Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Cognitive Functioning On Daily Occupations For People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Qualitative Study, Aoife Mc Auliffe, Sinéad M. Hynes

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Cognitive rehabilitation research in multiple sclerosis is ever-developing, but the impact of cognitive difficulties, seen in 40% to 80% of people, on daily occupations is not well known. The aim of this study is to explore the needs of people with MS who have self-reported cognitive deficits.

Methods: An exploratory qualitative descriptive research design was used. Data was collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with the participants. Recordings were transcribed and analyzed thematically.

Results: Seven participants were recruited (mean age 47). Three themes were developed through associations found in the data. “Neglected symptom” reported the participants’ frustrations …

Executive Function And Motor Skills In Preschool Children, Meggin Kelley

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a short-term motor program on the executive function and motor skills in preschool children utilizing a Pretest and Post test design. The present study was designed with two periods of program intervention- once in the fall and once in the spring. It was hypothesized that a 10-week motor intervention would demonstrate positive motor and executive function gains in the experimental (motor) group. Children ranging from 4 to 6 years of age participated in this study. Baseline motor and executive function scores were obtained during the Pretest phase. Subsequently, …

The Role Of Motivation And Cognition In Adults With Schizophrenia, Jaime Willard, Evangeline Abraham

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Our work is based around the holistic nature of the field of occupational therapy. This evidence-based project initially began, at the request of our community partner, with the intention of finding one or more assessments that may help identify the cause of a lack of motivation among group home residents at Tri County Mental Health in Lewiston, ME who suffer from schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental illness that is now diagnosed as a spectrum disorder. It is characterized by distortions in the perception of reality and impairments in cognition and motivation. Schizophrenia can be categorized into three …

The Development Of A Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairments Seminar For Occupational Therapy Practitioners, Sara S. Ulfers, Christine Berg

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Occupational therapy practitioners are qualified to address the emergence of functional deficits from cancer-related cognitive impairments (CRCI); however, they have reported a need to address gaps in their knowledge of CRCI. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively design, disseminate and examine the impact of implementing a face-to-face continuing education seminar designed to enhance occupational therapy practitioners’ knowledge of CRCI in adults and older adults. After completing a needs assessment and designing the seminar, the seminar was piloted with occupational therapy students (n = 64) where student feedback guided modifications to the seminar’s content, design and evaluation. The …

Entry-Level Occupational Therapy Students’ Beliefs About Knowledge And Knowing: Findings From Three Masters Level Programs In The Us, Diane M. Long, Anita W. Mitchell, Carla Chase, Bernadette Mineo

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

One of the expected outcomes of higher education for all entry-level occupational therapy (OT) students is to develop the capacity to think critically and engage in complex clinical reasoning. Beliefs about the justification of knowledge (epistemic cognition) and the nature of knowledge (ontological cognition) underlie the ability to develop sophisticated ways of thinking. There is a scarcity of research specific to occupational therapy students in the literature related to epistemic and ontological cognition. Based on a discussion prompted during an AOTA Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) workshop in 2014, OT faculty members from three entry-level occupational therapy …

Can Brain Training Through Replicating A Three-Dimensional Object Improve Visuospatial Performance?, Rachael Rice

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Studies have shown that cognitive training improves brain function. There are many forms of training that have been used to improve brain function from recalling a list to improve memory, using aerobic exercise to increase brain activation, to increasing the ability to talk in nonverbal autistic children. Training the brain and focusing on one task can also improve untargeted areas of the brain. This study uses the understanding of how perceiving biological movement of hands and how working with one’s hands can activate the superior temporal sulcus to create a brain training task that will activate and improve participants visuospatial …