Making Sense of the Subprime Crisis

macroeconomics, subprime crisis, foreclosures, market, risk factors

Habituation in Occupational Therapy for People with Alcohol Use Disorder

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is an ongoing chronic health problem affecting millions of people worldwide. Habituation is a construct used by the occupational therapy (OT) practice model, the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO). Habituation relates to a persons’ roles, habits, and routines, and how these interact to shape occupational participation and performance. Since the habitual use of alcohol is a key component of AUD, an understanding of how habituation is addressed in OT intervention is essential. The OT literature has not been systematically reviewed to determine how habituation is addressed in OT practice in clients with AUD, leaving it difficult for practitioners to address clients’ habituation in OT intervention. The purpose of this project was to conduct a scoping review of the literature to identify how habituation was addressed in OT intervention with clients with AUD. This study aimed to answer: How is habituation addressed in the literature addressing occupational therapy intervention with clients with alcohol use disorder? Established scoping review methodology guided this review. Of 156 identified articles, 14 studies met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Data was grouped into themes and is displayed in frequency tables in relation to the major MOHO constructs. Findings indicate that the MOHO construct of habituation was discussed in the literature more than the other MOHO constructs but was addressed the least in OT interventions. This disconnect suggests that OT intervention should have a more focused approach to habituation in intervention planning.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstones-spring2022/1023/thumbnail.jp

An Online Educational Resource on Adaptive Sports for People with Spinal Cord Injuries

A spinal cord injury (SCI) has a serious impact on an individual’s participation in everyday life activities, leading to a high risk of a sedentary life-style. There is a paucity of research pertaining to adaptive sport participation post-injury and the role of occupational therapy (OT). Additionally, there are limited resources available that inform people with SCI on the benefits of adapted sports or where to go to engage in them. As such, this paper describes the development of a doctoral capstone project to address this need. The purpose of this capstone project was to create an educational web page that will overcome the barriers to sport participation for people in wheelchairs, by providing benefits and links to sport organizations to promote participation.The methods that were used to conduct this capstone project were survey’s, checklists, interviews, observation and a literature review to create an online educational resource. Over a 16-week capstone experience, a 10-section website was developed informed by the literature and input from key stakeholders. OT practitioners and the SCI population will benefit from the results of this capstone project.The availability of the created online resources will serve as a resource to clinicians to promote engagement in adaptive sports among their clients with SCIs. Additionally, the website will inform people with SCIs of the availability of adaptive sports for people with SCIs.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesfall2021/1023/thumbnail.jp

The Role of OT with Individuals Living with Eating Disorders: A Scoping Review

Background: Eating disorders (ED) are mental and physical illnesses that affect an individual globally, disrupting their ability to function and participate in daily life. Objectives: The objective of this capstone project was to conduct a scoping review of the literature to define the role of OT in the treatment of clients with ED. Methods: A database search was performed using the following electronic databases: CINAHL Complete, Medline, APA PsycInfo, and OpenDissertations, using the search terms “occupational therapist or occupational therapy” and “eating disorders or anorexia nervosa or bulimia or disordered eating”. Articles were screened and reviewed for the following inclusion criteria: (a) addresses OT intervention; (b) intervention must be for clients with ED; (c) must be published in the English language; (d) must have been published between the years (2000-2021); (e) must be available in full text; (f) must be from a refereed journal. Data was extracted and charted using tables to identify themes through data analysis according to the OT process. Results: The behaviors of OT practitioners were variable, with sparse evidence-base. Evaluations and assessments were client-centered and collaborative. The most common interventions included occupation-based meal cookery groups, and education and training throughout occupational interventions. Conclusion: This scoping review organized the current OT literature to define a role for OT practitioners with the ED population. Implications for future research include similar meal cookery studies completed with a larger sample size, screening of cognition and attention, consideration of family/caregiver perspectives and goals during evaluation, needs assessment/research tailored to the adolescent population, and research using The Role Checklist outcomes in greater detail.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonessummer2021/1025/thumbnail.jp

The Role of Occupational Therapy in Addressing Community Mobility in Children to Young Adults with Disabilities: A Scoping Review

Objective: This study aims to systematically examine and organize current literature describing the assessments, interventions, and other behaviors of occupational therapists used to treat children to young adults with community mobility needs. Gaps in the knowledge will be highlighted to impact future research. Methods: An electronic database search, searching within found literature, contact with driving and community mobility networks and organization were used to identify the relevant literature. Data was extracted and analyzed independently by the investigator by way of finding themes and codes and producing charted data. Results: The total number of studies included in this work was 28. The average number of participants in each study was 50. The data showed that the most common behaviors of OT practitioners in addressing community mobility needs of young people with disabilities were assessment and then intervention. The most common assessment was a driving simulator, and the most common intervention was on-road training. Discussion: The study was limited to studies published in English, lack of published literature on the population and occupation, and access to literature being limited. This study did not require funding.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonessummer2021/1016/thumbnail.jp

Making sense of the subprime crisis

This paper explores the question of whether market participants could have or should have anticipated the large increase in foreclosures that occurred in 2007 and 2008. Most of these foreclosures stemmed from loans originated in 2005 and 2006, leading many to suspect that lenders originated a large volume of extremely risky loans during this period. However, the authors show that while loans originated in this period did carry extra risk factors, particularly increased leverage, underwriting standards alone cannot explain the dramatic rise in foreclosures. Focusing on the role of house prices, the authors ask whether market participants underestimated the likelihood of a fall in house prices or the sensitivity of foreclosures to house prices. The authors show that, given available data, market participants should have been able to understand that a significant fall in prices would cause a large increase in foreclosures although loan-level (as opposed to ownership-level) models would have predicted a smaller rise than actually occurred. Examining analyst reports and other contemporary discussions of the mortgage market to see what market participants thought would happen, the authors find that analysts, on the whole, understood that a fall in prices would have disastrous consequences for the market but assigned a low probability to such an outcome.Subprime mortgage

A Scoping Review on the Role of Occupational Therapy with Breast Cancer Survivors

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer survivors (BCS) suffer from treatment side effects that adversely impact occupation. Occupational therapy (OT) plays a role in the treatment of BCS, however, the literature has not clearly defined the role of OT with this population. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this capstone project was to conduct a scoping review of the literature to clearly define the role of OT in addressing the occupational needs of BCS. METHODS: The scoping review methodology was based upon the 5-stage framework outlined by Arksey and O’Malley (2005). The EBSCOhost search engine was utilized for access to CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, and OpenDissertation electronic databases. The final inclusion was 34 articles. The search results were recorded via PRISMA diagram. Data was extracted via summary table. RESULTS: The majority of intervention implementation included education and application of compensatory strategies, adapting new lifestyle habits, and physical exercise. Additionally, the majority of the interventions provided educational material and applicable activities to address the physical, cognitive, and emotional dysfunction experienced during breast cancer survivorship. CONCLUSION: The current interventions being implemented by occupational therapy practitioners address a limited range of occupational deficits within breast cancer survivorship. Due to the limitations of interventions and barriers being addressed, BCS faced with specific areas of occupational dysfunction are left untreated.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonessummer2021/1019/thumbnail.jp

Defining a Role for Occupational Therapy in the Transition from the Military to Academia: A Scoping Review

There is a paucity of literature on the role of OT for veterans in transition to school, and the literature that is available has not been systematically reviewed. This makes it difficult for OT practitioners to address the needs of veterans in transition from military service to school. This scoping review was conducted to answer the question, “What is currently being done to address the transition of veterans from military service to academia and are within the scope of practice of occupational therapy?” An in-depth search of the literature was completed, and it was confirmed that there is no literature focused on OT working with student veterans. This scoping review revealed that OT has a role on college campuses that involved advocating for student veterans and their unique needs, educating staff on challenges and solutions to transition, assessing challenges to transition to the student role, and advise on the development of skills, habits and routines that support the student role. By having OT practitioners involved on campus, student veterans can obtain optimal success throughout this transition.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2021/1008/thumbnail.jp

The Role of Occupational Therapy with People Living with Epilepsy: A Scoping Review

Objective: The aim of this scoping review is to systematically examine and organize current literature describing the current roles of occupational therapists with people living with epilepsy, including assessments, interventions, and other behaviors. This will help identify current gaps in the literature to facilitate future research. Methods: Using scoping review methodology, an electronic database search was conducted using the search terms “occupational therapy and epilepsy”. Data was extracted and charted independently by the investigator by way of finding themes and codes through analysis. Results: The total number of studies included was 12. The primary methodology noted were case studies. Per the data, the most common behaviors of OT practitioners when working with individuals living with epilepsy are evaluation and intervention. The assessments and interventions greatly varied due to the vast differences in the way epilepsy presents and affects people, including potential comorbidity involvement. Discussion: The primary limitations of this study include studies only published in English, limited access to literature, and lack of current published literature specifically addressing occupational therapy intervention and epilepsy.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonessummer2021/1011/thumbnail.jp

Effect of ELF e.m. fields on metalloprotein redox-active sites

The peculiarity of the distribution and geometry of metallic ions in enzymes pushed us to set the hypothesis that metallic ions in active-site act like tiny antennas able to pick up very feeble e.m. signals. Enzymatic activity of Cu2+, Zn2+ Superoxide Dismutase (SOD1) and Fe2+ Xanthine Oxidase (XO) has been studied, following in vitro generation and removal of free radicals. We observed that Superoxide radicals generation by XO is increased by a weak field having the Larmor frequency fL of Fe2+ while the SOD1 kinetics is sensibly reduced by exposure to a weak field having the frequency fL of Cu2+ ion.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure