Biomedical subjects

Denise Reid

Publications and source records attributed to Denise Reid.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Outcomes of an occupational therapy school-based consultation service for students with fine motor difficulties.

PURPOSE: This paper reports on a study that was conducted to address the perceived occupational performance changes among school-aged children who received occupational therapy services for fine motor difficulties. It also addressed teacher awareness and the degree of implementation of occupational therapy recommendations by teachers. METHODS: The study sample included 91 school-aged children referred for occupational therapy services for fine motor difficulties. The children were assessed, before and after intervention. Outcome measures used were the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and the Teacher Awareness Scale (TAS). RESULTS: Significant change scores in both scales of the COPM were (Performance = 1.50, p < 0.001; Satisfaction = 1.92, p < 0.001). Regression analyses showed that lower teacher ratings of the students'performance and satisfaction of performance on the initial COPM resulted in significantly greater COPM change scores in the students'performance and satisfaction of performance at reassessment. The greater the degree of implementation of occupational therapy strategies by the teacher, the greater the COPM performance and satisfaction change scores. The greater the degree of teacher awareness of students'special needs resulted in greater COPM performance change scores. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Teachers may benefit from more education regarding fine motor difficulties in children and how the implementation of occupational therapy strategies are helpful to improve children's fine motor difficulties.

Child↗

PubMed2006

The experience of senior stroke survivors: factors in community participation among wheelchair users.

PURPOSE: This qualitative study investigated the lived experience of senior stroke survivors who used prescribed wheelchairs in their home and community. METHODS: The study involved semi-structured, in-depth interviews that were conducted with 10 participants, aged 70 to 80, who had used a wheelchair for a mean of 5.6 years. All participants used manual wheelchairs and two additionally used a power wheelchair and a scooter. RESULTS: A constant comparative inductive method of analysis of the data yielded several themes which are examined within the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework of body functions and structure, activity limitations, participation, and contextual factors. Overall, the wheelchair, manual or power, was an enabler of community participation among the participants. However, the wheelchair's use also created problems, such as limiting destinations and creating increased dependence on others. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: A balance scale model was proposed to facilitate an understanding of how the factors affecting community participation interact in this population. This model can assist occupational therapists who prescribe wheelchairs for stroke clients for use in the community.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2006

Living in a restricted occupational world: the occupational experiences of stroke survivors who are wheelchair users and their caregivers.

BACKGROUND: In order to meet the responsibilities of understanding and enabling occupation, occupational scientists and therapists must conduct research that is framed within an occupational perspective. PURPOSE: This paper reports the results of a qualitative investigation of the occupational experiences of stroke survivors (n = 16) who use wheelchairs and their primary caregivers (n = 15). RESULTS: Inductive analysis of data collected via in-depth interviews resulted in two major themes related to occupation, specifically: living in a restricted occupational world and challenges to participation in occupation. These results highlight the overall experience labeled occupation by default, and the intricate interconnections or spill-over effect between the occupations of stroke survivors and caregivers. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: In addition to providing empirical support for the importance of having a sense of control over occupation and the connection between occupation and identity, the results have implications for practice aimed at enabling occupation and directions for future research. As well, the results illustrate that occupational therapy services need to extend beyond wheelchair prescription in order to enable occupation with clients.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2006

Evaluation of occupational therapy school-based consultation service for students with fine motor difficulties.

PURPOSE: This paper describes a 2-year study that addressed the perceived occupational performance changes among students with fine motor difficulties receiving occupational therapy school-based consultation (OTSBC) services. METHOD: The sample included 52 stakeholders of students with fine motor difficulties who received occupational therapy services. Six exploratory focus groups and one participatory and action-based focus group were conducted with parents, teachers, occupational therapists, and Community Care Access Centre case managers. RESULTS: Results supported the benefits of OTSBC. Key concerns identified were the wait for service, confusion about service expectations, inadequate communication among stakeholders, school board issues, and constraints in the health care system. Recommendations identified were to train teachers, provide early intervention, address service delivery issues related to health and education systems, and promote awareness of occupational therapy service and its effectiveness. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Occupational therapists working with students with fine motor difficulties could consider providing formal education programs for teachers, promoting early intervention of fine motor problems, and communicating to stakeholders regarding the expectations and effectiveness of OTSBC.

Child↗

PubMed2005

The influence of virtual reality play on children's motivation.

PURPOSE: This study explored the degree of motivation children exhibit during virtual reality (VR) play sessions. METHOD: Sixteen children with cerebral palsy aged 8 to 12 years participated. They were observed during a variety of VR environments that were video recorded. The Pediatric Volitional Questionnaire (PVQ) was used to measure children's motivation. The PVQ provides insights into children's inner motives as well as how the virtual environment enhances or attenuates children's motives. Nine VR environments were randomly selected to score with the PVQ. RESULTS: Data were analyzed and descriptive statistics were calculated for modes and medians of total volition scores for each VR environment. Different environments produced varying levels of volitional behaviour. The features of environments that produced higher levels of volition included challenge, variability and competition. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The overall volitional scores of children with cerebral palsy in the current study indicate that VR play is a motivating activity and thus has potential as a successful intervention tool.

Cerebral Palsy↗

PubMed2004

The influence of virtual reality on playfulness in children with cerebral palsy: a pilot study.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the effects of virtual play intervention on the level of playfulness of children with cerebral palsy. Thirteen children aged 8-13 years comprised the study group. Children attended eight one-hour virtual reality play sessions in which they were immersed and interacted with virtual reality. The Test of Playfulness (TOP) was used as the measure to assess playfulness. Participants were videotaped while they played during 12 different environments over the course of their intervention time. Three randomly selected virtual reality play sessions were chosen to score three different virtual reality environments within each session yielding a total of nine trials (environments) for each participant. The types of virtual environments varied across participants. Overall, the different virtual reality play environments produced varying levels of playfulness according to the TOP's four different subscale scores. Motivation ranged from 1.50 to 2.25, internal control ranged from 1.00 to 1.88, suspension of reality ranged from 0 to 0.26, and framing ranged from 1.33 to 1.78. The three environments producing the highest playfulness ratings were called Paint, Trip and Island Sounds. These environments allowed creativity, persistence with the task, pleasure, and a certain degree of control. Two environments did not appear to foster playfulness. A possible reason was that these environments were too unpredictable and frustrating for participants. These results will be useful for creating new virtual reality software applications that will encourage playfulness in children with disabilities.

Cerebral Palsy↗

PubMed2004

Accessibility and usability of the physical housing environment of seniors with stroke.

This study measured how stroke survivors perceived their housing environment. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using the Usability in My Home Questionnaire with 19 stroke survivors who all lived in the community. Overall, they reported that the design of their homes allowed them to manage their self-care activities but not all of their household activities. The outside design of the home posed difficulties, with uneven ground and poor lighting and stair access. Inside the home, space was a problem, particularly for stroke survivors using wheelchairs. Living in restricted spaces was the result of the person-technology-environment fit. These results show that the housing environment is not experienced similarly by all old persons, and that the environmental experiences reported by the sample often appear inconsistent with the quality of their housing environment as judged by objective indicators; for instance, subjective reports are often more favorable than would be expected in light of the limiting aspects of the objective environment. Recommendations for housing design strategies and for occupational therapy practice are offered.

Aged↗

PubMed2003

Doing play: competency, control, and expression.

This qualitative study investigated the personal experiences of children with cerebral palsy engaging in a virtual reality play intervention program. The study involved in-depth, focused interviews that were conducted with 19 participants aged 8-13 who had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy. A constant comparative inductive method of analysis was used, and several themes emerged. Findings were interpreted using the theory of flow, the theory of self-efficacy, and the model of playfulness in virtual reality computer interactions. The three themes uncovered in the data include (a) doing play, (b) it's my way that matters, and (c) how I see me. The sub-theme safety also emerged. Findings from this study showed that children with physical disabilities are often limited in their play experience compared to their peers without physical disabilities. Children perceived engagement in a virtual reality play intervention program as an enjoyable experience which increased their self-competence and self-efficacy. Participants experienced a sense of control and mastery over the virtual environment and were provided a safe way to explore and challenge their abilities. Participants perceived experiencing flow and reported perceived physical changes and increased social acceptance from both peers and family. These findings provide evidence that virtual reality continues to show promise as a pediatric rehabilitation play intervention tool.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Knowledge use among occupational therapists for infant feeding assessments.

BACKGROUND: Canadian occupational therapists practice in a variety of clinical settings and use different assessment approaches. To understand best practice, this study explored therapists' knowledge use for infant feeding assessments. This was chosen as one specific area of practice to study knowledge use. PURPOSE: The purpose of this qualtitative study was to investigate what therapists assess and what procedures they use to carry out their assessments. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 therapists with experience evaluating infant feeding. A constant comparative method of data analysis was used to identify common themes. RESULTS: Three themes emerged: the value of medical information, the importance of doing by observing and the need for an adaptive trial and error approach. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: These findings suggest therapists' experiential knowledge shape their best practice. This study informs us about the everyday knowledge used by therapists working with infants on feeding issues and helps us to understand why assessment practices may vary amongst therapists and across clinical settings.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Perceived benefits of word prediction intervention on written productivity in children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.

Word prediction has been commonly used as a tool to enhance written productivity. However, the effectiveness of word prediction as a strategy to meet this targeted outcome has not been established. Using a single-subject alternating treatments design, this study evaluated the effect of word prediction on written productivity from the users' perspectives. Three girls and one boy aged 10-12 with spina bifida and hydrocephalus participated in the study over a period of 20 days. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was used to measure changes in perception of written productivity. Analysis of individual participant data showed that participants perceived word prediction to have the potential to influence written productivity on some writing tasks. Quantitative analysis using a randomization test did not reveal any significant changes in COPM scores after using word prediction. The varied abilities of the participants in the study and the small sample size may be the reasons why statistical analysis did not show any changes. The limitations of this study included use of a copy task, lack of a supporting measure to COPM and limited generalizability. Further studies with a larger sample are necessary to explore the skills required for successful use of word prediction and the impact of word prediction on specific tasks.

Child↗

PubMed2002

Virtual reality and the person-environment experience.

This paper discusses how a projected virtual reality system that uses video gesture recognition technology can influence the person-environment process. The psychosocial concepts of embodiment, environmental centralization, and environmental personalization are illustrated with examples of virtual reality applications with children with disabilities. Through these, the advantages of using virtual reality to influence the person-environment relationship are discussed. Disadvantages of implementing this virtual reality approach are also presented as well as recommendations for future work in this area.

Attitude↗

PubMed2002

Impact of wheeled seated mobility devices on adult users' and their caregivers' occupational performance: a critical literature review.

The prescription of wheeled seated mobility devices for clients with mobility impairment is a growing area in occupational therapy practice. The goal is to enhance client participation in occupation through technical intervention. This critical review examines the body of knowledge concerning the impact and effectiveness of the provision of wheeled seated mobility on the occupational performance of wheelchair users and their caregivers. The scope and gaps in the literature are defined to identify areas for future research. While the focus is on the methodological issues of the research reports, the relevance of findings to occupational therapy practice will also be reviewed. The results of the 46 studies in this review indicate that the majority of research conducted thus far have methodological limitations, which limits the extent to which this body of research can be drawn upon to provide evidence for the effectiveness of wheeled mobility systems. While most of the studies reviewed addressed constructs of relevance to occupational therapy practice, there was an emphasis on performance components and inadequate attention to engagement in occupations. This review is an important first step in building the ability of occupational therapists to demonstrate effectiveness in wheeled seating interventions.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Home is where their wheels are: experiences of women wheelchair users.

This paper examines the experiences of mothers who are wheelchair users in their roles of homemaking and parenting. A qualitative study using in-depth, focused interviews was conducted with a purposeful sample of 11 women with various physical disabilities. Three major themes were uncovered in the data: (a) lived space restricting personal autonomy, (b) advocacy strategies to secure appropriate housing, and (c) my wheelchair, my liberator, my sense of comfort. Findings from this study showed that women did not have the freedom or economic resources to seek out new living arrangements or make modifications to existing environments. Lack of space, stairs, difficult-to-reach spaces, poor transportation, and limited community access were barriers that women experienced. The study also points to the importance of recognizing that the women used many strategies to regain control over aspects of their environment to enable greater autonomy and participation for themselves. Sensitivity to the meaning of home and the relationship between the body and the environmental features that surround it may be a significant contribution of the clinician as he or she seeks to assist women wheelchair users.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Acceptance and meanings of wheelchair use in senior stroke survivors.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain understanding of the lived experience of senior stroke survivors who used prescribed wheelchairs in their homes and communities. The study involved semistructured, in-depth interviews that were conducted with 10 participants, ages 70 to 80 years old, who had used a wheelchair for a mean of 5.6 years. A constant comparative inductive method of analysis was performed. Three different categories of acceptance of wheelchair use were identified; reluctant acceptance, grateful acceptance, and internal acceptance. Increased mobility, varied social response, and loss of some valued roles were common to all three wheelchair acceptance categories. Aspects of level of burden, freedom, and spontaneity varied in degree among the three acceptance categories. As the wheelchair provided opportunity for increased continuity in the lives of these stroke survivors, it appeared to be accepted more fully and viewed more positively. Prestroke lifestyle and values need to be carefully considered in order to maximize acceptance of wheelchair use among senior stroke survivors.

Adaptation, Psychological↗