Occupational Therapy’s Work and Industry Area of Practice: Content in Entry-Level Professional Occupational Therapy Curricula: A Survey

The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process identifies work as an area of occupation that has long been recognized by the profession as an area of practice. This study identified how entry-level professional occupational therapy programs meet educational standards required by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education for educational programs. Standards identified were those that relate to the area of work and industry practice. One hundred and sixty-seven program directors were invited to participate in a survey directed at work and industry occupational therapy practice. Items on the survey related to content taught in their entry-level occupational therapy programs. Sixty-eight programs (47%) participated. The results showed 40 out of 68 respondents (58.82%) indicated not enough time spent on work and industry content in their curriculum. No respondents indicated too much time is spent on this content. The other 41.18% reported there was enough time for this content in their curricula. It is important that work and industry content is adequately covered in the curricula of entry-level occupational therapy professional programs to prepare students for this area of practice. This study provides a foundation for future research related to professional occupational therapy education as it relates to work and industry practice

Critical behavior of the three-dimensional bond-diluted Ising spin glass: Finite-size scaling functions and Universality

We study the three-dimensional (3D) bond-diluted Edwards-Anderson (EA) model with binary interactions at a bond occupation of 45% by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Using an efficient cluster MC algorithm we are able to determine the universal finite-size scaling (FSS) functions and the critical exponents with high statistical accuracy. We observe small corrections to scaling for the measured observables. The critical quantities and the FSS functions indicate clearly that the bond-diluted model for dilutions above the critical dilution p*, at which a spin glass (SG) phase appears, lies in the same universality class as the 3D undiluted EA model with binary interactions. A comparison with the FSS functions of the 3D site-diluted EA model with Gaussian interactions at a site occupation of 62.5% gives very strong evidence for the universality of the SG transition in the 3D EA model.Comment: Revised version. 10 pages, 9 figures, 2 table

Case Study: Caregiver Perception of Pediatric Multidisciplinary Feeding Outpatient Clinic

This study explores the perception of satisfaction of caregivers who attended a feeding clinic at a large pediatric hospital in the midwest. The clinic is designed for a multidisciplinary team to meet with the child and the caregiver. Thirty-five participants were involved in the study. Results indicated that most participants were satisfied with the clinic experience. However, there were areas of care not covered by the members of the feeding team, which indicates a need. It is suggested that this need could be filled by occupational therapists

Musculoskeletal Injuries Associated with Selected University Staff and Faculty in an Office Environment

A research team with backgrounds in occupational therapy, rehabilitation, policy and rulemaking, and prevention programs affecting occupational health and safety designed, validated, and analyzed an ergonomics survey of university staff and faculty. The purpose of the study was to validate identified risk factors from the literature contributing to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) in an office setting within a university setting. The study was also designed to determine differences between faculty and staff in the university setting and their exposure to physical risk factors to WRMDs. The results suggest faculty have their keyboard in awkward positions more frequently than staff, and staff had more experience with mechanical stress than faculty. The researchers recommend parameters for the design of a university ergonomics program based on employee and education, management commitment, medical case management, problem job identification, and development of solutions

Storm hazards '79: F-106B operations summary

Preliminary flight tests with a F-106B aircraft were made on the periphery of isolated thunder cells using weather radar support. In addition to storm hazards correlation research, a direct-strike lightning measurement experiment and an atmospheric chemistry experiment were conducted. Two flights were made to close proximity to lightning generating cumulonimbus clouds; however, no direct lightning strikes were experienced. Although no discernible lightning transients were recorded, many operational techniques were identified and established

Primary Care: A Service-Learning Environment for Occupational Therapy Students

This research provides evidence on occupational therapy (OT) students in primary care (PC). OT demonstrates the skills and knowledge to address chronic medical conditions in PC with entry-level education. Limited evidence of occupational therapists in PC demonstrates a need to examine OT services in this setting. In this emerging area of practice and ever-changing reimbursement models, additional evidence is needed to define the value and continuation of OT services in PC. A mixed-methods study aimed to answer the primary research question: How are OT students used in the PC setting in fieldwork or capstone experiences? A two-phase process was involved. A survey and interview enabled an in-depth exploration of how OT students are used in PC during fieldwork, experiential, and capstone experiences. The benefits identified were: providing holistic care because occupational therapists address social detriments and improvement of patient satisfaction with simple interventions. The top barriers were: limited number of occupational therapists and reimbursement for services. Common methods of student use in PC include: provide interventions, evaluate and screen for OT services, and report patient and provider satisfaction outcomes. Identification of these benefits, barriers, and methods of OT and OTA student use in PC can further advocate for the need of OT in PC while meeting ACOTE standards in education

Asymptotics of the Farey Fraction Spin Chain Free Energy at the Critical Point

We consider the Farey fraction spin chain in an external field $h$. Using ideas from dynamical systems and functional analysis, we show that the free energy $f$ in the vicinity of the second-order phase transition is given, exactly, by $$f \sim \frac t{\log t}-\frac1{2} \frac{h^2}t \quad \text{for} \quad h^2\ll t \ll 1 .$$ Here $t=\lambda_{G}\log(2)(1-\frac{\beta}{\beta_c})$ is a reduced temperature, so that the deviation from the critical point is scaled by the Lyapunov exponent of the Gauss map, $\lambda_G$. It follows that $\lambda_G$ determines the amplitude of both the specific heat and susceptibility singularities. To our knowledge, there is only one other microscopically defined interacting model for which the free energy near a phase transition is known as a function of two variables. Our results confirm what was found previously with a cluster approximation, and show that a clustering mechanism is in fact responsible for the transition. However, the results disagree in part with a renormalisation group treatment

How primary care can contribute to good mental health in adults.

The need for support for good mental health is enormous. General support for good mental health is needed for 100% of the population, and at all stages of life, from early childhood to end of life. Focused support is needed for the 17.6% of adults who have a mental disorder at any time, including those who also have a mental health problem amongst the 30% who report having a long-term condition of some kind. All sectors of society and all parts of the NHS need to play their part. Primary care cannot do this on its own. This paper describes how primary care practitioners can help stimulate such a grand alliance for health, by operating at four different levels - as individual practitioners, as organisations, as geographic clusters of organisations and as policy-makers

Assessing data from summary questions about earnings and income

In short surveys, or in surveys that prioritise other content domains, earnings and income are often elicited using small sets of summary questions. This contrasts with the detailed questions recommended for surveys that focus on earnings and income, that ask source by source. We evaluate earnings and income data collected with summary questions in a series of recent web-surveys: the Understanding Society COVID-19 Study. The fact that many COVID-19 Study respondents also contemporaneously answered the main annual Understanding Society survey provides individual- and household-level validation data. We find that measures of household earnings and income in the COVID-19 Study are noisier than those from the main annual Understanding Society survey, and that there is evidence of systematic under-reporting for household totals. However, for most measures and samples, we find that measurement errors in the COVID-19 Study are substantively uncorrelated with true values. We conclude that the COVID-19 Study collected valuable data on earnings and income, and more broadly, that summary questions on earnings or income can be a useful data collection tool

Research collaboration

AbstractThe complexity and cost of cardiovascular medical care dictate research to deliver high quality and cost-conscious cardiovascular care. This goal is aided by modeling medical decision making. To be useful, the modeling must be based on real data so that the results can serve as a guide to actual practice. It is suggested that a registry of randomized clinical trials and larger data bases in cardiovascular disease and health care delivery be established. The registry would be a resource for those desiring to model decision making. The registry would contain key words allowing retrieval by modelers accessing the registry and would contain contact information for consideration of possible collaborative work. The initiation of such a registry should contain plans for its evaluation to determine whether the registry itself is a cost-effective tool to encourage the needed research