Occupational Therapy International

Background. Self-awareness is seldom formally assessed by occupational therapists among individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, impaired self-awareness is prevalent and has a significant impact on rehabilitation outcomes. There is a need to understand clinician perspectives on self-awareness assessments and promote evidence-based practice in clinical settings. Aims. (1) Explore how an education session impacts knowledge and use of self-awareness assessments in occupational therapists working with people with TBI; (2) Understand the barriers that occupational therapists experience when assessing self-awareness in clinical practice. Materials and Methods. A single-group pre-post session design with an integrated knowledge translation approach was used. Occupational therapists working in neurorehabilitation were recruited from two rehabilitation centres through convenience sampling. Participants completed questionnaires before, after, and three months following an education session about the Self-Awareness of Deficits (SADI) assessment. Results. 14 occupational therapists participated in this study. A statistically significant increase in knowledge and confidence in using the SADI was observed both post-session and at 3-month follow-up. Conclusion. Targeted and ongoing education promotes confidence and knowledge retention among occupational therapists. Further research should explore strategies to promote behaviour change. Significance. The barriers identified in this study can provide insights for knowledge translation across clinical contexts.

The onset of the pandemic highlighted the need for a review of rehabilitation practices to ensure coordinated, effective, and efficient services for people affected by COVID-19. This paper reports on a global survey highlighting the delivery of occupational therapy services to people with COVID-19/post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) and makes recommendations to facilitate quality service delivery for this population. An online cross-sectional descriptive survey was developed and distributed to the global occupational therapy community via member organisations and communication channels of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists to collect information for this study. The survey obtained qualitative and quantitative data from respondents who were occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants regarding (i) demographic characteristics, (ii) work experience with persons with COVID-19 and PCC, (iii) modes of working, (iv) education and training, (iv) occupational therapy intervention provided to persons with COVID-19 and PCC, and (v) the perceived quality of the occupational therapy services provided. Findings indicate that respondents provided a range of occupational therapy interventions for people affected by COVID-19/PCC aligned with evidence-based practice guidelines. While respondents identified a strong role for occupational therapy and generally rated their services as effective, issues related to the accessibility of their services impacted quality and user satisfaction. The study highlighted the need to advocate for access to occupational therapy to facilitate engagement in desired and needed occupations for COVID-19 survivors. Other recommendations emerging from the findings include the need to develop, disseminate, and use research evidence for guiding services for people with COVID-19/PCC, create quality service standards, and ensure the availability of necessary resources and supports such as referral pathways and screening criteria, availability of staff, training, personal protective equipment, and assistive devices and technology.

Introduction. Executive functions (EFs) are strongly linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The pictorial interview of children’s metacognition and executive functions (PIC-ME) assesses children’s self-perceptions regarding their EF. This study is aimed at describing the cultural adaptation of the PIC-ME to the ultra-Orthodox (UO) Jewish population in Israel. Method. In the first of three stages, 30 occupational therapists, who were experienced in working with children with ADHD from the UO population, completed a questionnaire about the suitability of PIC-ME for the UO community. In the second stage, six therapists participated in a focus group to discuss the recommendations and the adaptations made following the first stage. In the third stage, 20 UO children aged 5–10 participated in the tool validation process. Results. First stage: most of the items of the original tool were found to be appropriate in representing the EFs of UO children and did not need to be adapted. No significant differences were found between the boys’ and girls’ versions regarding the tool’s adaptability. However, most of the therapists suggested that the pictures in both versions needed adaptations. Second stage: additional recommendations led to the development of a final adapted version. Third stage: over 70 percent agreement was found among UO children regarding the clarity of the adapted pictures. No significant differences were found between boys and girls or between age groups. Conclusions. This study presented wide agreement on the necessity for cultural adaptation of the PIC-ME to the UO population and described the adaptation process. Based on its face validity, the UO version may be a useful tool to assess the self-perception of EF among UO children. Further studies are needed to assess its psychometric properties and its usefulness as an outcome measure. The study findings may contribute to the cultural adaptation of other tools for culturally distinct populations.

Introduction. The South African government introduced a reengineered primary healthcare approach to promote universal health coverage. The approach was to ensure equitable, efficient, and quality health services for consumers in private and public healthcare sectors. The transition toward a more comprehensive primary healthcare approach to intervention requires occupational therapists who predominantly worked in private and hospital settings to extend their services to clients who previously would have had little access to such services. This study was conducted to identify the key competencies required by occupational therapists to deliver appropriate primary healthcare services to communities from previously disadvantaged periurban and rural areas. Methods. An exploratory, qualitative study design was used. Through the use of policy documents and data from key informants (), established therapists (), and novice occupational therapy graduates (), the study identified and mapped the stakeholders’ perspectives of the competencies required by graduates to practice in periurban and rural settings in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Data was collected using semistructured interviews, a focus group discussion, a document review of the university’s curriculum, and the local and global regulatory documents. A framework based on the seven roles of the university’s competency framework informed the data analysis process. The seven roles are health practitioner, communicator, collaborator, health advocate, leader and management, scholar, and professional. Findings. Participants highlighted the need for graduates to have adequate knowledge and understanding of the impact of the Department of Health policies and social determinants of health on occupation and the client’s health. They also needed to be suitably skilled in culturally sensitive communication, negotiating shared goals with the stakeholders, and managing a department. Graduates needed to be socially accountable and develop services to advocate for their clients. Conclusion. The study offered insights into the essential graduate competencies identified by the stakeholders and recommended measures to prepare rehabilitation graduates for service delivery in primary healthcare contexts.

The purpose of the study is to consider the factors influencing the development of the culture of interpersonal relationships and the effectiveness of the influence of cognitive therapy on improving social adaptation skills. The method of cognitive therapy included several types of activities. The first type of activities included group sessions, during which the weaknesses of the interaction and their correction were identified. The second type was conducted in the format of teaching standard models of interaction between people. The third type of activity aimed to teach children to build a dialogue with each other and express their desires and emotions. Classes were held 3 times a week throughout the year. The study was attended by pupils of 5-7 grades of Zhanuya boarding school and special correctional boarding school No. 7 for children with intellectual disabilities. The results of a randomized study demonstrated an increase in the indicators of teamwork skills, self-control, emotional stability, and independent decision-making. The indicators of cheerfulness, openness, sociability, and logical thinking also improved. But the factor of antisocial behavior decreased. All of these indicators directly affect socialization. This strategy can be applied in practice in various specialized boarding schools and schools for children with intellectual disabilities.

Vocal psychology belongs to the branch of music psychology, which is the cross-study of vocal art and psychology, and is also a new discipline with both theory and application. Vocal singing uses a thinking, conscious person as an instrument that is necessarily governed by the psyche over the physiology, relying on the brain to direct the movement of the singing muscles and the coordination of the vocal organs. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the application of vocal psychology in vocal singing and teaching, to explain the generation and development of various psychological phenomena in singing activities, to reveal the role and significance of various psychological factors, to provide singers with a theoretical basis for psychological aspects, and to correctly understand the scientific laws of the inner psychology of vocal singing. The effectiveness of classroom teaching is reflected in effective and efficient aspects. The effectiveness of a vocal lesson can be measured by the criteria of whether the teaching is oriented, scientific, artistic, and efficient. Effective teaching design is the basis of teaching effectiveness, elaborate teaching organization is the guarantee of teaching effectiveness, and flexible teaching methods are the root of teaching effectiveness; all three need to be closely combined and organically unified. Effective teaching design is a holistic thinking before the implementation of teaching; all factors related to teaching, practice, and evaluation should be fully considered in the teaching design; teachers should take the learning effect of students and the cultivation of employability as the starting point for effective teaching design; and the classroom teaching of “vocal music” is a “process” and teachers should teach in accordance with the teaching design. They should focus on guiding students to experience and cultivate their abilities in a series of “processes” such as the emotion of vocal music, the teaching situation, the effect of listening, the creation of expression, and the aesthetic value. In addition, teachers should combine the teaching methods of transmission and inspiration, classroom teaching, and after-school training and combine relatively fixed teaching methods with flexible teaching methods to maximize the effectiveness of teaching.