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Background/aim Engagement in desired occupations can promote health and wellbeing in older adults. Assessments of engagement often measure frequency, amount or importance of specific activities. This study aimed to develop a scale to measure older adults' evaluation of the extent to which their everyday activities are contributing to their health and wellness. Methods Eighteen items, each scored with a seven-point rating scale, were initially developed by content experts, covering perceptions of how daily activities contribute to physical and mental health, as well as satisfaction and activity participation in the last six months. Rasch analysis methods were used to refine the scale using the pencil and paper responses of 460 community-living older adults. Results Initial Rasch analysis indicated three unlabelled rating scale categories were seldom used, reducing measurement precision. Five items were conceptually different by misfit statistics and principal component analysis. Subsequently, those items were removed and the number of rating scale steps reduced to 4. The remaining 13-item, 4-step scale, termed the Activity Significance Personal Evaluation ( ASPEn), formed a unidimensional hierarchy with good fit statistics and targeting. Person separation reliability (2.7) and internal consistency (.91) indicated the tool is appropriate for individual person measurement. Relative validity indicated equivalence between Rasch measures and total raw scores. Conclusions ASPEn is a brief, easily administered assessment of older adults' perception of the contribution of everyday activities to personal health and wellness. ASPEn may facilitate occupational therapy practice by enabling clinicians to assess change in meaning of an older adult's activity over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Persons with dementia experience time‐related problems, but there is a lack of instruments evaluating their time processing ability and daily time management. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instruments KaTid®‐Senior measuring time processing ability, and Time‐S© Senior and Time‐Proxy© measuring daily time management for persons with dementia. Methods: Persons with dementia (n = 53) and their significant others (n = 49) participated in the study. Rasch analyses were used to evaluate the instruments' rating scale functioning; internal scale validity; person‐response validity; unidimensionality; person‐separation reliability; and internal consistency. Versions excluding items with poor fit to the Rasch model were also evaluated. Results: Overall, the Rasch analyses showed acceptable psychometric properties. All instruments met the criteria for unidimensionality and the reliability was good. More challenging items should be added in KaTid‐Senior for better targeting of persons with mild dementia. Person‐response validity issues in Time‐S Senior need to be addressed. Conclusion: The instruments can validly and reliably be used to assess time processing ability and daily time management in persons with dementia in clinical research and healthcare settings. In turn, this can contribute to the development of methods to compensate for impaired time processing ability and daily time management. The assessments can also increase the possibility of early detection of impaired time processing ability and daily time management, thereby facilitating adequate timing of interventions and enhanced occupational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Practice education is a fundamental component of health professional students' education and many personal, social and professional factors impact on students' performance. This study investigated the relationship between measures of resilience and practice education performance in occupational therapy students. Methods: A quantitative cross‐sectional study was used to collect the data. In all, 149 occupational therapy students completed a self‐report questionnaire comprised of demographic questions and two standardised scales: Resilience at University (RAU) and Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA). Students' practice education performance was measured by the Student Practice Evaluation Form–Revised (SPEF–R). Multi‐linear regression analyses with bootstrapping were completed to identify resilience factors that were predictive of occupational therapy students' practice performance. Results: Overall, occupational therapy students reported high levels of resilience based on the RAU and RSA subscale scores. "Managing Stress," "Find Your Calling" and "Living Authentically" were strong predictors of a range of key fieldwork performance SPEF–R factors, including "Professional Behaviours," "Self‐management Skills," "Co‐worker Communication" and "Communication Skills." Conclusion: The resilience factors identified as being significant predictors of practice education performance outcomes in occupational therapy students represent notable findings. They suggest that students' capabilities in managing their stress levels, finding meaning in their chosen profession, and engaging self‐care daily activities outside of the work environment that are meaningful, authentic and fit with one's personal values and beliefs can act as buffers against the challenges experienced by students who are completing practice education placements. The findings will assist academic and practice educators in identifying and targeting vulnerable students and strengthening resilience strategies through proactive pre‐practice placement initiatives. Qualitative studies are recommended to further explore the relationship between resilience and practice education performance in occupational therapy students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Engaging in employment enhances mental health recovery and is therefore of central focus for many occupational therapists working in mental health. Individual placement and support (IPS) is an evidence‐based, supported employment model specifically designed for individuals with severe mental illness who have the desire to work. Despite strong support for IPS in Australia, implementation challenges have been encountered. This study evaluates outcomes achieved by participants engaged with WorkWell, an IPS programme delivered by a large Australian non‐government organisation. In addition to following IPS principles, WorkWell was informed by principles of the collaborative recovery model (CRM). Method: De‐identified outcomes data for each participant were analysed by an independent research team. The proportion of individuals engaged with the programme who achieved a competitive employment placement was calculated. Average employment duration and weekly wages were calculated for individuals who achieved a competitive employment placement. Finally, the proportion of individuals who achieved some form of vocationally relevant outcome was calculated. Results: Ninety‐seven participants were engaged with the programme. Forty‐eight participants (49.5%) gained a competitive employment position. Average employment duration was 151 days (21.6 weeks) and average weekly wage was $478. Overall, 62 participants (63.9%) were supported to achieve some kind of vocationally relevant outcome (e.g. competitive employment, education, work trial or voluntary work) as a result of their engagement with the programme. Conclusion: While the addition of CRM principles appears to have supported positive outcomes for participants, especially in terms of employment duration, results for employment placement rates were lower than expected. While the employment placement rate compares favourably to results from the international literature and numerous programmes in Australia, more development is required to increase the proportion of individuals who are supported into competitive employment positions. Future research should focus on the specific elements of CRM that most contribute to enhancing IPS processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim The use of simulators as an assessment and intervention tool for driving is an emerging field in occupational therapy. We investigated the potential usefulness of a driving simulator to improve on-road skills and cognitive functions in drivers with Parkinson's disease ( PD). Method Fifteen participants with PD, and Hoehn and Yahr stages between 2 and 3 participated in this pre-post comparison study. Twelve of the 15 individuals (median age (Q1-Q3), 68 (63.5-72.5); 10 men) completed 10 hours of training in a high-fidelity driving simulator. A practical road test as well as off-road cognitive and simulator tests were administered at pre-training and post-training. Results Nine participants, who passed the road test before training, passed at post-training. Furthermore, all three participants who initially failed the on-road test passed after training. Participants' performance improved significantly from pre- to post-training on two cognitive tests: (i) the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and (ii) Dot Cancellation test. Conclusion This pilot study demonstrates the potential usefulness of a simulator to improve on-road driving and driving-related cognitive skills in PD. Adequately powered randomized controlled trials are needed to further expand this field of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim There is a well-documented need for interventions to successfully address the social difficulties of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This study aimed to further the development of a previously conducted pilot of a play-based intervention. To achieve this, children's social play outcomes pre-post and 18-month following the intervention were examined by raters unaware of the study's purpose. Additionally, parents' experiences of the intervention were explored. Methods Participants included five children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who had participated in a play-based intervention and their typically developing playmates; parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder also participated. Children and their playmates attended an 18-month follow-up play session and parents participated in semi-structured interviews. The Test of Playfulness was used to measure children's play outcomes in the context of social play with a peer, pre-post and 18-months following the intervention. Wilcoxon signed-ranks ( Z) and Cohen's- d were used to measure effect. Thematic analysis was used to analyse reoccurring themes from parents' interviews. Results Children's social play outcomes improved pre-post intervention ( Z = 2.02; P = 0.04; d = 1.6) and were maintained 18-month post intervention ( Z = 0.14; P = 0.89; d = −0.4). Core themes included: the intervention as an enjoyable experience, a common language for talking about play/social interactions, an observable change in children's skills, transference of skills and the need for support to refresh learnt lessons over time. Conclusions The intervention demonstrated preliminary and long-term efficacy in developing the social play skills of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Further research is required to optimise intervention feasibility and parent involvement prior to conducting a large-scale research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]