A telehealth system incorporating a serious game intervention to aid occupational therapists identify and treat children with midline crossing difficulties (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Jacobs ◽  
Reolyn Heymann ◽  
Japie Greeff
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Treatment Plan ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Quantitative Aspect ◽  
Programming Approach ◽  
Midline Crossing ◽  
Assessment And Treatment ◽  
At Home

BACKGROUND In order to overcome midline crossing difficulties, children require treatment from an occupational therapist. Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns, many children could not access occupational therapists, or had to decrease sessions. This puts additional pressure on parents or caretakers to assist children with interventions at home, or children do not get the needed treatment at all. This is challenging because caretakers are not qualified to handle this, and occupational therapists do not get adequate feedback on the child’s progress if home treatments do take place. OBJECTIVE Given that many children cannot visit occupational therapists as often, or at all, during various stages of the COVID-19 lockdowns, the first objective of this paper is to adapt a simple serious game into a telehealth solution. Children will play the game at home under the supervision of a caretaker or guardian and results are stored online. An online dashboard is generated where occupational therapists can monitor a child’s progress, get valuable additional feedback about the child’s behaviour during treatment and can easily change the variables of the game to target specific difficulties a child might experience. The second objective is to evaluate whether the implemented telehealth solution is feasible as a treatment option for midline crossing difficulties and thus fit for purpose. METHODS To meet the first objective, engineering and game development stakeholders formed a team with an occupational therapist and through a collaborative design process combined with an agile programming approach a telehealth solution was designed to assist remote monitoring of the serious game play. For the second objective, six different occupational therapists were introduced to the game, had the opportunity to play the game and then gave feedback during structured interviews. RESULTS A telehealth system was designed that makes use of different levels in the serious game, where each level addresses a different need of the therapy process. All results are saved online and occupational therapists can access a dashboard that will display the results of each child. Additionally, observed behavioural information will also be saved to assist the occupational therapist in making decisions regarding changes to the intervention. During the interviews, occupational therapists indicated that the dashboard will support their treatment plan and is indeed a feasible solution. CONCLUSIONS The telehealth solution, incorporating a serious game, is a feasible method to treat crossing the midline problems remotely. The therapists commented on the convenience of integrating both assessment and treatment into the same application as it assists the therapists when grading a child. The therapists collectively agreed that the quantitative aspect that the serious game creates by providing measurable and standardized data proves advantageous when compared to traditional methods of assessment and treatment.

scholarly journals 266 Patient and Carers Experience of an Acute Care at Home Team: A Service Evaluation

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii17-iii65
Author(s):  
Deborah Toal ◽  
DrPatricia McCaffrey
Keyword(s):  
Acute Care ◽  
Hospital Care ◽  
Treatment Plan ◽  
Service Evaluation ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Home Team ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Assessment And Treatment ◽  
Care At Home ◽  
At Home

Abstract Background The Aim of the Acute Care at Home Team is to provide acute care to over 65's in the patient's own home, providing assessment and treatment of acute conditions such as pneumonia, urinary sepsis and heart failure. It is a multidisciplinary team that works together to streamline services to enable a patient to stay safely in their own home. A full comprehensive geriatric assessment is carried out in all patients to help improve patient outcomes. The patients have full access to in patient services such as scans, and x-rays. All blood tests are treated as urgent to ensure the patient is in no way disadvantaged by being treated by acute care at home compared with hospital care. The aims and objectives are to explore patient and family experiences and identify any areas for improvement. Methods A service users and carers experience Questionnaire (N=31) was used to gain insight into how satisfied the patient or family were with the service and what the experience was like having the team come into their home. Results Patient satisfaction with this Acute Care at Home Team was reported at 100%. Patients were happy with the care they received, 100% of patients were happy with staff's knowledge of their condition and treatment plan. All of the respondents stated they would both recommend the service and use it again. The qualitative responses were in keeping with 100% satisfaction in that they were positive in nature. Conclusion This service evaluation has shown that patient and carer experience of this Acute Care at Home Team is a positive one, with 100% satisfaction levels. There are some small areas to be improved upon, however the results show this service is providing the over 65 population with a good experience of being treated at home as an alternative to hospital care when acutely unwell.

Beginning to Look at Why Occupational Therapists Leave the Profession: A Survey Carried Out in Leicestershire

1989 ◽  
Vol 52 (10) ◽  
pp. 389-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare A Greensmith ◽  
Maxine A Blumfield
Keyword(s):  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Postal Questionnaire ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Perceived Reasons

This article describes a postal questionnaire survey carried out within Leicestershire to look at reasons for occupational therapists leaving the profession. It samples the attitudes and opinions of a group of practising occupational therapists, and also includes a smaller sample of non-practising occupational therapists and their perceived reasons for leaving the profession. A profile is given of the occupational therapist who is most likely to leave, which challenges the idea that most occupational therapists leave due to personal reasons. The article discusses ways that staff with children can be encouraged to remain at work and suggests further exploration of other reasons for leaving the profession.

scholarly journals The central role of the occupational therapist in facilitating housing adaptations/home modifications for disabled children

2017 ◽  
Vol 80 (6) ◽  
pp. 375-383
Author(s):  
Gail Boniface ◽  
Deborah Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Negative Experience ◽  
Home Modifications ◽  
Information And Communication

Introduction Six reviews/inquiries into housing adaptations/home modifications processes occurred in Wales between 2004 and 2015. One resulted in the removal of the means test for children's Disabled Facilities Grants. This research investigated families' and professionals' experiences of the adaptations/home modification process to gain an understanding of their views and experiences. Method Mixed methods of an online questionnaire for professionals, and semi-structured interviews or an online questionnaire for families (depending on their preference), were employed. Forty-eight families participated and an additional 16 families responded to an online questionnaire. Analysis of qualitative data identified emergent themes, which are discussed in this article. Findings The themes were: poor information and communication mainly aimed at older adults; negative experience of the process; and the positive impact of the completed adaptation. Additionally, whilst undergoing the process, families felt that they needed a contact to guide them through the process. This contact was often by default the community occupational therapist. Conclusion A single contact person should be made available for families; occupational therapists should consider their part in that role; more specific information on children's needs should be provided; families need to recognize the part they can play in adding to delays in the delivery of adaptations.

scholarly journals Using a Virtual Serious Game (Deusto-e-motion1.0) to Assess the Theory of Mind in Primary School Children: Observational Descriptive Study (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Lázaro ◽  
Imanol Amayra ◽  
Juan Francisco López-Paz ◽  
Oscar Martínez ◽  
Manuel Pérez Alvarez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Interactive Media ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Expression Recognition ◽  
Emotional Recognition ◽  
Assessment And Treatment ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Observational Descriptive Study

BACKGROUND Given the interactive media characteristics and intrinsically motivating appeal, virtual serious games are often praised for their potential for assessment and treatment. OBJECTIVE This study aims to validate and develop normative data for a virtual serious game (Deusto-e-motion1.0) for the evaluation of emotional facial expression recognition and social skills, both of which are components of the theory of mind. METHODS A total of 1236 children took part in the study. The children were classified by age (8-12 years old), gender (males=639, females=597), and educational level (between the third and sixth years of Primary Education). A total of 10 schools from the Basque Country and 20 trained evaluators participated in this study. RESULTS Differences were found in Deusto-e-motion1.0 scores between groups of children depending on age and gender. Moreover, there was a moderately significant correlation between the emotional recognition scores of Deusto-e-motion1.0 and those of the Feel facial recognition test. CONCLUSIONS Deusto-e-motion1.0 shows concurrent validity with instruments that assess emotional recognition. Results support the adequacy of Deusto-e-motion1.0 in assessing components of the theory of mind in children.

scholarly journals Neurodevelopmental Trajectories and Clinical Profiles in a Sample of Children and Adolescents With Early- and Very-Early-Onset Schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Pontillo ◽  
Roberto Averna ◽  
Maria Cristina Tata ◽  
Fabrizia Chieppa ◽  
Maria Laura Pucciarini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽  
Early Onset ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Treatment Plan ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Early Onset Schizophrenia ◽  
Assessment And Treatment

Schizophrenia before the age of 18 years is usually divided into two categories. Early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) presents between the ages of 13 and 17 years, whereas very-early-onset schizophrenia (VEOS) presents at or before the age of 12 years. Previous studies have found that neurodevelopmental difficulties in social, motor, and linguistic domains are commonly observed in VEOS/EOS patients. Recent research has also shown a high prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., intellectual disability, communication disorders, autism spectrum disorder, neurodevelopmental motor disorders) in VEOS/EOS patients, indicating genetic overlap between these conditions. These findings lend support to the neurodevelopmental continuum model, which holds that childhood neurodevelopmental disorders and difficulties and psychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia) fall on an etiological and neurodevelopmental continuum, and should not be considered discrete entities. Based on this literature, in this study we focused on the overlap between neurodevelopmental disorders and schizophrenia investigating, in a large sample (N = 230) of VEOS/EOS children and adolescents, the clinical differences, at the onset of psychosis, between VEOS/EOS with neurodevelopmental disorder or neurodevelopmental difficulties and VEOS/EOS with no diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder or neurodevelopmental difficulties. The findings showed that, in children and adolescents with a neurodevelopmental disorder or neurodevelopmental difficulties, psychosis onset occurred at an earlier age, was associated with more severe functional impairment (e.g., global, social, role), and was characterized by positive symptoms (e.g., grandiose ideas, perceptual abnormalities, disorganized communication) and disorganized symptoms (e.g., odd behavior or appearance, bizarre thinking). Instead, in children and adolescents without a neurodevelopmental disorder or neurodevelopmental difficulties, psychosis onset was mainly characterized by negative symptomatology (e.g., social anhedonia, avolition, expression of emotion, experience of emotions and self, ideational richness). Given these differences, the presence of a neurodevelopmental disorder or neurodevelopmental difficulties should be carefully investigated and integrated early into the assessment and treatment plan for VEOS/EOS patients.

scholarly journals Atuação do terapeuta ocupacional no NASF: reflexões sobre a prática/Occupational therapist at the NASF: reflections on practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 569-583
Author(s):  
Míriam De França Chagas ◽  
Magda Fernanda Lopes de Oliveira Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Family Health ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Health Networks ◽  
Unified Health System ◽  
The Family

Em 2008, foi criado, pelo Ministério da Saúde, o Núcleo de Apoio à Saúde da Família (NASF), com o intuito de apoiar as equipes da Estratégia de Saúde da Família (ESF) nas redes de saúde e ampliar a ação da Atenção Básica da Saúde. O NASF é composto por uma equipe multidisciplinar e o terapeuta ocupacional é um dos integrantes desta equipe. O objetivo deste trabalho é o de conhecer a atuação dos terapeutas ocupacionais nos NASFs do município de Maceió, Alagoas, e suas reflexões sobre o trabalho desempenhado. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, sendo a coleta de dados realizada por meio de entrevista semiestruturada. Como resultados, foram elencadas três categorias temáticas: A atuação do terapeuta ocupacional no NASF: ações e atividades efetuadas; Os principais obstáculos encontrados pelo terapeuta ocupacional no NASF e As ferramentas tecnológicas utilizadas para a realização do trabalho no NASF. A Terapia Ocupacional ainda é uma profissão que busca seu reconhecimento no NASF. Visitas domiciliares, salas de espera e atividades em grupo foram identificadas como ações desempenhadas pelos profissionais, apesar das dificuldades como falta de recursos materiais e de uma estrutura física melhor. Este estudo serviu para enfatizar a importância do trabalho do terapeuta ocupacional no serviço, bem como as dificuldades encontradas por eles, citando assim a falta de reconhecimento/conhecimento da profissão, recursos e espaço. Apesar das dificuldades mencionadas, os mesmos sempre buscam realizar um atendimento humanizado, preocupando-se com os usuários, minimizando os riscos e promovendo a saúde. AbstractIn 2008, the Family Health Support Center (NASF) was created by the Ministry of Health to support the Family Health Strategy (ESF) teams in health networks and expand the action of Primary Care of health. The NASF is composed of a multidisciplinary team and the occupational therapist is one of the members of this team. The objective of this work is to know the performance of occupational therapists in the NASFs of the city of Maceió-AL, and their reflections on the work performed. This is qualitative research, and the data collection is done through a semi-structured interview with occupational therapists of the NASFs in the municipality of Maceió-AL. As a result, three thematic categories were listed: The work of the occupational therapist in the NASF: actions and activities carried out; the main obstacles encountered by the occupational therapist in NASF; at technological tools used to perform work in the NASF. Occupational Therapy is still a profession that seeks recognition in the NASF. Home visits, waiting rooms and group activities were identified as actions performed by professionals, despite difficulties such as lack of material resources and a better physical structure. This study contributed to emphasize the practice of the work of the occupational therapist in the service, as well as the difficulties encountered to know: citing the lack of recognition/knowledge of the profession, resources and space. Despite the mentioned difficulties, they seek to perform a humanized care, reaffirming principles and guidelines of the Unified Health System - SUS, to minimize risks and promote health care. Keywords: Occupational Therapy, Primary Health Care, Family Health. Resumen En 2008, fue creado por el Ministerio de Salud, el Núcleo de Apoyo a la Salud de la Familia (NASF), con el propósito de apoyar a los equipos de la Estrategia de Salud de la Familia (ESF) en las redes de salud y ampliar la acción de la Atención Básica de la Salud. El NASF está compuesto por un equipo multidisciplinario y el terapeuta ocupacional es uno de los integrantes de este equipo. El objetivo de este trabajo es el de conocer la actuación de los terapeutas ocupacionales en los NASF del municipio de Maceió-AL, y sus reflexiones sobre el trabajo desempeñado. Se trata de una investigación cualitativa, siendo la recolección de datos realizada por medio de una entrevista semiestructurada con terapeutas ocupacionales de NASF en el municipio de Maceió-AL. Como resultados, se enumeraron tres categorías temáticas: La actuación del terapeuta ocupacional en el NASF: acciones y actividades efectuadas; los principales obstáculos encontrados por el terapeuta ocupacional en el NASF; las herramientas tecnológicas utilizadas para la realización del trabajo en el NASF. La Terapia Ocupacional sigue siendo una profesión que busca su reconocimiento en el NASF. Las visitas domiciliarias, salas de espera y actividades en grupo fueron identificadas como acciones realizadas por los profesionales, a pesar de las dificultades como falta de recursos materiales y de una estructura física mejor. Este estudio contribuido para enfatizar la práctica del terapeuta ocupacional en el servicio, así como las dificultades a saber:la falta de reconocimiento / conocimiento de la profesión, recursos y espacio. A pesar de las dificultades mencionadas, buscan realizar una atención humanizada, reafirmando los principios y lineamientos del Sistema Único de Salud - SUS, para minimizar los riesgos y promover la atención médica.Palabras clave: Terapia Ocupacional, Atención Primaria de Salud, Salud Familiar. 

“Mostly Me”: A Treatment Approach for Emotionally Disturbad Children

1987 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liana Fraenkel ◽  
Beverlea Tallant
Keyword(s):  
Emotionally Disturbed ◽  
Treatment Approach ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Disturbed Child ◽  
School Age ◽  
Projective Techniques

Projective techniques are used extensively by occupational therapists for both evaluation and treatment. This modality is especially valuable in treating children with limited abilities in verbal communication. Emotionally disturbed children often experience difficulties in verbally expressing their thoughts and feelings. “Mostly me” is a collection of stencils designed to foster the development of a positive self-concept in healthy school age children. In the authors' opinion, these stencils can be used as a stimulus with the emotionally disturbed child to elicit the expression of disturbing feelings and conflicts. Projective media, such as “Mostly me”, constitutes a valuable tool for the occupational therapist in the treatment of the emotionally disturbed child.

A Mobile Application for Wound Assessment and Treatment

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 344-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Joon Jun ◽  
Donghyeok Shin ◽  
Whan Jun Choi ◽  
Ji Hyeon Hwang ◽  
Hoon Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Application ◽  
Wound Care ◽  
Treatment Plan ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Treatment Protocols ◽  
Mobile Phone Application ◽  
Wound Assessment ◽  
Reasonable Solution ◽  
Assessment And Treatment ◽  
The Status

The D+Wound Solution is a mobile phone application (app) that assists users in the assessment and treatment of the wound. The app has 6 components for assessment: need for debridement, infection control, revascularization, and exudate control; whether it is chronic; and finally, the top surface of the skin. These components are named D.I.R.E.C.T. The app makes you review these components as an algorithm to provide a reasonable solution for dressing. It is designed to understand the status of the wound and provide a practical treatment idea for wound care providers. A total of 118 nurses were divided into 2 groups, designated as experienced and less-experienced groups, and surveyed. Both groups found the app to be helpful in making a treatment plan. However, the less-experienced group found it to be significantly more useful in assessing the wound ( P = .026) but difficult to understand the logic. The experienced group found the logic to be significantly easier to understand ( P = .018) and had significantly higher similarities ( P = .015) in treatment protocols compared with the less-experienced group. We may conclude that this app has a logical algorithm resembling experienced wound caregivers and is more useful in the less-experienced group.

Defining and Assessing Quality of Life

1995 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 146-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine A Mayers
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Individual Quality ◽  
Individual Quality Of Life ◽  
Satisfactory Quality

This article is a literature review, undertaken to have a fuller understanding of what is meant by the term ‘quality of life’ and how it is measured or assessed. The literature review shows that the term Is not clearly defined. It is suggested that occupational therapists each have their own definition and may use the term too narrowly: a satisfactory quality of life means something different to all of us, whether we be occupational therapist or client. This suggests that discussion with a client about his/her Individual quality of life and what this means to him/her is probably more realistic than trying to measure aspects of it.

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