Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

Student Research: Study Into Scooter Use, Overste, L Moir, Janet Richmond, J Millsteed

Janet E Richmond PhD

Motorised mobility scooters (“scooters”) enable people with mobility difficulties to engage in community participation; however scooter use has lead to many accidents resulting in injury or death to the user and bystanders. At present there are few assessments available to screen people for scooter use. Additionally, formal assessment is not required prior to commencement of scooter use. The aim of the research study was to identify the performance skills required for safe use of scooters in the community, and to identify if a difference exists in skills required for three-wheeled and four-wheeled models of scooters.

The Relationship Between A Teacher Check List And Standardised Tests For Visual Perception Skills: A South African Remedial Primary School Perspective, Janet Richmond, K Holland

Janet E Richmond PhD

Occupational therapy in remedial education settings has been questioned by the South African Government as they see occupational therapy as a costly service and thus has challenged occupational therapy clinicians’ approach to assessment. This study was undertaken to establish whether the results of standardised tests of visual perception skills, relate to teachers’ observations in respect of primary remedial school age children (six to eleven years) attending a short term remedial school because of low scholastic achievement despite having average or above intellectual ability. The Test of Visual Perceptual Skills – Revised, the Developmental Test of Visual Perception-2, the Jordan Left-Right …

An Exploration Of Early Childhood Education Students' Knowledge And Preparation To Facilitate Physical Activity For Preschoolers: A Cross-Sectional Study, Olivia Martyniuk, Patricia Tucker

Trish Tucker

Background Early childhood educators play an important role in influencing preschoolers’ physical activity levels. The current study sought to explore Early Childhood Education (ECE) students’ physical activity-related knowledge and educational experience during their formal training in Ontario.

Methods A total of 1,113 ECE students from 20 Ontario Colleges completed the study survey (online or on paper), which examined students’ physical activity course content; awareness of physical activity guidelines; understanding of health-related benefits of physical activity; self-efficacy to facilitate physical activity for preschoolers; self-reported physical activity levels; as well as physical activity-related resource needs. Descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests were …

Visual Discrimination Of Letters In The Alphabet By Young Children: A Rasch Measurement Analysis, Janet Richmond, Russell Waugh

Janet E Richmond PhD

Data on 30 items for upper case letters and 36 items for lower case letters, where each item was scored in one of two categories (wrong scored zero and correct scored one), were Rasch analysed to create two linear scales . The student sample was N=324 pre-primary and primary students (aged 5 to 9 years) in Perth, Western Australia. Twelve of the initial 30 items of Visual Discrimination of Upper Case Letters were deleted due to item misfit statistics leaving 18 items and five of the original 36 items for Visual Discrimination of Lower Case Letters were deleted leaving 31 …

Struggling To Maintain Occupation While Dealing With Risk: The Experiences Of Older Adults With Low Vision, Debbie Rudman, Suzanne Huot, Lisa Klinger, Beverly Leipert, Marlee Spafford

Lisa Klinger

The primary aim of this descriptive phenomenological study was to describe the core aspects of living with low vision in later life among older adults (aged 70 years and older) who had not accessed rehabilitation services for low vision. Thirty-four older adults from urban and rural areas participated in a semi-structured qualitative interview and a telephone follow-up. Drawing on an occupational science perspective and using Giorgi and Giorgi’s (2003) method of analysis, the essence of the experience of living with low vision was identified as struggling to maintain valued and necessary occupations while dealing with risk. Additional themes included enhanced …

Exploring The Nexus Between Health Promotion And Occupational Therapy: Synergies And Similarities, Patricia Tucker, Leigh Vanderloo, Jennifer Irwin, Angela Mandich, Ann Bossers

Trish Tucker

The similarities between health promotion and occupational therapy have been recognized. Both are based on perspectives that share a goal of enabling individuals and populations to improve control over their health. Consequently, it is logical that the principles of health promotion complement the practice of occupational therapy. Purpose. This paper highlights the affinity between occupational therapy and health promotion, and discusses ways in which health promotion principles can be incorporated into occupational therapy practice. Key Issues. Some Canadian occupational therapists may be unaware of the current discourse in health promotion and, thus, may not be incorporating its principles into practice. …