Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

Impact Of Spinal Cord Injury On The Life Roles Of Women., M Claire Quigley

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

This qualitative study was conducted to explore and describe the role experience of five women whose lives were disrupted by a traumatic spinal cord injury and who later returned to their communities after completing intensive rehabilitation programs. In-depth interviews and participant observations were used to examine the experiences of these women. The findings exemplify how the women's use of adaptation and negotiation and the development of a new role as self-advocate facilitated the reestablishment of their life roles. As the women's occupational roles were redefined, the processes of adaptation and negotiation were evident in three aspects of their lives: daily …

Computer-Assisted Instruction As A Learning Resource For Applied Anatomy And Kinesiology In The Occupational Therapy Curriculum., Susan Toth-Cohen

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of these studies was to examine the learning outcomes of a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) tutorial in applied anatomy and kinesiology for occupational therapy students and to determine its applicability for use in two university settings.

METHOD: Two separate pilot studies were conducted at two universities. In each study, the learning outcomes of an experimental group of occupational therapy students using a CAI program and a control group using books to study the same material were compared. Learning outcomes were assessed with post-test achievement test scores on an applied anatomy and kinesiology test and responses to an attitude …

Mentorship Experiences In A Group Of Occupational Therapy Leaders., Ruth Levine Schemm, Theodore Bross

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: The development of occupational therapy leaders is a long-held goal of many members of the American Occupational Therapy Association and of state associations. The initiation of mentor programs is a common means to accomplish this goal. These programs take time and effort, and, although occupational therapists have described how mentorship programs work in the literature, there are few articles that describe the actual mentorship experiences of occupational therapy leaders.

METHOD: To study the experiences of elected occupational therapy leaders, a 30-item questionnaire was distributed at the annual meeting of the Committee of State Association Presidents and completed by 53 …

Occupational Therapists As Consultants In Florida Schools : A Survey, Leigh Ann Agee

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Little research has been done on how well prepared occupational therapists feel to perform the role of consultant. This study investigated the perceptions of occupational therapists acting as consultants in Florida schools, how much education/training they have received and how they perceive their consultation skills. Participants in the study were sent a questionnaire and measures of central tendency were calculated on each item. Crosstabulations using Fisher's exact test were completed to investigate any relationship between type of consultation model used and relationships with educators. A one way ANOVA was conducted to investigate any relationship between self-perceived consultant skills and age, …

Bridging Conflicting Ideologies: The Origins Of American And British Occupational Therapy., Ruth L. Schemm

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

Occupational therapy practice has bridged two contradictory value systems for more than 100 years. This article describes the origins of practice ideas in both the United States and Britain and demonstrates that founding members of the occupational therapy profession all shared a core of humanistic beliefs while embracing the emerging paradigm of scientific medicine. The result has been an intellectual tension between the biological and the psychosocial aspects of practice. For more than 75 years, occupational therapists struggled to balance the art and science of patient care; recent debates on modalities, practice domains, and research priorities indicate that the unifying …

The Use Of Aerobic Exercise As An Occupational Therapy Intervention For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Patients, Phyllis A. Davis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric diagnosis receiving increased attention. Occupational therapists are becoming more involved with this diagnosis, particularly with Vietnam Veterans in Veteran Affairs Hospitals. Aerobic exercise is a treatment which has not been explored with this population. Depression and anxiety are symptoms commonly associated with PTSD. This study sought to determine whether aerobic exercise would reduce overall PTSD symptomatology, including depression and anxiety. Three psychological inventories: The Penn Inventory for PTSD, The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and one physiological inventory: The Queens Step Test for VO₂ Max were …

A Descriptive Study Of University Students' Beliefs Regarding Autonomy And Paternalism In Caregiving Of The Elderly, Linda Ann Cain

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An elderly person with declining physical and mental abilities associated with aging or disease, often needs assistance from others for functional activities. The beliefs in autonomy and paternalism of those who render assistance to the elderly may influence their behavior toward the elderly. The purpose of this study was to identify university students' beliefs regarding autonomy and paternalism in caregiving of the elderly and to determine if there were any differences in beliefs between educational levels. Seventy-two undergraduate and graduate occupational therapy students (mean age 28.3) volunteered to participate in this study. The measurement instruments included: the Respect for Autonomy …

Comparison Of Parental Perception And Therapist Interpretation Of Child's Performance Of The Peabody Fine Motor Scale, Martha Gene Belote

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public Law 102-119 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1991), mandates that family members, if they wish, participate in developing a plan of treatment for their child. Traditionally, therapist have not relied on parental assessments based upon the assumption that parents overestimate their child's abilities. The present study compared parental perceptions about the developmental status of their child's fine motor abilities to the therapist's interpretation of a standardized assessment using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (Fine Motor). Thirty seven children, enrolled in an early intervention program, and their parents were recruited for the study. The results indicated that the parents …

Management Decisions Made By Caregiver Spouses Of Persons With Alzheimer's Disease., Mary A. Corcoran

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: As the incidence of Alzheimer's disease increases, so does the effect on families and friends who assume caregiving responsibilities. Despite the proliferation of caregiving studies reported in the literature, little is known of the day-to-day management styles and preferences of caregivers. To develop, implement, and test interventions designed to sustain caregivers in their role, more information is needed about the caregiving experience. Results of a descriptive study are presented as a first step in understanding the complex process of choosing, organizing, and implementing everyday caregiving tasks.

METHOD: Subjects of the study were 26 persons who provide care for a …

A Curriculum Based On Systems Theory., Ruth L. Schemm, Mary Corcoran, Ellen Kolodner, Roseann C Schaaf

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

This paper describes an entry-level curriculum based on systems theory that was designed to promote integrated thinking and a shared image of practice among all of the members of an educational community that included students, faculty, and clinicians. Initiated in 1983, the program integrates occupational therapy theory, critical thinking, and knowledge about person-environmental transactions with traditional medical, biological, psychological, and sociological course work to create a unique educational experience. The curriculum model is based on a spiral learning process that encourages integrated thinking. Furthermore, all concepts are systematically tied to the occupation core, the central theme of the program. Fieldwork …

A Model To Promote Activity Competence In Elders., Ruth E. Levine, Laura N. Gitlin

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

This paper describes an occupational therapy home-based intervention in which purposeful activities were used to promote adaptation and competence in older adults with chronic disabilities. Seven home care therapists visited 17 randomly selected, community-living elders who were chronically disabled and who volunteered to participate in the program. The number of visits ranged from 3 to 10 and occurred over a 3-month period according to clients' needs and wishes. Therapists enhanced their ability to enter the client's social and cultural system by using participant-observation techniques and collaboratively identified activities. Therapists documented each home visit with a structured fieldnote form. An analysis …

Stated Versus Observed Performance Levels In Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain, Alma R. Abdel-Moty

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients' perceived (stated) levels of function and their measured (observed) performance in squatting and stair climbing activities as compared to healthy volunteers. Twenty patients with CLBP and 20 healthy subjects were asked through an interview to self-assess their ability to comfortably perform stair climbing and squatting as well as other tolerances. The subjects were then asked to perform the activities and their performance levels were recorded. Results of the t-tests and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) procedures revealed that patients' estimate of squatting and stair climbing abilities as well as …

Gender Differences In Dementia Management Plans Of Spousal Caregivers: Implications For Occupational Therapy., Mary A. Corcoran

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

Occupational therapists treating older people with Alzheimer disease know that they must also consider the others who are affected by the disease, the informal caregivers. Intervention is most effective when it enables both the impaired person and the primary caregiver to manage the secondary symptoms of dementia. Unfortunately, little is understood about how caregivers approach and carry out their tasks and about why male and female caregivers respond differently to their caregiving role in terms of depression, burden, stress, and substance abuse. This paper discusses the effects of gender on dementia management plans of spousal caregivers. Husbands and wives have …

Dementia Management: An Occupational Therapy Home-Based Intervention For Caregivers., Mary A. Corcoran, Laura N. Gitlin

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

This paper describes an occupational therapy intervention designed for family caregivers of persons with dementia. The intervention, based on the framework of a competence-environmental press model and the principle of collaboration, was implemented during 5 home visits. Each visit was designed to build caregiving skills through collaboration in identifying problem areas, developing and implementing environmental strategies, and modifying management approaches. A case vignette illustrates the therapeutic process and outcomes. The theoretical rationale and structure of the intervention and innovative documentation for evaluation of the theoretic process are also presented.

Culturally Competent Occupational Therapy In A Diversely Populated Mental Health Setting, Maria Dillard, Lynne Andonian, Olivia Flores, Lisa Anne Lai, Anne Macrae, Muhjah Shakir

Faculty Publications

Cultural sensitivity is a crucial component of health care provision, particularly in psychiatric settings. As society becomes more multicultural, it is essential for occupational therapists to continue to develop cultural competence, which is defined in this paper as an awareness of, sensitivity to, and knowledge of the meaning of culture. At San Francisco General Hospital, an innovative multicultural model consisting of special focus programs is used. The key to the success of such programs is a culturally competent professional staff.

An Emerging View Of Mastery, Excellence, And Leadership In Occupational Therapy Practice., Janice P Burke, Elizabeth Depoy

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

The recent focus on clinical reasoning in occupational therapy, specifically on how therapists solve complex problems, has stimulated interest in how master clinicians think in practice. By gaining insight into how clinicians think and what they think about when they identify and solve problems, we may be able to identify clinical reasoning patterns and processes that occupational therapy students and novice therapists need to experience in order to progress in their practice or to emerge as leaders in their field. Observation of the way in which clinical masters and leaders view challenges and solve problems as manifested in their clinical …

Disparity Between Reimbursement-Driven Practice And Humanistic Values Of Occupational Therapy., Janice P. Burke, Joanne C. Cassidy

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

In January 1990, clinicians, educators, and researchers met at the Directions for the Future Symposium in San Diego to delineate, discuss, and debate a wide range of economic, political, and social issues that are influencing the evolution of occupational therapy practice and education. By examining these factors in an open and thorough way, therapists believe they will be able to develop proactive positions that will ensure the continued well-being of the field. In this paper, we will consider two distinctly opposing forces that dramatically affect and present considerable obstacles to occupational therapists. On the one hand, occupational therapists are taught …

Home Adaptations For Persons With Chronic Disabilities: An Educational Model., Ruth E. Levine, Laura N. Giltin

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

This paper offers a method by which to train students in the provision of culturally relevant, in-home environmental adaptations for persons with chronic disabilities. On the basis of a theoretical framework, the student therapist learns about the client's life-style and offers adaptations that evolve from a collaborative problem-solving process. The training process has been developed and refined over a 3-year period. A case study illustrates the student's application of theory and practice and the outcome for the client of this service provision approach.

Play Behavior And Occupational Therapy., Roseann C Schaaf

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

The effectiveness of treatment methods on a person's ability to carry out occupational roles competently is of interest to occupational therapists. This case study demonstrated how play, as an occupational role of childhood and as a measure of competence, can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of occupational therapy that uses a sensory integrative approach. The positive changes in C.C.'s play behavior support the basic philosophy of sensory integration, which states that an increase in sensory integrative functions will improve competence (in this study, competence is defined as play), that is, that a person will have the ability to carry …

Occupational Therapy In Early Intervention: A Family-Centered Approach., Roseann C. Schaaf, L L. Mulrooney

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

This article describes a framework for occupational therapy service provision in early intervention settings and presents pilot data aimed at examining the framework's effectiveness. The Family-Centered Framework for Early Intervention is a synthesis of concepts from the Model of Human Occupation (Kielhofner & Burke, 1980) and from the literature on play. It encompasses a systematic, holistic approach that considers the child and the family within the context of their life environments. In this framework, play is used both as an evaluative tool and as an intervention modality that addresses the volition, habituation, and performance of the child and family as …

Hypothesis For Prediction Of Stimulant Drug Effectiveness Utilizing Sensory Integrative Diagnostic Methods, Judith Giencke Kimball

Occupational Therapy Faculty Publications

Despite extensive research, there has been no way to predict before drug administration which children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) will respond to medication intended to calm them. A drug trial is the current method used. This paper discusses the action of stimulant medications and presents a hypothesis as to why they work on some children and not others. Sensory integration theory, particularly on vestibular system measures, that involves differential diagnosis of certain types of ADHD children, is used to explain why some children respond to stimulant medications.

Community-Based Occupational Therapy With A Head-Injured Adult., Elizabeth Depoy

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

In the early 1970s, the National Head Injury Foundation identified 422,000 adults with permanent brain damage caused by traumatic head injury. It is estimated that 400,000 new cases of varying severity are treated in hospitals each year, the majority of whom are previously employed young adult men. Although many persons with traumatic brain injuries are able to return to productivity, approximately 35% of the adults who have been rated as mildly head injured on the Glascow Coma Scale (Teasdale & Jennet, 1974) never return to work and have difficulty reentering society after restorative efforts are discontinued (Rosenthal, Griffith, Bond, & …

Prediction Of Methylphenidate (Ritalin) Responsiveness Through Sensory Integrative Testing, Judith Giencke Kimball

Occupational Therapy Faculty Publications

Seventeen children previously judged to be good or poor responders to methylphenidate (Ritalin) were tested on sensory integrative measures while in the off-drug state. The tester was unaware of the children's drug response category. Results showed that children who were poor responders to Ritalin showed prolonged scores on and an adverse reaction to the Southern California Postrotary Nystagmus Test and had poorer equilibrium reactions and lower double tactile stimuli scores than the children judged good responders to Ritalin. These findings suggest that it might be possible to identify good and poor responders to Ritalin before the medication is given, something …

The Frequency Of Vestibular Disorders In Developmentally Delayed Preschoolers With Otitis Media., Roseann C Schaaf

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

This study investigated the frequency of vestibular disorders in developmentally disabled preschoolers who did and who did not have a history of otitis media. Fifteen children with a history of otitis media and fifteen children with no history of otitis media were given two tests for vestibular functioning: the Southern California Postrotary Nystagmus Test (SCPNT) and the Lateral Labyrinthine Righting Reaction (LLRR), acting on the head. The scores on these tests were dichotomized, and a correlation between these two tests as measures of vestibular function was obtained. Because this correlation did not reach a satisfactory level, two a satisfactory level, …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 58, No. 53 Magazine, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

Magazine published by the WKU campus newspaper. This issue contains articles:

• Collins, Michael. Helping Hands - Student Therapists Work Under Highly Emotional Conditions - Jennie Edlin, Jodie Oliver, Frank Kersting, Debbie Watson, Belinda Morris, Terri McClure
• Wright, Sharon. Something Like Best Friends - Charles Pearson, boa constrictor