Development and psychometric evaluation of a new measure for children's participation in hand-use life situations

Objective To describe the development of the Children's Assessment of Participation with Hands, a parent-report questionnaire that assesses children's participation in life situations requiring hand use specifically, and to investigate its construct validity (using Rasch analysis and known-group comparison) and reliability (test-retest reliability and internal consistency). Design Cross-sectional, validation, and test-retest studies. Setting Schools. Participants Parents/caregivers (N=202) reported on their children aged 2 to 12 years with (n=97) and without disabilities (n=105). Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure The Children's Assessment of Participation with Hands was developed based on a content review of existing children's participation measures and literature, expert review, and pilot testing. The Children's Assessment of Participation with Hands included 37 items measuring participation diversity, frequency, independence, and desire for change in specific hand-use life situations across 4 domains of self-care, recreation, education, and domestic life and community. Results Evidence for construct validity of the Children's Assessment of Participation with Hands domains was established through Rasch analysis (after removing 2 misfitting items from the recreational domain and 1 item from the domestic life and community domain). Differences in summary scores of each domain between children with and without disabilities were also significant (

Integrating technology in the workplace for people with spinal cord injury

Computer technology can overcome mobility and functional limitations resulting from spinal cord injury (SCI) and enable re-employment. This study aimed to identify barriers and supports to effective technology use at work from the unique perspectives of technology users themselves. A qualitative research design was used to explore the perspectives of 11 technology users with SCI. In-depth, open-ended interviews and observations were conducted at each person’s workplace. Five major themes emerged: identifying the best or right technology; acquiring the technology; customizing and learning to use the technology; supporting the technology; and empowerment. Understanding these consumer perspectives enables professionals to empower people with SCI to optimize their work potential

Supervising role emerging placements: a CPD opportunity that supports innovation in practice

Supervision of occupational therapy students on placements is a challenging, but rewarding experience. There is a growing body of literature related to role emerging placements but the experiences of the occupational therapists who undertake the role of off-site supervisors are underrepresented. These placements are based in settings where there is no defined occupational therapy role and the professional supervisor is not based at the placement site. Drawing from research in two European countries with off-site supervisors the enablers and barriers of this role are presented. Supervising students with innovative occupational therapy interventions positively influenced the off-site supervisors’ professional practice. Practical guidance for those interested in this role is shared to encourage occupational therapists to pursue this rewarding role including the need for peer support while undertaking this valuable role

Surface science of soft scorpionates

The chemisorption of the soft scorpionate Li[PhTmMe] onto silver and gold surfaces is reported. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy in combination with the Raman analysis of suitable structural models, namely, [Cu(κ3-S,S,S-PhTmMe)(PCy3)], [Ag(κ3-S,S,S-PhTmMe)(PCy3)], [Ag(κ2-S,S-PhTmMe)(PEt3)], and [Au(κ1-S-PhTmMe)(PCy3)], are employed to identify the manner in which this potentially tridentate ligand binds to these surfaces. On colloidal silver surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) spectra are consistent with PhTmMe binding in a didentate fashion to the surface, holding the aryl group in close proximity to the surface. In contrast, on gold colloid, we observe that the species prefers a monodentate coordination in which the aryl group is not in close proximity to the surface

Comprehensive Cancer-Predisposition Gene Testing in an Adult Multiple Primary Tumor Series Shows a Broad Range of Deleterious Variants and Atypical Tumor Phenotypes.

Multiple primary tumors (MPTs) affect a substantial proportion of cancer survivors and can result from various causes, including inherited predisposition. Currently, germline genetic testing of MPT-affected individuals for variants in cancer-predisposition genes (CPGs) is mostly targeted by tumor type. We ascertained pre-assessed MPT individuals (with at least two primary tumors by age 60 years or at least three by 70 years) from genetics centers and performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on 460 individuals from 440 families. Despite previous negative genetic assessment and molecular investigations, pathogenic variants in moderate- and high-risk CPGs were detected in 67/440 (15.2%) probands. WGS detected variants that would not be (or were not) detected by targeted resequencing strategies, including low-frequency structural variants (6/440 [1.4%] probands). In most individuals with a germline variant assessed as pathogenic or likely pathogenic (P/LP), at least one of their tumor types was characteristic of variants in the relevant CPG. However, in 29 probands (42.2% of those with a P/LP variant), the tumor phenotype appeared discordant. The frequency of individuals with truncating or splice-site CPG variants and at least one discordant tumor type was significantly higher than in a control population (χ2 = 43.642; p ≤ 0.0001). 2/67 (3%) probands with P/LP variants had evidence of multiple inherited neoplasia allele syndrome (MINAS) with deleterious variants in two CPGs. Together with variant detection rates from a previous series of similarly ascertained MPT-affected individuals, the present results suggest that first-line comprehensive CPG analysis in an MPT cohort referred to clinical genetics services would detect a deleterious variant in about a third of individuals.JW is supported by a Cancer Research UK Cambridge Cancer Centre Clinical Research Training Fellowship. Funding for the NIHR BioResource – Rare diseases project was provided by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR, grant number RG65966). ERM acknowledges support from the European Research Council (Advanced Researcher Award), NIHR (Senior Investigator Award and Cambridge NIHR Biomedical Research Centre), Cancer Research UK Cambridge Cancer Centre and Medical Research Council Infrastructure Award. The University of Cambridge has received salary support in respect of EM from the NHS in the East of England through the Clinical Academic Reserve. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS or Department of Health. DGE is an NIHR Senior Investigator and is supported by the all Manchester NIHR Biomedical Research Centre

Occupational therapy students' contribution to occasions of service during practice placements in health settings

Currently in the Australian higher education sector, the productivity benefits of occupational therapy clinical education placements are a contested issue. This article will report results of a study that developed a methodology for documenting time use during placements and investigated the productivity changes associated with occupational therapy clinical education placements in Queensland, Australia. Supervisors’ and students’ time use during placements and how this changed for supervisors compared to pre- and post-placement is also presented. Methods: Using a cohort survey design, participants were students from two Queensland universities, and their supervisors employed by Queensland Health. Time use was recorded in 30 minute blocks according to particular categories. Results: There was a significant increase in supervisors’ time spent in patient care activities (F = 94.0112,12.37 df, P < 0.001) between pre- and during placement (P < 0.001) and decrease between during and post-placement (P < 0.001). Supervisors’ time spent in all non-patient care activities was also significant (F = 4.5802,16 df, P = 0.027) increasing between pre- and during placement (P = 0.028). There was a significant decrease in supervisors’ time spent in placement activities (F = 5.1332,19.18 df, P = 0.016) from during to post-placement. Students spent more time than supervisors in patient care activities while on placement. Discussion: A novel method for reporting productivity and time-use changes during clinical education programs for occupational therapy has been applied. Supervisors spent considerable time in assessing and managing students and their clinical education role should be seen as core business in standard occupational therapy practice. This paper will contribute to future assessments of the economic