OBJECTIVE The objective of this trial, the Leiden 85-Plus Occupational Therapy Intervention Study (LOTIS), was to assess whether unsolicited occupational therapy, as compared to no therapy, can decelerate the increase in disability in high-risk elderly people. DESIGN This was a randomised controlled trial with 2-y follow-up. SETTING The study took place in the municipality of Leiden in the ...

This article presents a model to guide activity-focused motor interventions as a component of early intervention services for physical and occupational therapists working with infants and young children with neurological conditions and other developmental disabilities. Activity-focused interventions involve structured practice and repetition of functional actions, and are directed toward the le...

Occupational therapists are involved in delivering their services within a very complex health care environment and it is essential to understand the implications of the health care system in planning and implementing occupational therapy services. This month's column gives the occupational therapist a perspective on the health system and should be a guide for all clinicians and educators in lo...

Background: It is the responsibility of each occupational therapist to always act ethically and professionally in a clinical setting. However, there is little information available concerning the factors influencing ethical behavior of occupational therapists at work. Since no study has been conducted in Iran on this topic, this qualitative study aimed to identify the factors influencing ethica...

The Guide to Occupational Therapy Practice by Moyers (AJOT, 53[3], 247–322) is an attempt to define the general scope of occupational therapy for practitioners, health care professionals, teachers, reimbursement organizations, and policymakers. The document, however, raises a major concern about what truly is our profession’s scope of practice. There is an overriding emphasis placed on occupati...

Aim: This paper documents the subjective experience of a Western trained occupational therapist as she establishes a service in a community that is developing its health-care services. The community is located in the Dominican Republic. Method and Results: Ethnographic interviewing was used to document the tasks and events that occurred during this 6 month project. Challenges arose related to t...

Developing clarity of thought and written expression. We mest develop skills in putting information on paper that allow someone who is not an occupational therapist to understand why we are treating a patient. This is important because our services will continue to be reviewed by the system. It also helps us in the long run because it enables us to review our clinical decision making on whether...

BACKGROUND Clinical reasoning is generally defined as the numerous modes of thinking that guide clinical practice but little is known about the factors affecting how occupational therapists manage the decision-making process. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the factors influencing the clinical reasoning of occupational therapists. METHODS Twelve occupational therapy practitio...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to validate an assessment tool used by occupational therapists to evaluate on-road driving performance. METHODS The driving assessment was conducted over a 15-km route that consisted of a range of traffic situations and contained both directed and self-directed navigational instruction. The driving performance of four groups of drivers of different ages...

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether home visits by a occupational therapist reduces the risk of falling and improves the autonomy of older patients hospitalized for falling. DESIGN In this randomized, controlled trial set in a geriatric hospital, 60 patients (mean age, 83.5 yr) who were hospitalized for falling were recruited from the acute medicine department. A home visit from an occupational ...