer skill sets where they can generalize their learning. This is where the student builds self-efficacy. Transformation helps to encourage reflection across fieldwork experiences to guide students to deepen their professional development. This approach seems to accumulate many experiences we've all had on our level II's. It's also a great resource to return to down the road when we consider fieldwork education!

This article provides very important information for occupational therapists working in the pediatric field. It discusses the importance of prone positioning in infants and its effects on a child's successful development. The researchers state that supine sleepers often lag behind in milestone achievement compared to prone sleepers. However, this delay does not last longer than 1 year to 18 months. In addition, supine sleepers often demonstrate delays in activities that require the use of upper extremities, shoulder girdle muscles, and the trunk muscles. This includes gross motor milestones such as rolling, tripod sitting, creeping, crawling, and pulling to stand. Prone play positioning should begin shortly after birth because it enhances gross motor skills and upper body strength. As occupational therapists working in the pediatric setting, it is our responsibility to share evidenced based practice related to prone positioning to caregivers.

This is a great resource that discusses the road from being an occupational therapy student to an entry-level practitioner. It provides helpful and lighthearted tips regarding this important journey. Importantly, the article discusses the components of professionalism and what it really means to be a professional. The author states that a professional is open to feedback and is not afraid to let somebody know when they need help. Professionalism involves being willing to share a little bit of your personal story if it is helpful in your sessions with your clients. A professional knows their own strengths and weaknesses relative to the professional skills. They balance the mentoring and professional development that they need to hone those skills. Lastly, they are confident about the skills they already have learned from school and understand that life-long learning is key.

This article is a randomized control trial including 24 children randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions. Occupational therapy sensory integration was significantly more effective than the two alternative treatment groups (activity protocol and no treatment). These improvements were demonstrated on the Short Sensory Profile and Child Behavior Checklist. In conclusion, occupational therapy using a sensory integrative approach has demonstrated effectiveness with children who have sensory modulation disorders (SMDS).

This article explores the efficacy of constraint-induced movement therapy implemented within 2 week after a stroke in inpatient rehabilitation. Twenty-three individuals were included in the study using a randomized control trial. The researchers used the Action Research Arm Test (ARA). Results demonstrated that upper extremity activities of daily living performance was not significantly different between the two groups. However, the researchers confirm that a clinical trial of CIMT therapy during rehabilitation is feasible and associated with less arm impairment at the end of the treatment. They recommend long-term studies be performed in the future to determine whether CIMT in patient suffering from an early stroke is superior to more traditional intervention approaches.

This article is a qualitative pilot study. The researchers sought to examine the clinical reasoning of occupational therapists working with patients with spinal cord injuries. The researchers determined that the therapists used a multilayered form of thinking as they presented and modified therapeutic activities. When grading activities up or down, the therapists based their clinical reasoning on a multitude of factors. As they searched for an ideal balance between stimulating challenges and successful outcomes, the therapists used trial-and-error and problem-solving. They also presented many variations during their activities such as variations of shape, size, and position of objects. They also adjusted their teaching techniques and attended to verbal/nonverbal dues to determine the patient's response to modifications. Lastly, they took into account contextual factors such as the practice setting and safety considerations.

Our program has provided us with great practice and utilization of the Purdue Pegboard test. It is often used in our clinical rotations as well to evaluate changes in our clients' fine motor dexterity. This article determines the test-retest reliability of the Purdue Pegboard with individuals with multiple sclerosis. Thirty-two volunteers were administered the four subtests of the Purdue Pegboard, three trials in a row and a second administration was performed 1 week following the first administration. The test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from .85 to .90 from one-trial to .92 to .96 for the sum of three trials. This study suggests that the one-trial administration is sufficiently reliable to use with individuals with MS.

The researchers conducted sixty ethnographic interviews to gain more knowledge regarding the family caregiver experience. The researcher's data provide insight into the ethical filter through which caregivers screen the facts in order to determine the best plan of care for their loved ones. As we as occupational therapists use ethics and clinical reasoning to guide our decision making, many caregivers do the same to weight out the options for their ill family members. In the final stages, it is vital that we understand the values and ethical themes our clients bring to their own self-care as well. This shared ethical decision making guides are therapeutic relationships.