Ayres sensory integration ® implementation in Malaysian occupational therapists : challenges and limitations

One of the most popular interventions provided by occupational therapists for pediatric clients is Ayres Sensory Integration® (ASI). Strict fidelity measures consisting of procedural and structural elements must be adhered to when using it. These fidelity measures distinguish Ayres Sensory Integration® from other sensory-based interventions. This study involved the development of a survey instrument and outlined the challenges that Malaysian occupational therapists face when using Ayres sensory integration® (ASI). The questionnaire development involved the processes of assessing its validity and reliability. A total of 161 occupational therapists working in various healthcare settings responded to the survey by answering a self-administered questionnaire. The results identified eight themes or issues: (1) Inadequate Training, (2) Resource Issues, (3) Physical Constraints, (4) Time Constraints, (5) Limited Information/ Support Provided By Family, (6) Limited Support From Management, (7) Limited Information/Support Provided By Suppliers, and (8) Issues in Implementing Evidence-Based Practice. Identifying the challenges of implementing ASI is an important aspect of improving occupational therapy assessments and interventions, which would establish the effectiveness of the interventions provided

Factors Influencing Handwriting Development among Preschool Children: A Systematic Review

Handwriting development is essential for academic performance, yet the research on the factors contributing to it is scant. This systematic review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the factors contributing to handwriting development among preschool children that may benefit public health knowledge, especially among teachers, parents, and therapists. A systematic search was conducted using four databases: PubMed, ERIC, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. During the preliminary search, 565 relevant studies were found. Screening, review selection, and characterization were performed based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria included preschool children, quantitative, written in English, and published in January 2012 – January 2022. The exclusion criteria were studies involving children with specific diagnoses. A consensus agreement was obtained, and ten studies were eventually selected for the comprehensive review. Executive function, letter knowledge, motor skills, and writing surface were identified. These factors indicated that handwriting was not an independent process, as its acquisition involved numerous components. This systematic review confirmed that executive function, letter knowledge, motor skills, and writing surface influenced handwriting development. More randomized controlled trials should be conducted to provide more conclusive and exhaustive evidence

Development and validation of personal care module as a guideline to assist older adults with more significant disabilities

Introduction: Older adults residing in community, as well as those who are residing in institutional or care home may experience various cognitive, health and physical impairments that may affect their independent. Continuous supports are needed to manage most of their personal care activities usually managed by their family members, often without proper training or guidance. To date, there is no personal care module that can be used as a guideline by family members and paid caretakers. Therefore, this study aims to develop and validate a personal care module as a guideline in assisting older adults with more significant disabilities. Methods: This study was a three-phase study, involving 1) development of the personal care module, 2) focus group discussion with healthcare experts and 3) face and content validity by the expert reviewers. Results: A total of 13 occupational therapists (77% of the experts were female) involved as experts in evaluating the module, 46% of them having Bachelor Degree in Occupational Therapy and having between 5 to 25 years of working experience. The finding showed that the developed module had high content validity ranging from 0.88 to 1.00 on six domains of personal hygiene, bathing, dressing, feeding, bed mobility and stairs climbing, indicated that the module is suitable for used as a guideline in assisting older adults with more significant disabilities. Conclusion: This study provides a preliminary support for the developed personal care module as a valid instrument to be used as a guideline in managing personal care activities of older adults with more significant disabilities

Reframing services for Malaysian students in schools: time to bring occupational therapy into the classroom

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability that has gained increasing attention in Malaysia. Much effort is now being taken to include children with autism spectrum disorder in the school system, either in inclusive settings or in special educational settings. However, this endeavor raises many challenges for the children with autism spectrum disorder, their families and for service providers. The current study uses a qualitative approach to investigate parents’ perceptions of problems faced by their children with autism spectrum disorder in issues related to academic skills. A face-to-face interview was performed with parents of children with autism spectrum disorders who were receiving occupational therapy services for their difficulties in academic related skills. Findings indicate that most of the difficulties faced by these children are related to skills needed to be accepted at school, such as ability to communicate and socialize and this often limit their performance at school. These findings not only raise and discuss important implications for service providers such as teachers, health care professionals and policy makers, but also lead to suggestions for future research

Video modelling to improve hand dexterity in students with learning disabilities : special education teachers' perspectives

Proficient hand dexterity (HD) may help students with learning disabilities (LDs) perform various hand tasks efficiently. Video modelling (VM) is a strategy that uses a model to improve desired skills. However, the limited study focuses on VM to improve HD among students with LDs. Therefore, this study explores VM implementation in the learning and teaching process to improve the HD of students with LDs. Five Special Education (SE) teachers who taught the Hand Manipulative Component lessons in two different states were purposefully selected and invited to participate in this study. A one-to-one interview was conducted with individual SE teachers. The interview sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and the data was analysed through thematic analysis. Rigorous approaches were performed to ensure the findings' trustworthiness, such as triangulation, member checking, and an audit trail. Four key themes emerged: conventional learning and teaching methods, challenges faced by students with LDs in improving HD, and the advantages of implementing VM in learning and teaching to improve HD and develop a video module. This study suggests SE teachers can implement VM in their learning and teaching processes to improve the HD performance of students with LDs. This current study concludes that VM can be a supportive strategy in the teaching process to improve HD performance among students with LDs

The effectiveness of occupational therapy handwriting intervention for children with motor coordination issues : a systematic review

Handwriting difficulty is one of the main issues among school children, especially for those with motor coordination issues. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions in handwriting components for children with motor coordination issues. Current research articles were systematically searched according to the PRISMA guidelines. Two hundred and sixty-eight (n=268) research articles were identified; however, only ten (n=10) were eligible to be evaluated for this study. Studies were appraised by using McMaster Critical Review Form-Quantitative Studies. Descriptive synthesis was executed due to the heterogeneity of included studies. The review found various types of intervention conducted by occupational therapists to have a positive effect on handwriting performance components among children with motor coordination issues. Types of intervention used were visual, motor, perceptual, sensory, activity of daily living skills, training device and assistive technology and specific handwriting programs. Most handwriting intervention showed effectiveness to improve handwriting performance in motor function, visual and perceptual components. Future research should focus on homogeneity of Occupational Therapy (OT) intervention to improve handwriting performance by using specific handwriting programmes and similar standardised evaluation instruments. Practitioners of OT intervention should consider collaboration with teachers, parents and other health professionals to expedite effectiveness of intervention in handwriting performance components

Adaptation, validation and reliability testing of sensory processing measure home form Malay version for children with autism

Inappropriate responses towards sensory input received from the environment, also known as sensory processing difficulties (SPD) may affect daily living activities of the children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Sensory Processing Measure Home Form (SPM Home Form) as a parent report measure for SPD is available in English and other foreign languages. To enhance the applicability and meaningfulness of SPM Home Form for the Malay speaking population, a study that focuses on translating, adapting, and validating the SPM Home Form into the Malay language was conducted. The development of the Malay version of the SPM Home Form (SPM-MV Home Form) involved three steps: 1) Item evaluation, 2) Forward and backward translation, and 3) Expert review and content validity. The process of translation and adaptation of the form was performed according to standard guidelines. No item was excluded from the original SPM Home Form as all the items were considered by the expert panel as appropriate and relevance to evaluate the activity and social participation among children in Malaysia. Content validity as measured by 10 experts in occupational therapy is high. The mean of sub-scales I-CVI is between 0.96 and 1.00. The total S-CVI of the form is 0.95 with sub-scales S-CVI range between 0.82 and 1.00. Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency was reported at 0.80 and ICC for test-retest reliability ranged from 0.80 to 0.97. The SPM-MV Home Form has high potential to be used for assessing SPD among children ages 5-12 years in Malaysia

Translation, validity and reliability of a Malay version of the toddler sensory profile 2

Sensory processing is an essential development in toddlers. A common sensory measurement tool used by Malaysian occupational therapists is Toddler Sensory Profile 2 (TSP 2). However, the Malay version has yet to be translated and validated for TSP 2 among toddlers in Malaysia. The translation and validation are a necessary process due to cross-cultural differences between English-speaking and Malay-speaking communities. The main aim of this study is to translate and identify the validity and reliability of the Toddler Sensory Profile 2- Malay version (TSP 2-M). This study involved four phases: (I) Forward and backward translations; (II) Content validation by an expert panel; (Ill) Pre-testing through cognitive interviews; (IV) Internal consistency of psychometric measure through a pilot study. The results showed that the Content Validity Index (1-CVI) for TSP 2-M ranged from .88-1.0, while S-CVI/Ave was .99 and S-CVI/UA was equal to .89. The reliability of TSP 2-M was good with the Cronbach a coefficient .92. The Cronbach a coefficients for each section and quad­rant of the TSP 2-M ranged between .66 and.87. Based on the results, this study provided preliminary support for the validity and reliability of the TSP 2-M in Malaysia

Cultural adaptation and validation of the performance assessment of self-care skills among older people in community

The Performance Assessment of Self-care Skills (PASS-Home) is a client-centered, performance-based, criterion-reference, observational form designed to capture client’s performance skills in completing daily task activities. The aim of the study was to describe the process of translating, adapting and validating the PASS-Home from English language version into a Malay language version. The development of the translated Malay version of the PASS-Home consisted of two stages. Stage one involved the exclusion of the items that were not culturally relevant to the Malaysian culture. Stage two involved the translation process. The five steps of the cross-cultural adaptation process were followed: (1) initial forward version; (2) a summary of recommendations by the expert panels; (3) the back-translation; (4) modifications of the translated Malay version of PASS and a summary of problems found during the pre-testing, and (5) the final version of the PASS Malay Version (M-PASS). A total of five items from the PASS-Home were omitted in the Malay version (M-PASS) and another five items that were considered as suitable in Malaysian context were added in the M-PASS. The Content Validation Index (CVI) showed perfect agreement with an average of I-CVI was reported at 0.99 and S-CVI/universal agreement (S-CVI/UA) was at 0.93. Test-retest reliabilty showed that the M-PASS were highly reliable reported of its three main constructs of Independence (ICC=0.706), Safety (ICC=0.906) and Adequacy (ICC=0.950). M-PASS showed strong evidence as a valid and reliable assessment in evaluating the functional level of older people who live independently in community

Cultural adaptation and validation of the performance assessment of self-care skills among older people in community

The Performance Assessment of Self-care Skills (PASS-Home) is a client-centered, performance-based, criterion-reference, observational form designed to capture client’s performance skills in completing daily task activities. The aim of the study was to describe the process of translating, adapting and validating the PASS-Home from English language version into a Malay language version. The development of the translated Malay version of the PASS-Home consisted of two stages. Stage one involved the exclusion of the items that were not culturally relevant to the Malaysian culture. Stage two involved the translation process. The five steps of the cross-cultural adaptation process were followed: (1) initial forward version; (2) a summary of recommendations by the expert panels; (3) the back-translation; (4) modifications of the translated Malay version of PASS and a summary of problems found during the pre-testing, and (5) the final version of the PASS Malay Version (M-PASS). A total of five items from the PASS-Home were omitted in the Malay version (M-PASS) and another five items that were considered as suitable in Malaysian context were added in the M-PASS. The Content Validation Index (CVI) showed perfect agreement with an average of I-CVI was reported at 0.99 and S-CVI/universal agreement (S-CVI/UA) was at 0.93. Test-retest reliabilty showed that the M-PASS were highly reliable reported of its three main constructs of Independence (ICC=0.706), Safety (ICC=0.906) and Adequacy (ICC=0.950). M-PASS showed strong evidence as a valid and reliable assessment in evaluating the functional level of older people who live independently in community