The use of permanent prompts for individuals with severe disabilities has been shown to be effective in acquiring new skills, improving the accuracy and maintenance of existing skills, and in eliminating the need for trainer prompts. However, this technology has not been evaluated for its potential impact in promoting leisure participation. In this study, two men with mental retardation were administered auditory and/or visual prompts to investigate their effect on increasing participation in a leisure activity. In addition, their performance was evaluated to establish whether continuous versus intermittent schedules of the prompts would influence participation. The data were collected using a partial interval observation system and evaluated using a multiple baseline and an alternating treatment design. While both men increased their participation modestly in the leisure activity, there was no substantial difference between the two prompting schedules.

The elderly population has been recognized as one of the fastest growing age groups in the United States and there has been a dramatic increase in the number of elderly women living alone in the community. The purpose of this study was to examine the functional status, social support system, and self-perceived health of elderly women living alone and those living with others in Dade County, Florida. This study was derived from a larger Dade County Needs Assessment. The sample for this study included 1,278 elderly women who were white (n = 561), Hispanic (n = 550), black (n = 153), and "other" (n = 14).

The entire population of Icelandic occupational therapists were surveyed concerning characteristics and attitudes toward professionalism and educational goals. There were 87 questionnaires sent out and 80 (92%) were returned and used for analysis. This data will have a positive impact upon the development of the first Icelandic occupational therapy curriculum. Icelandic occupational therapists, in general, value academic skills over technical skills, are active in their association, willing to take on duties for the advancement of the profession and are interested in conducting research. The attitudes of the Icelandic occupational therapists were generally quite uniform. T- tests and one-way ANOVAs (p < .05) revealed some significant differences in a number of attitudes by education level, length of professional experience and country of education. The results show the importance of providing Icelandic occupational therapy practitioners with the opportunity to take part in research. This study will serve as a foundation for future studies on Icelandic occupational therapists and provide reference data for later comparison.

This research investigates the perceptions that individuals with mental illnesses have about the employment experience as a whole. Survey data from 72 respondents with mental disabilities were used to identify areas of perceived work limitations. Comparisons regarding employee work performance were made between eleven individuals with mental disabilities and their supervisors. Functional limitations identified by respondents with mental disabilities and the characteristic symptoms set forth in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders were compared. Overall findings showed that individuals with mental disabilities in this study had problems in the areas of judgment, initiative, interacting and rapport with co-workers and supervisors, frustration tolerance and coping with job stress, and adapting to changes at work. Comparison of identified work task difficulties with diagnostic criteria indicate active symptomatology to have an effect on job performance. Recommendations regarding occupational therapy assessment approaches and roles to facilitate ADA implementation are presented.

This study examined the differences in pain perception and pain pressure threshold between the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle and the days of the cycle which are not menstrual or premenstrual. Over 2 complete menstrual cycles, 20 volunteer subjects with no known disabilities or illness reported pain assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) and pressure threshold measures collected 5 times (intervals) for each cycle. A two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance (i.e. cycle, interval and the interaction) revealed only a significant difference across interval for both pain perception (VAS) (F = 15.3146, (4,76), p < .01), and pain pressure threshold (F = 12.0367, (4,76), p < .01). The premenstrual VAS mean scores were significantly higher and pain threshold mean scores significantly lower than the means during the remainder of the cycle in Tukey "A" post-test comparisons. Findings indicate therapists should consider pain perception and potential motivational changes of women during the premenstruum when developing or instituting physically demanding protocols.

The purpose of this study was to determine the methods and extent to which occupational therapists who are practicing in aging are assessing the caregivers of their elderly patients. A random sample of 500 therapists who subscribe to a special interest group publication of a professional organization were surveyed by mail and 204 responses were received. Respondents were asked to indicate all of the activities related to caregiver assessments in which they engage. Methods of assessment included: (a) professional caregiving activities, (b) informal assessment methods, and (c) formal assessment methods. There were more than 90% of respondents who indicated that they engaged in at least two professional activities related to caregiving, such as patient and/or caregiver education and discharge planning. Approximately one-third of subjects indicated that formal assessment is performed with a facility created assessment cited as the most frequently used formal instrument. Informal assessment methods were used by all but one subject in the sample. Direct questioning/discussion with caregiver and observation of the caregiver were the most frequently used informal assessment methods at 90% and 93.6%, respectively. The findings indicate that virtually all occupational therapists are highly engaged in assessing the caregivers of their elderly patients. Most of the assessment being performed relies on their clinical expertise and observation and/or facility created assessments. Furthermore, clinicians are highly engaged in patient and/or caregiver education. It is recommended that more of the body of research related to formal multidimensional caregiver assessment be disseminated into the occupational therapy community.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether community dwelling elders with chronic stroke who participate in a regular exercise group program demonstrate decreased fear of falls, decreased depression and improved quality of life/health status perception as compared to community dwelling elders with chronic stroke who don’t participate in such an exercise program. Two groups of 13 English speaking community dwelling elders with chronic stroke, were selected. The first group consisted of individuals who were currently participating in the Adult Fitness Group at South Miami Hospital (SMH) and the second group consisted of former SMH patients who had not been participating in any exercise programs since discharge from the hospital. Fall related self-efficacy was measured using the Falls-Efficacy scale (FES). Severity of depression was assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale short form. Quality of life/perceived health status was assessed with the Health Assessment Questionnaire©.

The study investigated whether individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia who completed a partial hospitalization program (PHP) while residing at an assisted living facility, engaged in more roles than individuals with schizophrenia who had never participated in a PHP. "Past," "present," and "future" role engagement was evaluated in both groups. Two hypotheses were pursued utilizing the Occupational Case Analysis Interview and Rating Scale (OCAIRS) and the Role Checklist. Frequencies, percentages, t-tests, and chi-square tests were used to analyze the data. No statistical differences were found in level of role engagement in the PHP group individuals as compared to the individuals not participating in the PHPs. The differences seen in role participation during involvement in the PHPs returned to pre-PHP levels up to twelve months after discharge, indicating the need for follow up services in order to sustain any gains made in the partial hospitalization programs.

The purpose of this study was to determine physical therapists utilization of methods to increase compliance with home exercise programs, and to determine their perceptions of barriers patients have to completing exercise programs. The secondary purpose of this study was to describe the association, if any, between therapists' age, participation in exercise and/or lifestyle changes and the utilization of methods to increase exercise compliance. A sample of 73 physical therapists attending the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting were surveyed for this study. This study found that barriers listed by patients were similar to those found in the literature. This study also found that a significant association, p = .015, existed between therapists engaging in behavioral changes and use of lifestyle activities.

Hospitals are seeing a reduction of physical therapy (PT) staff due to increased opportunities and competition. Planning effective recruitment and retention strategies for PTs in hospital settings may play an important role in reducing the problem. The primary purpose of this descriptive research was to compile information on recruitment and retention strategies used for physical therapists working in hospital settings. Four hundred surveys were mailed nationwide to hospital-based physical therapy managers. Strategies most commonly used were: attractive benefit package, interdisciplinary teams, competitive salaries, and student employment. The least used strategies used were: sign-on bonus, incentive pay programs, recruitment and retention committee and temporary staffing. It was concluded that hospital administrators need to analyze current strategies used and future recruitment and retention staffing trends, in order to institute successful strategies appropriate to their departments to effectively recruit and retain their staff.