British Journal of Occupational Therapy

Personal Projects Analysis has been used in occupational therapy research to better understand occupation. The purpose of this scoping review is to describe Personal Projects Analysis and examine how it has been used in occupational therapy research.

Occupational therapy studies using Personal Projects Analysis were identified and described in terms of sample, research question, design, use of Personal Projects Analysis, and results.

Fifteen studies in which Personal Projects Analysis was used in occupational therapy research were retrieved. Three of the four Personal Projects Analysis modules have been used in occupational therapy research on project characteristics and subjective well-being, types of projects affected by health problems, and occupational balance. Only one paper described a clinical use of Personal Projects Analysis in occupational therapy.

Personal Projects Analysis is a useful evaluation for occupational therapy research and a potential tool for practice.

Early literature considered occupational therapists' unique core skills in terms of visible activities. Suggestions of what these may be have often confused skills with techniques and personal attributes and thus arguably have had some negative consequences for the profession.

An electronic and hand-searched review of past and present professional and adjunctive literature led to the inductive development of five themes: an historical perspective of core skills; defining occupational therapy; the occupational therapy process; practice skills and defining unique core skills.

Literature has indicated that occupational therapists' unique core skills are those common non-visible skills based around unique reasoning processes that translate occupational therapy theory and knowledge into visible professional practice. Visible skills are context dependent and should not be seen as core.

The unique core skills of occupational therapists are largely hidden. They are the reasoning skills used to apply the understanding of occupation and its impact on health to the meaningful activities and occupations of service users. Visible practice skills are diverse and some may be shared with other professions. While some activities can appear mundane, forming the rationale for their use is the unique core skill of occupational therapists.

Sleep difficulties are prevalent in borderline personality disorder; however, the experience of sleep for individuals with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder has not been considered from an occupational therapy perspective.

This study adopted a qualitative methodology. Semi-structured interviews were utilised to explore how sleep is experienced by four women with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, in an inpatient setting. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim.

Through thematic analysis four themes were identified: ‘there isn’t a proper pattern or structure to my sleeps’, ‘sleep is getting away for me’, ‘before I came in [to the unit] my life–work balance was all chaotic’ and ‘I know the routine, but it doesn’t really seem to affect me’. These findings described the variety of problems experienced by participants with regard to sleep and the implications of sleep difficulties on occupational performance and participation.

Women with borderline personality disorder on an inpatient unit experienced a variety of sleep difficulties that impact on their ability to engage in occupations. Sleep and sleep difficulties should be explicitly addressed by occupational therapists and sleep interventions should be individually tailored; further research is required to examine occupational therapy interventions for sleep.

The use of simulated patients is well established in medicine and nursing. There is little research evaluating the use of simulated patients in occupational therapy education and none which focuses on mental health. This study sought to determine the acceptability and effectiveness of using simulated patients in a mental health occupational therapy course. The pilot also sought to address the challenge of providing simulation experience to a large number of students in a cost and time effective manner.

Occupational therapy students participated in a simulation which involved an initial interview assessment with an actor portraying a person with a mental health diagnosis. The students worked in small groups for the simulation, rotating into the therapist role using a carousel model. Students completed a survey about their experience of the simulation.

The students rated the simulation experience highly in terms of authenticity and learning outcomes. Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses produced five themes: authentic experience, developing skills, feedback and reflection, we should do more of this, and developing the experience further.

The pilot was effective in allowing a large number of students to engage directly with the simulated patient without negatively impacting on the experience.

People with juvenile Huntington's disease often experience difficulty engaging in occupations due to neuropsychiatric sequelae, such as impulse control difficulties, agitation and aggression. Occupational therapy using sensory modulation intervention strategies may be utilised to assuage behavioural symptoms in this population.

Through case reports, this practice analysis explores changes in occupational performance for two young adults diagnosed with juvenile Huntington's disease who received sensory modulation treatment.

These inspiring reports could encourage occupational therapists to consider sensory modulation intervention to decrease psychiatric disturbance, thus optimising performance capacity among this rare population.