57 research outputs found
Clinical utility of the four-quadrant model of facilitated learning: Perspectives of experienced occupational therapists
No full textBackground/aims: This study explored perspectives of experienced occupational therapists regarding teaching-learning approaches used during intervention. The aim was to ascertain the clinical utility of the Four-Quadrant Model of Facilitated Learning (4QM) (Greber, Ziviani, & Rodger, 2007a) by understanding how it might enhance clinical competency when applying teaching-learning modalities. Methods: Mixed methods were used to ascertain the perspectives of two groups of therapists with seven or more years experience in either adult (n=8) or paediatric (n=7) practice. A pre-discussion questionnaire was used to prime participants for an initial focus group centred on understanding how participants used teaching-learning within occupational therapy intervention. Following a brief description of the 4QM, a further session explored the perspectives of participants regarding the 4QM as a means of conceptualising and planning teaching-learning interventions. Results: Irrespective of practice area, therapists considered teaching-learning approaches core to their practice, without necessarily identifying a clear process to guide their implementation. Proficiency in teaching-learning was generally seen to be gained through trial and error. Participants identified potential clinical applications for the 4QM as a useful structure to support the application of teaching-learning interventions, speculating that it would be particularly useful for novice clinicians. Conclusions: Participants endorsed the 4QM as a useful integrating framework to support the development of professional competencies related to planning interventions that use a teaching-learning approach. © 2011 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journa
Challenges for occupational therapists working with clients who choose illicit, immoral or health-compromising occupations
No full textUnderstanding how people derive meaning and purpose from illicit, immoral, and health-compromising occupations is of great interest to occupational scientists. For occupational therapists, who predominantly work to attain healthy outcomes for their clients, the issue is a vexed one. There is no universal way of managing the challenges involved in supporting clients to attain occupational therapy goals that are not necessarily aligned with health, morality, or law. This chapter presents a way of approaching those challenges using a structured professional reasoning approach that embraces multiple ways of thinking and encourages clinicians to balance a range of perspectives before drawing conclusions about the best way to proceed.</p
Postmodernism and beyond in occupational therapy
No full textThroughout its history, occupational therapy has been shaped by ideologies characterising the cultures in which it has been practised. The profession has evolved during successive periods of modernist and postmodernist thought and has been influenced substantially by both perspectives. Like all eras, postmodernism will eventually exhaust its influence and occupational therapy will be reformed by a new approaching age. This study describes the current influence of postmodernism on the profession and considers a future beyond the postmodern era that embraces both reductionist and occupation‐focused approaches to practice, as well as the area in between
Pluralism: Signposting a split in occupational therapy?
No full textThe article discusses the use of pluralism to understand how occupational therapy is being practised. Pluralism could help understand the transformation of occupational therapy practice. It highlights issues arising from the differences between the medical practices to reflect the different underlying philosophies
The Four-Quadrant Model of Facilitated Learning: Development and Clinical Utility
No full textAbstract Teaching-learning approaches are routinely used by occupational therapists in the process of enabling clients to master the tasks and activities that comprise occupational performance, leading to goal attainment. Although it has been recognised that occupational therapists draw frequently on these approaches, little has been done to establish how such an approach is congruent with overarching principles of the profession. An understanding of how teaching-learning can contribute to a client’s attainment of occupational performance goals would therefore contribute to the efficacy of occupational therapy practice when task mastery as a focus of intervention. Moreover, although it is apparent that occupational therapists draw on teaching-learning strategies as part of their practice, it is unclear how they develop the skills and accompanying decision-making processes to effectively do so. In consequence, little is known about the ways occupational therapists establish the skill set and reasoning process used to engage teaching-learning approaches as part of their practice. The research undertaken in this thesis is best described as adopting an overarching action research approach in which a variety of research methods were used to answer four research questions across five stages of research. These questions related to the effects of an organisational framework, the Four-Quadrant Model of Facilitated Learning (4QM), on the decision-making of occupational therapists when using teaching-learning as an approach to intervention. The research encapsulated in this thesis comprised five stages, each representing different cycles of an action research process and together addressing the four nominated research questions. These five stages developed, refined, investigated and evaluated the 4QM as a model that informed and organised decision-making as it pertained to teaching-learning approaches within a broader clinical reasoning process. Stage 1 involved speculation regarding the development of a conceptual model able to represent the teaching-learning process within the context of occupational therapy. Stage 1 included three cycles of action research that together identified the issues, proposed and tested various actions and developed a way of conceptualising teaching-learning in an organised way. The result was a model - the Four-Quadrant Model of Facilitated Learning - considered useful in guiding therapists in selecting and organising teaching-learning strategies used in enabling task mastery in an occupationally-focused way. This model formed the basis of subsequent stages of inquiry. During Stage 2, the structure and content of the 4QM was refined following an extensive review of occupational therapy and pedagogy literature. This resulted in modifications to the model, making the structure more conceptually sound and the content more reflective of contemporary pedagogic theories. The manner in which teaching-learning could validly be used as a part of occupational therapy practice was proposed. Through further reviews of literature, an advanced theoretical framework was developed in Stage 3 that described more completely the assumptions, theoretical postulates and practical steps engaged when using the 4QM to guide practice. Stage 3 involved the expansion of theories underpinning the 4QM, advancing it as a new frame of reference in occupational therapy. This was an important step in further validating the model prior to evaluating its clinical utility. Potential applications of the 4QM were investigated during Stage 4. A greater understanding of the experiences and perspectives of experienced occupational therapists regarding teaching-learning was gathered through the combined use of questionnaire and focus group methods. Fifteen experienced occupational therapists participated in focus group discussions that aimed to understand their engagement in teaching-learning and solicit their perspectives on the potential clinical utility of the 4QM. Questionnaires were used as an adjunct to focus group discussion in gathering individual data on the use of teaching-learning. Results indicated that participants engaged in teaching-learning routinely, despite not being able to describe a clear process that drove their clinical reasoning. Proficiency in facilitating learning was described as arising mostly from trial and error. Participants embraced the potential for the 4QM to frame decision-making in clinical situations, noting that it might be particularly useful for novice clinicians. Evaluation of the influence of training in the 4QM on aspects of therapist reasoning formed Stage 5 of the research. Five case studies involving novice occupational therapists were used to explore and describe changes in reasoning about teaching-learning following exposure to formal training in the 4QM. Repertory Grid Technique, a technique arising from Personal Construct Theory, provided qualitative and quantitative data that together reflected how and what participants considered when designing interventions based on teaching-learning. Results from Stage 5 provided initial evidence that more structured reasoning could occur following the introduction of the 4QM as a framework for contemplating the learning process. The overarching action research methodology used to structure the research described in this thesis is proposed as a useful way of continuing the research agenda. As the precursor to further investigations into the 4QM, a description of the reflection and planning aspects of an emerging Stage 6 of action research is proposed. Potential future research into the influence of the 4QM on the practice of therapists, and on the outcomes of therapy, is identified
Urban Agriculture Focus of Author Presentation
No full textAward-winning Canadian food journalist Jennifer Cockrall-King discusses alternative food systems in a Lawrence University presentation Monday, April 22 at 7 p.m. in Thomas Steitz Hall of Science Room 102. Cockrall-King’s appearance, sponsored by Lawrence’s Spoerl Lecture in Science and Society, is free and open to the public.
Based on her book “Food and the City: Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution,” the address examines food systems in cities around the world that are shortening their food chains by utilizing community gardens, collective orchards and vertical farms within their city limits and taking “food security” into their own hands.
“Food and the City” received the 2011 Dave Greber Freelance Book Award, a Canadian national award that recognizes excellence in social justice writing. Cockrall-King’s appearance is part of the 2013 Fox Cities Book Festival
The use of practice evidence by Australian occupational therapists:Perspectives and actions
No full textIntroduction: Evidence-based practice supports clinical decision-making by using multiple sources of evidence arising from research and practice. Research evidence develops through empirical study while practice evidence arises through clinical experience, client preferences, and the practice context. Although occupational therapists have embraced the paradigm of evidence-based practice, some studies have identified limits in the availability and use of research, which can lead to reliance on other forms of evidence. This study aimed to understand how Australian occupational therapists use practice evidence, manage potential bias, and enhance trustworthiness. Potential use of a critical appraisal tool for practice evidence was also explored. Methods: A 42-item questionnaire was developed to address the study aims. It consisted of a 7-point Likert scale, ordinal and free text questions. Likert scales were collapsed into binary scales and analysed using SPSS. Ordinal data were graphed and free text responses were analysed using manifest content analysis. Results: Most respondents (82%) indicated that practice evidence was an important informant of practice and is used alongside research evidence. Almost all respondents (98%) expressed confusion when reconciling discrepancies between research and practice evidence. There was general acknowledgement that practice evidence is prone to bias (82%), yet 92% were confident in trusting their own practice evidence. Most respondents (74.5%) undertook some measures to appraise practice evidence, and almost all respondents (90%) agreed they would refer to a critical appraisal tool that helped them evaluate practice evidence. Conclusion: Occupational therapists in this study routinely use practice evidence arising from their own experience, client perspectives, and their practice context to inform clinical decision-making. While they agreed that practice evidence was prone to bias and misinterpretation, they generally trusted their own practice evidence. Participants indicated they needed guidance to critically appraise their practice evidence and supported the development of a critical appraisal tool for this purpose.</p
A conversation about the complexity and challenges of the dark side of occupations
No full textWith greater international recognition that people do things so diverse in their forms and contexts – many that challenge the pervasive belief in the relationship between occupation, health, and wellbeing – the dark side of occupation is timely to consider and illuminate. As members of a global occupational therapy community, we are accountable for our decisions and associated actions - we should be able to describe the rationale for our decisions and actions to the people we work with and for. Together, we must work to better understand people, the complexity of the things they need, want, or have to do, their motivations, and the factors that influence, create, and compound their diverse lived experiences. Occupations of individuals within communities are diverse, temporal, and culturally defined. Our occupational therapy community will now and, in the future, confront occupations that challenge personally and professionally held values. The conceptualisation of the dark side of occupation was always intended to trigger and encourage discourses, practice, education and research endeavours to extend the scope of occupational therapy to engage with a broader range of occupations. In this chapter we provide our own perspectives, through dialogue between us, on how this might occur.<br/
- …
