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The Effect of an IADL Group Serving Moderate Functional Adults with Intellectual Disabilities in a Group Home Setting
Get PDFObjective: The purpose of this project is to explore and provide participants an opportunity to engage in meaningful activities in the hopes to increase their performance participation and improve their satisfaction in areas of occupations for Instruments of Daily Activities (IADL \u27s). These areas included, meal preparation and home management tasks. The IADL\u27s were accomplished through group participation and on an individual basis. Method: The occupational therapy student provided two questionnaires for the parents and or guardians, as well primary caregivers in the group home. The participants were also given the Lawton-Brody\u27s IADL scale and the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. There was a total of 5 participants. Results: For both the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and the LawtonBrody IADL scale, there were 100% participation. Globally, the result for the COPM was there was an increase of +2.6 for their performance and +2 for their overall satisfaction in the areas of occupational performance problems. These results were acquired through self-report for the initial and final session. In regard to the Lawton - IADL scale, there was a O positive and or negative change in the overall occupational performances. It was inconclusive regarding the parent and guardian survey, as only 2 out of the 5 were returned for the initial and 0 were returned for the final. As for the caregiver survey there was a 100% participation rate and overall, they rated that the individuals globally improved meal preparation, social participation and their organizational skills. Conclusion: This project demonstrates a need for more occupational therapists to work with adults who have intellectual disabilities. There is a need to provide further education on the benefits of interventions through the lens of an occupational therapy practitioner, as well as bridging barriers
Promoting Utilization of the Allen Cognitive Level Screen 5 {ACLS-5) Assessment Tool with Long Term Care Clients with Dementia to Promote Quality of Care
Get PDFThe purpose of this capstone project was to examine any changes, after participating in an educational training, in occupational therapists\u27 (OTs\u27) clinical knowledge of the Allen Cognitive Level Screen 5 (ACLS-5) assessment tool related dementia levels and the OTs\u27 perceived professional value and intention to use for promoting quality of care with long-term dementia clients. A one-day educational/training in-service with self-reported questionnaires was held. The questionnaires were used to measure the effectiveness of the educational/training in-service through any changes in clinical knowledge that would assist in increasing the intent to use the ACLS-5 in their settings to promote quality of care for dementia clients. The self-reported questionnaires found that the participants new less than 50% of the information on ACL levels and the ACLS-5 assessment before the education/training in-service and more than 97% after. All the participating occupational therapists agreed that the educational/training seminar objectives were met and will assist them in developing an evidence-based OT center approach to caregiver training with the use of the ACLS-5 and that the education/training seminar increased their perceived professional value and their intention to use the ACLS-5 for promoting quality of care for clients with dementia in long-term care settings. The results strongly suggest it is relevant that occupational therapists use an assessment tool like the ACLS-5 in the occupational therapy practice with individuals with dementia in long-term care settings to promote quality of life for them as well as their caregivers
Exploration and Education of Occupation-Based Interventions of Meal Preparation in Skilled Nursing Facilities for Occupational Therapy Practitioners
Get PDFThe objectives of this project were to educate and promote client-centered, meaningful occupation based interventions in the skilled nursing facility setting in order to increase independence and safety with meal preparation required for independent living for the adult population. This project explored the evidence-based knowledge and current implementation of occupation-based meal preparation tasks of current occupational therapy practitioners through a pre-questionnaire. Based on the occupational therapy practitioners\u27 pre-questionnaire results, an educational training was provided via telehealth to restate the distinct value of occupation-based meal preparation. A post-questionnaire was obtained to reassess the knowledge and current implementation of occupation-based meal preparation and effect of the educational training. Since participating in the telehealth training, forty seven percent participants feel the value of using occupation-based interventions is a lot more, thirty three percent feel their views have somewhat increased and twenty percent feel there was no change. The use of meal preparation tasks as interventions has somewhat increased for seventy three percent participants and twenty seven percent feel there was no change. Overall, the project was a success with one hundred percent reporting the telehealth training was beneficial and improvements of value, utilization and competence with meal preparation, and increased utilization of the models of practice and frames of reference in the skilled nursing facility setting
Mindfulness as a Tool to Decrease Stress in Parents of Children with Special Needs
Get PDFThe occupational role for a parent and/or caregiver of a child with special needs can be a stressful role. These individuals often assume the responsibilities of many different professions, with little time for their own health and wellness. This project aimed to investigate the use of mindfulness as a stress management tool for such parents and caregivers. The objectives of this project were to provide parents and caregivers of children with special needs a simple and realistic tool to decrease perceived stress, and to improve their overall role satisfaction. Attendants were provided with two educational training sessions in order to learn how to implement basic mindfulness techniques within their busy lives. The sessions were conducted at the local Children\u27s Council, a community non-profit organization. Perceived stress was measured using The Perceived Stress Scale; role satisfaction was measured using The Parenting Sense of Competence Sale. Participants were asked to fill out questionnaires prior to the first educational session and at the start of the second educational session. After completing the two sessions, participants were provided with a handout to review the information provided and with additional resources for those who wish to continue learning. The results of the pre-survey indicated that participants had extremely elevated levels of perceived stress. Post-survey results demonstrated lower perceived stress, although still higher than average, and a higher sense of role competency. The study results are limited by the small sample size of 2 participants, limited information on outside factors, a short timeframe, and lack of sample diversity. Despite these limitations, the conclusions of this project can be seen as encouraging for the use of mindfulness education and training as a means to decrease perceived stress and to increase role satisfaction for parents and caregivers of children with special needs
Caring for Caregivers of Children with a Traumatic Brain Injury: Support Group
Get PDFThis Capstone project discusses a piloted support group for Eastern North Carolina at Vidant Medical Center for caregivers of children with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Through collaboration with Vidant Medical Center interprofessionals, my fieldwork supervisor, and literature reviews of scholarly articles I designed outcome objectives and an itinerary for four piloted support group sessions. Support group topics included health maintenance, stress management, leisure exploration, parenting children with a TBI, and learning self-care management skills. Pre-and post-questionnaires were created and provided to participants. These questionnaires included questions concerning level of understanding of TBI, knowledge of community resources, level of stress, how participants currently manage stress, how often the participants partake in leisure interest, and how well participants feel they are taking care of themselves. The pre-and post-questionnaires where compared and helped determine if outcome objectives were met or not. The brief World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL_BREF) was provided to participants on their first session and at the last piloted support group, and used to determine participants\u27 quality of life and if outcome objectives were met or not. There was a total of seven participants, but only five participants information was utilized for the results, due to inconsistent participation. There was a small increase in the caregivers\u27 quality of life. Further research will need to take place to determine if educational support groups for caregivers of children with a TBI increase the participants\u27 quality of life
Occupatioanl Therapy in a Rural Public-School System: Exploring The Needs of Elementary Schools Regarding Written Expression
Get PDFThis capstone focused on the topic of written expression in a rural public school system setting, Edgecombe County Public Schools (ECPS). After investigating the needs of teachers in ECPS specifically and researching the evidence behind writing programs and current best practices, the end goal of this capstone was to make a formal recommendation for a writing program to the involved stakeholders in ECPS. Literature examined for this project included research from scholarly journals, presentations, evidenced-based databases, and credible web-based and academic resources. Gaining feedback from the teachers provided insight that specifically targeted areas of daily instruction while providing additional perspective of occupational therapists collaborating with teachers and being a part of professional development for written expression. In order to identify if the information presented at the in-service was valuable, a pre- and post-survey was provided for the stakeholders to complete. Topics discussed at the in-service and comprised in this written report include components of written expression, the results of the needs assessment, available writing programs, evidence behind the value of handwriting, best practices for writing instruction, the role of occupational therapists in the school setting, and formal recommendations for promoting a shift in focus to written expression in ECPS. The Faculty Advisor of this Capstone was Alisha Baker OTO, OTR/L, Doctorate of Occupational Therapy and instructor at Cabarrus College of Health Sciences, Master of Occupational Therapy Program
How Occupational Therapy Can Help Children with Dyslexia in the Classroom Environment
Get PDFObjectives: Occupational therapists focus on increasing the occupational performance of individuals, especially students in the school system. Reading is a major occupation of a student\u27s life. Since there is evidence that reading disorders, such as dyslexia, involve the visual system, occupational therapists can help support these students in the school system by improving their visual perceptual and ocular motor skills. The focus of this paper and project is to provide teachers and staff members in a Lower School information on the correlation between the lack of visual skills and dyslexia. Methods: Conduct a presurvey of teacher feedback on their levels of experience working with students with dyslexia and their current knowledge of visual skills. After providing these teachers a presentation on the development of visual skills in the classroom, a post-survey will be conducted on how it may affect future classroom instruction. Results: The feedback provided by the teachers from the pre-survey concluded that most have an extensive background on reading disabilities through training at the university level and through continuing education courses, however, there is a lack of knowledge of visual skills, and how they are linked to dyslexia and other reading disorders. Conclusions: With the development of this project and the analysis of the surveys competed, there is evidence of a lack of knowledge of visual skills in the school system. Development of strategies should be a focus of a school-based occupational therapist in order to help students increase their academic performance in school
Let it Flow: Increasing Occupation-centered Practice in Skilled Nursing Facilities
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to use the Kawa Model to discover and analyze the performance of the occupational therapy profession to incorporate occupation-centered practice in the skilled nursing setting. The guiding questions of the Kawa Model were used to guide phenomenological research inquiry into literature sources to generate drawings of the historical and current aspects of occupation-centered practice in the SNF setting. Environmental restrictions and obstacles from multiple sources were identified to prevent the implementation of occupation-centered services, while professional skills and values were identified with potential to initiate change in current practice trends. Two possible strategies for changing current practice were proposed from analyzing the river drawings generated from the Kawa Model\u27s framing of the research question
Occupation-Based Interventions in Treating Shoulder Pathology in an Outpatient Clinic
Get PDFThe following capstone project contains a retrospective case study and a literature review designed to make the reader more aware of occupation-based interventions and investigate the use of occupation-based interventions to treat shoulder pathology in a outpatient clinic. This capstone project includes a chart review to study the possible effects of improving active range of motion and strength using occupation-based interventions verse therapeutic exercises, explain the origin and definition of occupation-based interventions, determine the barriers to using occupation-based interventions in an outpatient clinic, review outcomes by completing a chart review, and consider ways to implement occupatio\u271-based interventions in an outpatient clinic setting. The retrospective case study was completed in effort to clearly review the potential benefits and patient satisfaction when using occupation-based interventions to treat shoulder pathology in an outpatient clinic. An interview following the chart review was also completed to provide insight into the participating occupational therapy practitioner\u27s perspective of the occupation-based intervention verse therapeutic exercise
The Effects of an Occupation-Based Home Exercise Program for Stroke Survivors
Get PDFStroke survivors seldom regain their full functionality following hospital or inpatient rehabilitation, it is therefore pertinent to have an intervention that can aid their recovery back at home. Functional impairments often lead to other complications if not properly managed including decreased participation in activities of daily living, decreased social activities, and increased depression. This project introduces a consistent, daily exercise for their recovery that is essential, described as occupation-based home exercise program (HEP). The purpose of the study is to administer this occupation-based home exercise program to assist stroke survivors to continue recovery at home to improve their functional ability, both physically and emotionally. The project participants include stroke survivors in their home environment. Those who met the criteria were educated on the benefits of occupation-based tasks and the importance of social support towards this course. Three different questionnaires were then administered to the group focusing on different functionalities. A pre-assessment was administered then the occupation-based HEP was reviewed and participants were sent home with a copy. After one month, a post-assessment was conducted to evaluate the outcome. The study included six participants, three reported for the post-assessment, representing 50% participation rate. Two of the participants recorded the same value for pre- and post-assessment, while one a positive change for the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. The Patient Health Questionnaire indicated a reduction in depressive symptoms after the introduction of occupation-based HEP program in two clients. The Social Support and Exercise Survey indicates the importance of external support towards compliance, family members and friends can positively influence the client to comply with the prescribed exercises and occupation-based activities. These three questionnaires were important to this project; they provided statistics before and after the introduction of occupation-based HEP program and it was clear from the results that there was a positive change. Chronic stroke survivors can, therefore, benefit from the program and with the help of family and friends, they can easily adhere to the exercises and the program to improve their functionality with time