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.

Caregivers are often under a great deal of stress while caring for their spouses with dementia. It is when the stress builds up and becomes overwhelming that the caregiver is at risk for developing depression. The primary objective of this study was to determine which cognitive and behavioral coping strategies are associated with lower levels of depression; once these strategies are identified, interventions can be established to educate these caregivers. Thirty-two spousal caregivers participated in this study. They each filled out a questionnaire, which contained three sections. The first section asked them for demographic information about themselves and their spouses; the second section consisted of a coping strategies scale; and, the third section contained a depression scale. Results of this study indicate that problem-focused coping strategies were associated with a lesser degree of depressive symptomatology, whereas most of the emotion-focused strategies were associated with a greater degree of depressive symptomatology among the present sample of spousal caregivers. In addition, no relationship was found between the length of time providing care to their spouses and their level of depression.

This study investigated the effect of sleep position on breathing patterns of normal full term infants during quiet and active behavioral sleep states. Tidal volume, percent contribution of rib cage to tidal volume, and respiration rate were measured via respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) and pneumotachograph (PNT) in ten infants sleeping in supine versus right side-lying. Data was collected immediately following two consecutive feedings. Paired t tests and ANOVA comparisons showed no significant differences between the two postures (p < .05) in mean tidal volume (supine, M = 19.16, right side, M = 22.45), percent contribution of rib cage to tidal volume (supine, M = 30.55, right side M = 33.20), or respiration rate (supine, M = 49.13, right side, M = 49.37) during quiet sleep. Comparisons also showed no significant differences between the two postures (p < .05) in mean tidal volume (supine, M = 18.89, right side, M = 20.12), percent contribution of rib cage to tidal volume (supine, M = 6.43, right side, M = 6.97) or respiration rate (supine, M = 62.18, right side, M = 61.04) during active sleep. Therefore, no differences were found in the three respiratory variables measured between the supine and right side-lying positions. These findings suggest that infants may be positioned in either sleep position without detriment to respiratory function. This information may benefit occupational therapists and other health professionals involved in the education of parents on infant positioning and their respective advantages.

The purpose of this study was to obtain an understanding of older adults' perceptions of independence and the factors that allow them to remain living independently in the community. A questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 500 community-based older adults. One hundred seventy eight questionnaires were returned (36%). Respondents were asked questions related to independence, self-health rating, functional difficulties, and social supports. Most respondents indicated Mental Health (97%), Physical Health (97%), Control of choices (97%), and Social Support Systems (93%) contributed to maintaining independence in the community. Age, education, fewer chronic health conditions, and a higher self-health rating were found to be significant predictors of actual independence. Family members were identified as the primary source of assistance with advice on major life decisions and financial matters. Findings indicate age, education, health status and the social support of family and friends all play an important role for older adults to live independently in the community. Occupational therapy could be instrumental in extending the health, highest level of independent functioning, and the number of years older adults remain living in the community.

Background: Call centres are thriving and expanding commercial enterprises providing cost-effective ways for organisations to connect with new and existing clients through telecommunication channels. Call centre agents perform this function telephonically for 75% of the day in large open-plan office environments characterised by workloads that are demanding, repetitive and highly scripted. Verbal abuse by clients is prevalent adding to a work experience that is potentially emotionally draining and stressful. Agents are under constant surveillance and monitoring to abide with commercial regulations but also to ensure high call volume and quality engagement with clients, these being the most important performance indicators. High staff absenteeism and attrition levels account for large financial losses in the industry. To date no studies have been found considering the impact of sensory processing of call centre agents on their performance, absenteeism and attrition. Sensory processing considers the neuro-physiological and behavioural components of individuals in the interactions with their daily work occupations and life environments. Although predominantly applied in paediatric clinical populations in occupational therapy, sensory processing provides universal truths about human behaviour which can add value to promoting wellness amongst healthy adults in work environments. Design: A quantitative, non-experimental and correlational study design was used to measure and compare demographic, sensory processing and performance data from 459 call centre staff within four fully operational call centres, which varied in type of operation, employer and geographical area in South Africa. The standardised and validated 60-item Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (Brown, Tollefson, Dunn, Cromwell & Fillion, 2001) was used to measure sensory processing as neurological thresholds and potential propensity for individuals to cope with high sensory stimulating work environments. Agent performance data in each of the four centres were recorded daily, in real time, using sophisticated information technology systems, and included details about absenteeism. Attrition data were collected after the initial data intake to reflect true attrition. Results: Data were analysed using statistical methods to obtain locality (e.g. means, medians), dispersion (e.g. standard deviations and interquartile ranges) and associations (e.g. Spearman Rank correlations). Results showed strong, consistent and significant correlations between agents who displayed sensation avoiding processing and poor performance. Agents who exhibited sensation seeking processing had higher performance ratings. To a lesser, yet still significant, degree agents with low registration and sensory sensitivity also had lower performance ratings. Sensory sensitive agents were absent less often than other workers and sensation seeking agents showed a tendency for higher attrition. Results differed between service inbound call centres to sales and collections outbound ones. Team leaders, who are high performing agents promoted into these positions, had less sensory sensitive and sensation avoiding processing styles. A novel subset structure was designed to account for the multidimensional capacity of the AASP, and this was correlated with all the performance data. It provided a preliminary method for use in further research studies. The study strengths were the innovative sample in measuring sensory processing of healthy populations at work and the compilation of performance data through sophisticated computerised systems, which minimised the margin of error. Study limitations were the use of a self-questionnaire format for profile data collection and small sample sizes in subsequent data collection stages. Recommendations: The AASP has the potential to be used by call centre human resource practitioners for recruitment and performance management. Improved sensory environmental considerations and adaptations supportive of a more successful and healthier agent-job-environment fit are provided. The study findings support knowledge transfer into other general human resource management, education and training, occupational health management and occupational therapy practises. It expands the application of sensory processing theories and informs future research.

Bibliography: leaves 120-126.

Includes bibliographical references. / Substance abuse is a rising global health and social problem that is associated with serious medical, psychiatric, family, occupational, legal, financial and spiritual problems. While recovery from substance abuse is possible, it is a subjective and contested process. To date, the recovery process has not been explored from an occupational perspective in Zimbabwe, where as many as 60% of all readmissions at Zimbabwe’s psychiatric referral centre during the period from January 2010 to December 2011 were secondary to substance-induced disorders, and less than three percent of these patients moved into long-term recovery or sustained sobriety with rehabilitation follow-up. This qualitative narrative inquiry explores the journey of recovery from substance abuse among young adult Zimbabwean men. The aim of the study was to investigate how occupations played a role in the recovery journeys of each of these men. Three young adult men identified as former substance abusers were purposively selected for the study. Data generation occurred through in-depth narrative interviews with each participant. Principles of trustworthiness and validation emphasising the persuasiveness, coherence and pragmatic use of the narratives were applied throughout the research process, and ethical issues in narrative research were upheld. Ethical clearance was applied for and granted by the University of Cape Town’s Human Ethics Research Committee and permission to do the research was sought and given by the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe. The findings of the study — explanatory stories — were produced through narrative analysis. These stories revealed substance abuse to be an occupation associated with both positive and negative consequences. Recovery from such abuse emerged as an ongoing occupational transition negotiated through participation in other occupations, and influenced by both personal and environmental factors. The way in which occupations were abandoned, modified and newly adopted during the process of this occupational transition is discussed. The construction and reconstruction of a positive occupational identity was seen as central to the process of occupational transition. The study concluded that engagement and participation in ‘engaging occupations’ was an intricate contributor to the recovery journey for young adult Zimbabwean men, and that narrative interviews should be used in generating data to explore the occupational nature of life and its events.

South Africa is one of the most violent nations in the world and has an extremely high incidence of road accidents and work place injuries. The precise effect of this on upper limb injury statistics is not known as the incidence and prevalence of these conditions has yet to be determined. Hand injuries are, however, common worldwide and, in South Africa, may be complex in nature. This places a demand on occupational therapy services to provide comprehensive upper limb rehabilitation, a responsibility that inevitably falls on novice occupational therapists at some point. Occupational therapists in South Africa are required to complete a year of compulsory Community Service after graduating before they are permitted to practice independently. These placements are often in rural, under-resourced areas and graduates are faced with multiple new roles while negotiating the transition into practice. No published research to date has described the general experience of Community Service occupational therapists in South Africa or the extent to which these therapists are equipped to treat patients with upper limb injuries and conditions. The study sought to determine the extent to which Community Service occupational therapists are equipped to treat patients with upper limb injuries and conditions.

No description available.

Background: There is a high worldwide prevalence of cerebral palsy, a neurological condition which impacts most areas of life of children and their families. Evidence shows that occupational therapy is effective in enhancing the child's function, participation and quality of life, especially when provided at a young age and with high intensity. Literature provides additional recommendations for occupational therapy to follow a holistic and family-centred approach, considering participation in context, rather than an individual medical focus. These notions place pressure on the strained South African healthcare system, where human and physical resources, as well as contextually-relevant evidence for practice, are limited. The aim of this research was, therefore, to obtain a baseline description of the occupational therapy services being provided to children with severe cerebral palsy, across all government healthcare facilities of the Western Cape province. Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted, using a selfdesigned questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed using recognised survey principles in order to maintain research rigour, reliability and validity of results, and guidelines from previousstudies of a similar nature. The questionnaire was available to participants in duplicate online and hard copy formats. The anonymous, self-report questionnaire obtained profiles of the participating occupational therapists and their departments, descriptions of current service provision (assessments, goal-setting and interventions), perceived factors influencing service selection, and an understanding of services therapists felt they should be providing more of. No sampling took place and responses were invited from all occupational therapists employed by the provincial health department. All recruitment and correspondence took place via email or telephone. Recruitment and data collection took place over a period of 16 weeks, with each participant having a maximum of two weeks to submit their responses, after which a maximum of three reminders were sent. Numerical data were analysed using non-parametric descriptive statistics and categorical data were presented in terms of frequencies and percentages. Ethical principles adhered to included respect, confidentiality, anonymity, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. Results: There was a response rate of 53%, with all provincial health districts and levels of care represented amongst participants. Assessments frequently involved observations of the child in activities(85%) and interviews with their caregiver (98%). Goals formulated, with some input of caregivers, related to occupational performance components (91%) more often than occupational performance (77%), and largely aimed to maintain the child's condition (68%), rather than improve development or functional participation (47%). A range of interventions were provided, but appointments were infrequent (median: 1 per month), mainly took place in clinical environments (100%), and waiting periods for assistive devices and orthotics were common. Opportunities for direct therapy and interventions in the child's daily context were limited, and home programmes and caregiver education were heavily relied upon indirect intervention methods, frequently implemented by 100% and 91% of participants respectively. Key factors influencing the selection of services included resource availability (62%), therapists' training (62%) and the level of care at which they worked (59%). Therapists felt they were meeting some of the children's needs, and required the support of the multidisciplinary team to meet more of their needs effectively. Conclusion: This study provides insight into occupational therapists' roles in the government healthcare sector in the Western Cape province, and highlights the degree of alignment of services with policy and elements of best practice. Some merits are clear, in terms of the combination of direct and indirect services provided and the involvement of families in therapy processes. However, there remains a shortfall in terms of effective holistic, evidence-based, family-centred, and early and intensive approaches. This study, therefore prompts revision of strategies to implement existing policies promoting quality services for people with disabilities and align occupational therapists' training with evidence-based practice and holistic frameworks and approaches. Further research is recommended, particularly a qualitative consideration of the contextual factors influencing service provision, in order to better understand and address the barriers to meaningful and effective services for this population within the context of Primary Healthcare. With these recommendations, quality service provision, leading to participation and quality of life outcomes for children with severe cerebral palsy and their families, may be enhanced.