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Biomedical subjects

H Polatajko

Publications and source records attributed to H Polatajko.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Expanding the boundaries of occupational therapy practice through student fieldwork experiences: description of a provincially-funded community development project.

The numbers of occupational therapists in community practice are not yet large enough to provide fieldwork placements to accommodate all students. This article describes a project designed to educate community agencies that do not employ occupational therapists, about our service while at the same time securing new fieldwork placements. We used on-site different discipline and offsite same discipline supervision to provide students to selected agencies without cost. Funding for one year from the Ontario Ministry of Health to the Ontario University Programs in Rehabilitation Science enabled us to initiate and evaluate the project. Students in the project developed their ability to work independently and to see their potential role in health promotion and prevention. Despite the lack of ongoing government funding, four years later, community sites are not only being maintained, but the number of sites has increased from 28 to 39, providing a total of 75 student placements. By educating a growing number of community agencies about the work of occupational therapists, the project has also expanded the boundaries of practice.

Community Health Services↗
PubMed2000

Measuring the self-esteem of adolescents with mental health problems: theory meets practice.

Occupational therapists frequently address the self-esteem of young clients despite little empirical evidence that the clients have low self-esteem to begin with, and that occupational therapy intervention is effective in addressing self-esteem. This article examines the self-esteem of 39 adolescents with mental health problems referred to a pre-vocational programme in an effort to compare clinical practice with empirical findings. The Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents and the Importance Rating Scale for Adolescents are employed to compare the self-esteem of the adolescents with mental health problems with the normative sample, prior to (n = 39) and upon completion of the pre-vocational programme (n = 14). Results indicate no difference between the two groups' self-esteem and no change in self-esteem scores following participation in the pre-vocational programme. Global self-esteem is significantly correlated with physical appearance and behavioural conduct (n = 39). Competence-importance discrepancy scores are significantly related to global self-esteem (n = 14). This finding supports the theory that it is the domain of self-concept which is low and important to the adolescent which will influence his/her self-esteem. These results are consistent with previous studies. Possible explanations for the discrepancy between clinical perceptions and objective findings are discussed. Implications for practice are presented.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Understanding the potential of occupation: a qualitative exploration of seniors' perspectives on activity.

This article presents the results of a qualitative study that explored the characteristics and potential of occupation. Semistructured interviews with 12 seniors who live in the community followed by member-checking groups were used to explore informants' perspectives on the importance and role of occupation in their lives by asking them about their activities. Themes pertinent to the characterization of activity, the contributions of activity, and a condition allowing for the potential of activity emerged from the inductive analysis. These themes provide information about how occupation naturally functions in the lives of seniors and suggest a tentative conceptualization of the characteristics and potential of occupation. The findings have implications for research regarding occupation and for clinical practice aimed at enabling occupation.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1996

A therapist's guide to children's self-esteem.

The term self-esteem is frequently used by occupational therapists and other health care professionals who work with children. There are differing interpretations as to what this term actually means. In this article, we use Susan Harter's model of self-esteem to define the nature of self-esteem and apply it to clinical practice. We outline the developmental characteristics important to consider when addressing the self-esteem of young children, such as the findings that young children's self-esteem is often more related to their perceptions of parental acceptance than perceptions of competence and that children are generally unable to accurately verbalize their level of self-esteem until 8 years of age. Specific implications for occupational therapy evaluation include whether the use of self-report or observer-report measures is preferable and whether self-esteem or self-concept should be measured. We discuss when to address self-esteem and which dimensions of self-esteem should be treated. The dimensions of self-esteem that are identified as low during the evaluation and that the child perceives to be important are addressed. The reevaluation issue of what specifically should be measured after intervention is also discussed. For example, it is recommended that the reevaluation instrument be sensitive to the domains of self-concept targeted for intervention.

Child↗
PubMed1995

Effecting change through programme evaluation.

This paper highlights a children's mental health facility's approach to growing waiting lists and constraints on staffing dollars. The process undertaken to streamline service, develop and market a new model of service delivery, and evaluate its effectiveness is presented. Results of the evaluation of the treatment specialty model were most supportive of its implementation.

Canada↗
PubMed1994

Performance evaluation of occupational therapy students: a reliability study.

The Performance Evaluation of Occupational Therapy Students (PEOTS) is an instrument designed to evaluate the clinical competence of occupational therapy students. The purpose of this study was to carry out a preliminary evaluation of the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the PEOTS. Thirteen occupational therapy students, completed a one week placement at one of four facilities. Two occupational therapists supervised each student and evaluated performance using the PEOTS on day three and day five of this placement. The results indicated that the instrument has good inter-rater reliability. Test-retest reliability was difficult to evaluate since learning was a confounding factor. These preliminary findings support the use of the PEOTS as an evaluation tool. Further research, however, is needed to establish test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the PEOTS.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1994

Pilot testing of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure: clinical and measurement issues.

The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) is a measure of a client's self-perception of occupational performance in the areas of self-care, productivity and leisure. The COPM is administered using a semi-structured interview in which the client identifies significant issues in daily activities which are causing difficulty. Extensive pilot testing of the COPM has been completed with 268 clients in communities across Canada and in New Zealand, Greece and Britain. Results indicate the COPM has a median administration time of 30 minutes, is able to identify a wide range of occupational performance issues and appears to be responsive to changes in measurement issues centering around the interview, test construction, scoring, timing of the assessment, respondents, and the assessment process are discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1994

Enhancing occupational performance through an understanding of perceived self-efficacy.

The construct of perceived self-efficacy, proposed to explain the discrepancy between skill and actual performance, has received widespread attention in the psychological and medical literature. This paper describes the construct in detail, including the difference between self-esteem and perceived self-efficacy, and proposes a goodness of fit with occupational therapy practice. It is postulated that attention to the assessment and monitoring of perceived self-efficacy, along with the use of activities that closely approximate the actual activities to be performed in the community, will result in improved occupational performance and thus, better occupational therapy outcomes. Occupational therapists are challenged to identify and incorporate this construct into their day-to-day clinical programs to enhance treatment outcomes.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

The manpower shortage in occupational therapy: implications for Ontario.

A consistently increasing imbalance between the supply of and demand for occupational therapists has led to a critical manpower shortage in occupational therapy. Based on a review of various government reports and related literature, this paper provides an overview of the extent of this manpower problem, identifies factors affecting retention and attrition of occupational therapists and discusses strategies to improve retention and reduce attrition. To address the supply-demand imbalance, recommendations in relation to education, employment, immigration and service delivery for the occupational therapy profession in Ontario are proposed.

Forecasting↗
PubMed1990

Occupational performance measures: a review based on the guidelines for the client-centred practice of occupational therapy.

In 1987, Health and Welfare Canada and the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists Task Force recommended that work go forward to develop an outcome measure for occupational therapy which reflects the Occupational Performance Model. The first step in this process was to review critically those outcome measures which assess occupational performance and that are currently available in the literature. This paper will present the review process, describe in more detail eight assessments that fulfilled many of the review criteria, discuss the limitations of these measures using the "Guidelines for the Client-centred Practice of Occupational Therapy as the framework, and make recommendations for the development of a new outcome measure for use in occupational therapy.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1990

The Canadian occupational performance measure: an outcome measure for occupational therapy.

The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, in collaboration with Health and Welfare Canada have developed and published a conceptual model for occupational therapy, the Occupational Performance model. This paper describes the development of an outcome measure, The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), which is designed to be used with these guidelines for client-centred clinical practice. The COPM is an outcome measure designed for use by occupational therapists to assess client outcomes in the areas of self-care, productivity and leisure. Using a semi-structured interview, the COPM is a five step process which measures individual, client-identified problem areas in daily function. Two scores, for performance and satisfaction with performance are obtained. This paper describes the rationale and development of the COPM as well as information about its use for therapists.

Canada↗
PubMed1986

Factors affecting occupational therapy job site selection in underserviced areas.

Rural and isolated areas such as those found in northern Ontario are often underserved with respect to occupational therapy. These areas present special problems for those involved in recruitment and planning recruitment programs. While it is generally recognized that practice in these areas can be both stimulating and rewarding, little is known about what factors might influence occupational therapists to choose these areas for job sites. It was the purpose of this study to investigate factors affecting job site selection and retention among occupational therapists in northern Ontario. Seven potential factors were explored: family proximity, place of origin, lifestyle, fieldwork placements, job opportunities and recruitment tours. These became the basis for the development of a questionnaire which was sent to all facilities employing occupational therapists in northern Ontario. The responses of twenty eight therapists (70%) indicated that the factors affecting job site selection were, in descending order: lifestyle, job opportunity, partner's employment and family proximity. The results also indicated that the factors influencing recruitment and retention differ. Based on the findings, recruitment efforts should focus on emphasizing the attractive features of the north and perhaps on people with family in the north. Retention incentives should include money for equipment, space, continuing education, travel, better salaries, links to educational resources and fieldwork placements.

Data Collection↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Developmental dyspraxia by any other name: are they all just clumsy children?

The recent introduction of the diagnostic category developmental coordination disorder (DCD) (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1987, 1994), has generated confusion among researchers and clinicians in many fields, including occupational therapy. Although the diagnostic criteria appear to be similar to those used to define clumsy children, children with developmental dyspraxia, or children with sensory integrative dysfunction, we are left with the question: Are children who receive the diagnosis of DCD the same as those who receive the other diagnoses, a subgroup, or an entirely distinct group of children? This article will examine the theoretical and empirical literature and use the results to support the thesis that these terms are not interchangeable and yet are not being used in the literature in a way that clearly defines each subgroup of children. Clear definitions and characteristic features need to be identified and associated with each term to guide occupational therapy assessment and intervention and clinical research.

Child↗