British Journal of Occupational Therapy

Home assessments conducted by occupational therapists can identify hazards and prevent falls. However, they may not be conducted because of limited time or long distances between the therapist’s workplace and the person’s home. Developments in technologies may overcome such barriers and could improve the quality of the home assessment process.

This scoping review synthesises the findings of studies evaluating information and communication technology use within occupational therapy home assessments.

Fourteen studies were included and revealed the two main approaches to technology use: the development of new applications and the use of existing and readily available technologies. Facilitators and barriers to use were also identified. Facilitators included usefulness, ease of use and the potential for cost-effectiveness. Barriers to use included poor usability, unsuitability for some populations and perceived threat to the role of occupational therapy. The synthesis revealed that traditional in-home assessments conducted by therapists are more sensitive in identifying hazards.

The availability of new technologies offers potential to improve service delivery; however these technologies are underutilised in clinical practice. Technologies may offer advantages in the conduct of home assessments, especially regarding efficiency, but have not yet been shown to be superior in terms of patient outcome.

Little is known about strategies used by parents to explicitly promote the participation in meaningful occupations of transition-age youth. This descriptive study explored the type and scope of parents' strategies to facilitate the participation of youth living with a physical disability.

Twenty-two parents of youths (12 to 18 years) with mobility restriction reported strategies used at home, school, and in the community by completing the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth at two time points. Content analysis was conducted. Strategies were extracted and coded, and sub-categories were identified and organised into the three domains (person, occupation, environment) of the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance – Engagement.

Overall, 241 strategies were reported, of which 130 were distinct. The strategies encompassed all three domains of the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance – Engagement, with an emphasis on youths' immediate physical environment and no reference to institutional policies at the macro level. The majority of strategies focused on facilitating youths' participation in the school setting through collaboration, advocacy, and involvement.

Findings can increase our understanding of the range of actions parents take in supporting participation of transition-age youth. Occupational therapists can build on those strategies and, through family-centred practice, jointly promote youth participation and inclusion.

Brain cancer diagnoses are rising, and the prognosis is commonly life-limiting. Brain cancer symptoms and the side effects of treatment are imposing and harmful. Little is known about the effect of these symptoms and treatments on occupational participation or about the role that occupational therapy can play for people with brain cancer.

Sixteen participants with brain cancer were purposively recruited from a single site. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Interviews were analysed thematically.

Three overarching themes were identified: (a) ‘there’s a lot of things that I can’t do anymore’: adverse effects of tumour and treatments; (b) ‘you adjust with adversity’: accepting altered occupational participation levels; (c) occupational therapy: ‘why is she here?’

Findings highlight a connection between brain cancer symptoms, treatment side effects and occupational participation. A disconnect was found between occupational therapy services and occupational needs. Further research could explore whether realigning occupational therapy services to address the concerns identified in this study leads to enhanced occupational participation through the journey of brain cancer.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe the occupational profile and quality of life among college students with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Forty college students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 40 controls (mean age 25.81 years, SD = 3.02) were evaluated with the Occupational Questionnaire and the Adult ADHD Quality-of-Life scale.

The two groups demonstrated similar amounts of time spent in occupational domains, as well as similar ratings of ‘perceived importance’. However, the ‘perceived competence’ and ‘perceived enjoyment’ were significantly lower in the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder group than in the control group in most occupational domains and in the total score. Significant differences, with very large effect sizes, were found between the groups on all measures of the Adult ADHD Quality-of-Life scale. A moderate significant correlation was found between the mean perceived competence score and Adult ADHD Quality-of-Life scale total score within the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder group.

The results highlight the negative effect of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder on quality of life among college students. The perception of competence and enjoyment in occupations may be optimal targets for therapeutic intervention.

This article examines the effect of age and gender on somatosensory capacity for children and adolescents, and provides preliminary normative data and reliability for the SenScreen^© Kids, a new standardised measure of touch, wrist position sense and haptic object recognition.

A cross-sectional study of 88 typically developing children aged 6–15 years (mean 10.3 years; SD 2.6 years) was used to determine the developmental effects of age and gender on somatosensory capacity. Intra-rater reliability was assessed in 22 of the 88 participants at two time points (mean 8.8 years; SD 2.6 years).

Statistically significant differences were observed between age groups for tactile discrimination, wrist position sense and haptic object recognition, but not for touch registration for which all except one participant achieved a maximum score. There was no effect of gender. Three of four SenScreen Kids subtests demonstrated good intra-rater agreement between time points.

Somatosensory capacity increased with age for typically developing children aged 6–15 years. Three subtests of the SenScreen Kids demonstrated good intra-rater reliability with typically developing children. Further investigation of reliability is required, and all subtests require psychometric testing with clinical populations.

The contemporary factors of neoliberalism and evidence-based practice have implications for professional autonomy and values, education and training, ways of working and construction of knowledge. Occupational therapy lecturers are at the interface between student education and professional practice and therefore have unique insights into the way in which these factors are shaping their professional identity and that of the profession.

Nine narrative inquiry focused interviews of occupational therapy lecturers from two universities were carried out. Data was interpreted through a Bourdieusian lens of professional habitus, and analysed thematically.

The main factors influencing occupational therapy lecturer identity were noted to be relationships between professional identity and artistry; the professional body of knowledge and language; evidencing practice, neoliberalism and changes to teaching and learning.

The structural factors of neoliberalism, evidence-based practice and associated policies are influencing the occupational therapy professional habitus and, in turn, occupational therapy lecturers’ professional identity. An effective critique of these structural factors is required to maintain the profession’s values and artistry and the knowledge upon which occupational therapy lecturers’ identity is formed and their approaches to teaching and learning are based.