Occupational Performance Goals of Mothers of Adolescents with and Mothers of Adolescents without Disabilities

Background/Purpose: Mothering is a life-long role that requires significant time and energy (Donovan, VanLeit, Crowe, & Keefe, 2005). The amount and nature of time spent caring for adolescents with and without disabilities may vary (Crowe & Michael, 2010). This qualitative study describes the differences between the occupational performance goals of mothers of adolescents with disabilities and mothers of adolescents without disabilities. Methods: A sample of 20 mothers of adolescents with disabilities and 20 mothers of adolescents without disabilities was recruited. Adolescents had to be between 13 and 19 years of age and identified by the mother as having a disability or no disability. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (Law et al., 2005) was used to gather narrative information from the mothers in a semi-structured interview format. The data was then qualitatively analyzed and compared. Results: Using grounded theory and thematic coding, the data was organized into six themes describing the mothers occupational performance goals. Five of the six themes were shared between both groups, with minor differences in the nature of the identified occupations. However, only mothers of adolescents with disabilities identified goals concerning supporting their adolescents. Conclusions: The findings highlight the difference in the nature of occupational performance goals between mothers of adolescents with disabilities and mothers of adolescents without disabilities. While similarities exist between the two groups, it is important to understand the different demands of mothering adolescents with disabilities to better support them in their daily occupations.\u2

Maternal Perceptions of Mealtimes: Comparison of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Typical Development

Background: This study examined mealtime techniques reported by mothers of preschool children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and mothers of children with typical development (TD). The mothers’ perceived levels of success and sources of information for mealtime techniques were also reported. Method: The participants were 24 mothers of children with ASD (ASD group) and 24 mothers of children with typical development (TD group) between 3 and 6 years of age. The Background Information Survey and the Mealtime Techniques Interview were administered. Results: The ASD group used significantly more techniques in categories of food appearances, restrictive diets, and vitamin/supplement therapy. The TD group used significantly more techniques in the categories of etiquette and negative consequences. Both groups rated techniques similarly with no significant difference between the perceived rate of success for each category. Finally, 91% of mealtime techniques for both groups were parent generated with few from professionals. Conclusion: The results showed that many of the mothers in both groups used similar mealtime techniques and most implemented techniques that were self-generated with generally moderate perception of success. Occupational therapists should collaboratively work with families to increase mealtime success by recommending interventions that are individualized and family centered

Time and Space Use of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

Purpose: This study analyzed the time and space use of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) in order to better understand the occupational patterns of this population. Methods: Time and space use data were collected through observation of 15 adults with ID during 4-hour periods on typical weekdays and weekend days. Data were coded into 12 time and 10 space use descriptive categories. Results: The participants used a greater variety of locations during weekdays that contributed to greater amounts of weekday time spent in a wider variety of activity categories. In contrast, the participants spent a majority of the observed weekend day time in the group home with less activity variety. Although the participants in this study lived in group homes and participated in day habilitation programs or supported employment, a majority of their midday time use occurred in passive activity categories in a minimum variety of locations. These results may be due to the types of activities offered by structured day habilitation programs and group homes. Conclusion: Occupational therapists may be key players to enhance the environments of people with ID by providing direct service and staff training to facilitate more diversity of active use of time and space for adults with ID

How Service Dogs Enhance Veterans’ Occupational Performance in the Home: A Qualitative Perspective

Background: This qualitative study explored the lives of veterans diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or traumatic brain injury (TBI) and how the partnerships with their service dogs supported improved occupational performance in their homes. Method: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with six veterans with PTSD and/or TBI who graduated and received their service dogs from the Paws and Stripes Program in Albuquerque, NM. Home activities of daily living (self-care, household tasks, leisure activities, and family and friend relationships) guided the interview questions. The individual interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded using qualitative data analysis software. Preliminary themes were independently developed by two graduate research assistants. Final themes and subthemes were generated by team consensus. Results: The overarching theme was veteran and service dog partnerships improved occupational performance in the home. Four primary themes arose that supported the overarching theme: (a) providing physical safety and peace of mind; (b) supporting healthy behaviors; (c) my service dog, my hero; and (d) influencing family and friend relationships. Discussion: Findings from this study support that veteran and service dog partnerships improved the veterans’ occupational performance in their homes. The service dogs assisted the veterans on physical and emotional levels and improved their healthy behaviors

Effects of Partnerships between Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities and Service Dogs

Background: With increasing frequency, service dogs are being placed with children with developmental disabilities (DDs). Occupational therapists and other professionals have advocated for the therapeutic use of service dog partnerships to facilitate greater independence and quality of life. There are no studies that examine service dog intervention with adolescents. Method: This study focused on the effects of partnerships between service dogs and three participant dyads, each including an adolescent with DDs and a parent. A single-subject, alternating treatment design was used to compare the effects of two conditions (service dog present or not present). The effects were examined for adolescents’ anxiety behaviors during transitions and during grocery store shopping, for social interactions during grocery store shopping, and for parents’ reported levels of stress. Results: Findings were that service dog partnerships reduced the presence of anxiety behaviors during transitions for one of the three adolescents; reduced the presence of anxiety behaviors during grocery store visits for two of the three adolescents; increased social interactions for all three of the participant dyads; and had no meaningful impact on self-reported parental stress level. Conclusion: For adolescents with DDs, professionals may want to consider service dog partnerships to decrease anxiety behaviors and increase social interactions in the community

How Service Dogs Enhance Veterans ’ Occupational Performance in the Home: A Qualitative Perspective

Background: This qualitative study explored the lives of veterans diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or traumatic brain injury (TBI) and how the partnerships with their service dogs supported improved occupational performance in their homes. Method: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with six veterans with PTSD and/or TBI who graduated and received their service dogs from the Paws and Stripes Program in Albuquerque, NM. Home activities of daily living (self-care, household tasks, leisure activities, and family and friend relationships) guided the interview questions. The individual interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded using qualitative data analysis software. Preliminary themes were independently developed by two graduate research assistants. Final themes and subthemes were generated by team consensus. Results: The overarching theme was veteran and service dog partnerships improved occupational performance in the home. Four primary themes arose that supported the overarching theme: (a) providing physical safety and peace of mind; (b) supporting healthy behaviors; (c) my service dog, my hero; and (d) influencing family and friend relationships. Discussion: Findings from this study support that veteran and service dog partnerships improved the veterans’ occupational performance in their homes. The service dogs assisted the veterans on physical and emotional levels and improved their healthy behaviors

Asteroseismology of the Beta Cephei star 12 (DD) Lacertae: photometric observations, pulsational frequency analysis and mode identification

We report a multisite photometric campaign for the Beta Cephei star 12 Lacertae. 750 hours of high-quality differential photoelectric Stromgren, Johnson and Geneva time-series photometry were obtained with 9 telescopes during 190 nights. Our frequency analysis results in the detection of 23 sinusoidal signals in the light curves. Eleven of those correspond to independent pulsation modes, and the remainder are combination frequencies. We find some slow aperiodic variability such as that seemingly present in several Beta Cephei stars. We perform mode identification from our colour photometry, derive the spherical degree l for the five strongest modes unambiguously and provide constraints on l for the weaker modes. We find a mixture of modes of 0 <= l <= 4. In particular, we prove that the previously suspected rotationally split triplet within the modes of 12 Lac consists of modes of different l; their equal frequency splitting must thus be accidental. One of the periodic signals we detected in the light curves is argued to be a linearly stable mode excited to visible amplitude by nonlinear mode coupling via a 2:1 resonance. We also find a low-frequency signal in the light variations whose physical nature is unclear; it could be a parent or daughter mode resonantly coupled. The remaining combination frequencies are consistent with simple light-curve distortions. The range of excited pulsation frequencies of 12 Lac may be sufficiently large that it cannot be reproduced by standard models. We suspect that the star has a larger metal abundance in the pulsational driving zone, a hypothesis also capable of explaining the presence of Beta Cephei stars in the LMC.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, MNRAS, in pres

The pulsating hot subdwarf Balloon 090100001: results of the 2005 multisite campaign

We present the results of a multisite photometric campaign on the pulsating sdB star Balloon 090100001. The star is one of the two known hybrid hot subdwarfs with both long- and short-period oscillations. The campaign involved eight telescopes with three obtaining UBVR data, four B-band data, and one Stromgren uvby photometry. The campaign covered 48 nights, providing a temporal resolution of 0.36microHz with a detection threshold of about 0.2mmag in B-filter data. Balloon 090100001 has the richest pulsation spectrum of any known pulsating subdwarf B star and our analysis detected 114 frequencies including 97 independent and 17 combination ones. The strongest mode (f_1) in the 2.8mHz region is most likely radial while the remaining ones in this region form two nearly symmetric multiplets: a triplet and quintuplet, attributed to rotationally split \ell=1 and 2 modes, respectively. We find clear increases of splitting in both multiplets between the 2004 and 2005 observing campaigns, amounting to 15% on average. The observed splittings imply that the rotational rate in Bal09 depends on stellar latitude and is the fastest on the equator. We use a small grid of models to constrain the main mode (f_1), which most likely represents the radial fundamental pulsation. The groups of p-mode frequencies appear to lie in the vicinity of consecutive radial overtones, up to the third one. Despite the large number of g-mode frequencies observed, we failed to identify them, most likely because of the disruption of asymptotic behaviour by mode trapping. The observed frequencies were not, however, fully exploited in terms of seismic analysis which should be done in the future with a larger grid of reliable evolutionary models of hot subdwarfs.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA

Pain acceptance and personal control in pain relief in two maternity care models: a cross-national comparison of Belgium and the Netherlands

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A cross-national comparison of Belgian and Dutch childbearing women allows us to gain insight into the relative importance of pain acceptance and personal control in pain relief in 2 maternity care models. Although Belgium and the Netherlands are neighbouring countries sharing the same language, political system and geography, they are characterised by a different organisation of health care, particularly in maternity care. In Belgium the medical risks of childbirth are emphasised but neutralised by a strong belief in the merits of the medical model. Labour pain is perceived as a needless inconvenience easily resolved by means of pain medication. In the Netherlands the midwifery model of care defines childbirth as a normal physiological process and family event. Labour pain is perceived as an ally in the birth process.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Women were invited to participate in the study by independent midwives and obstetricians during antenatal visits in 2004-2005. Two questionnaires were filled out by 611 women, one at 30 weeks of pregnancy and one within the first 2 weeks after childbirth either at home or in a hospital. However, only women having a hospital birth without obstetric intervention (N = 327) were included in this analysis. A logistic regression analysis has been performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Labour pain acceptance and personal control in pain relief render pain medication use during labour less likely, especially if they occur together. Apart from this general result, we also find large country differences. Dutch women with a normal hospital birth are six times less likely to use pain medication during labour, compared to their Belgian counterparts. This country difference cannot be explained by labour pain acceptance, since - in contrast to our working hypothesis - Dutch and Belgian women giving birth in a hospital setting are characterised by a similar labour pain acceptance. Our findings suggest that personal control in pain relief can partially explain the country differences in coping with labour pain. For Dutch women we find that the use of pain medication is lowest if women experience control over the reception of pain medication and have a positive attitude towards labour pain. In Belgium however, not personal control over the use of pain relief predicts the use of pain medication, but negative attitudes towards labour.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Apart from individual level determinants, such as length of labour or pain acceptance, our findings suggest that the maternity care context is of major importance in the study of the management of labour pain. The pain medication use in Belgian hospital maternity care is high and is very sensitive to negative attitudes towards labour pain. In the Netherlands, on the contrary, pain medication use is already low. This can partially be explained by a low degree of personal control in pain relief, especially when co-occurring with positive pain attitudes.</p

CCNE1 and survival of patients with tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma: An Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium study

BACKGROUND: Cyclin E1 (CCNE1) is a potential predictive marker and therapeutic target in tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). Smaller studies have revealed unfavorable associations for CCNE1 amplification and CCNE1 overexpression with survival, but to date no large-scale, histotype-specific validation has been performed. The hypothesis was that high-level amplification of CCNE1 and CCNE1 overexpression, as well as a combination of the two, are linked to shorter overall survival in HGSC. METHODS: Within the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium, amplification status and protein level in 3029 HGSC cases and mRNA expression in 2419 samples were investigated. RESULTS: High-level amplification (>8 copies by chromogenic in situ hybridization) was found in 8.6% of HGSC and overexpression (>60% with at least 5% demonstrating strong intensity by immunohistochemistry) was found in 22.4%. CCNE1 high-level amplification and overexpression both were linked to shorter overall survival in multivariate survival analysis adjusted for age and stage, with hazard stratification by study (hazard ratio [HR], 1.26; 95% CI, 1.08-1.47, p = .034, and HR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.05-1.32, p = .015, respectively). This was also true for cases with combined high-level amplification/overexpression (HR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.09-1.47, p = .033). CCNE1 mRNA expression was not associated with overall survival (HR, 1.00 per 1-SD increase; 95% CI, 0.94-1.06; p = .58). CCNE1 high-level amplification is mutually exclusive with the presence of germline BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants and shows an inverse association to RB1 loss. CONCLUSION: This study provides large-scale validation that CCNE1 high-level amplification is associated with shorter survival, supporting its utility as a prognostic biomarker in HGSC