Physiotherapy practices and third party payers: issues in professional ethics in Ontario

[À l'origine dans / Was originally part of : ESPUM - Dép. médecine sociale et préventive - Travaux et publications]During a 4-month period, July 2nd 2014 to November 1st 2014, Canadian physiotherapy (PT) professionals were solicited for participation in an empirical cross-sectional online survey questionnaire. Our research team was interested in exploring the ethical challenges encountered in the interactions between PT professionals and third party payers. Analysis of the survey will be disseminated through scientific publications. The purpose of this report is to give detailed results relevant to your provincial association.Canadian Arthritis Network (CAN), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQ-S), Quebec Research Rehabilitation Network (REPAR

Physiotherapy practices and third party payers: issues in professional ethics in the Prairie provinces

[À l'origine dans / Was originally part of : ESPUM - Dép. médecine sociale et préventive - Travaux et publications]During a 4-month period, July 2nd 2014 to November 1st 2014, Canadian physiotherapy (PT) professionals were solicited for participation in an empirical cross-sectional online survey questionnaire. Our research team was interested in exploring the ethical challenges encountered in the interactions between PT professionals and third party payers. Analysis of the survey will be disseminated through scientific publications. The purpose of this report is to give detailed results relevant to your provincial association.Canadian Arthritis Network (CAN), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQ-S), Quebec Research Rehabilitation Network (REPAR

Physiotherapy practices and third party payers: issues in professional ethics in the Atlantic provinces

[À l'origine dans / Was originally part of : ESPUM - Dép. médecine sociale et préventive - Travaux et publications]During a 4-month period, July 2nd 2014 to November 1st 2014, Canadian physiotherapy (PT) professionals were solicited for participation in an empirical cross-sectional online survey questionnaire. Our research team was interested in exploring the ethical challenges encountered in the interactions between PT professionals and third party payers. Analysis of the survey will be disseminated through scientific publications. The purpose of this report is to give detailed results relevant to your provincial association.Canadian Arthritis Network (CAN), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQ-S), Quebec Research Rehabilitation Network (REPAR

Physiotherapy practices and third party payers: issues in professional ethics in Quebec

[À l'origine dans / Was originally part of : ESPUM - Dép. médecine sociale et préventive - Travaux et publications]During a 4-month period, July 2nd 2014 to November 1st 2014, Canadian physiotherapy (PT) professionals were solicited for participation in an empirical cross-sectional online survey questionnaire. Our research team was interested in exploring the ethical challenges encountered in the interactions between PT professionals and third party payers. Analysis of the survey will be disseminated through scientific publications. The purpose of this report is to give detailed results relevant to your provincial association.Canadian Arthritis Network (CAN), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQ-S), Quebec Research Rehabilitation Network (REPAR

Performance-based Tools for Assessing Functional Performance in Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: It is now recognized that individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) face subtle functional declines that can compromise performance in everyday tasks. However, it is still not clear how to capture these declines in the clinical setting. Thus, the goal of this study was to conduct a scoping review to identify performance-based tools for which the psychometric properties have been evaluated with the MCI population. Methods: A scoping review of the scientific literature was performed with the guidance of a health science librarian in searching the MEDLINE, PsychINFO, CINAHL, and EMBASE databases from their inception until May 2014. Results: Nine performance-based tools assessing functional performance in individuals with MCI have been identified in the literature. While construct and content validity have been extensively reported, only two tools provided data on reliability. Conclusion: Considering that functional decline is part of the normal aging process, it might be challenging to differentiate normal from pathological functional decline in this population. Functional measurement tools might be very sensitive to capture these subtle changes. Although no recommendations can be proposed at this point on a specific tool to assess functional performance in MCI, research in this area is beginning to identify the elements that should be taken into consideration when choosing a tool

What place for ethics? An overview of ethics teaching in occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs in Canada

Purpose: The recent introduction of master’s level curricula for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy training programs in Canada raises both challenges and opportunities to address ethical issues during professional training. This study evaluated the inclusion of ethics content in course descriptions and course calendars in order to develop a preliminary understanding of how rehabilitation ethics is taught in Canadian universities. Method: We reviewed the ethics content in the online curricula of 27 Canadian rehabilitation programs (OT & PT). Courses addressing ethical issues were identified through keyword searches, and were then subjected to both quantitative and textual descriptive analyses. Results: The mean proportion of credits allotted to courses that included ethics terminology was 5.9% (SD=1.4) for OT and 6.5% (SD=4.8) for PT (p=0.69). The most common terms in the course descriptions were ‘ethics/ethical’ followed by ‘legal’, ‘professionalism’, ‘deontology’ and ‘regulatory’. Textual analysis revealed eight course topics, the most frequent being: standards of practice, ethical decision-making, clinical courses and mediation/communication. Conclusion: With the growing recognition and status of occupational therapy and physiotherapy in the healthcare system, and corresponding shifts in how professionals are being trained, it is crucial to assess and reflect upon the place accorded to and manner of teaching ethics

Ethics teaching in rehabilitation: results of a pan-Canadian workshop with occupational and physical therapy educators

Purpose: Ethical practice is an essential competency for occupational and physical therapists. However, rehabilitation educators have few points of reference for choosing appropriate pedagogical and evaluation methods related to ethics. The objectives of this study were to: 1) identify priority content to cover in ethics teaching in occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) programs and 2) explore useful and innovative teaching and evaluation methods. Method: Data for this qualitative descriptive study were collected during a one-day knowledge exchange workshop focused on ethics teaching in rehabilitation. Results: Twenty-three educators from 11 OT and 11 PT Canadian programs participated in the workshop. They highlighted the importance of teaching foundational theoretical/philosophical approaches and grounding this teaching in concrete examples drawn from rehabilitation practice. A wide range of teaching methods was identified, such as videos, blogs, game-based simulations and role-play. For evaluation, participants used written assignments, exams, objective structured clinical examinations and reflective journals. The inclusion of opportunities for student self-evaluation was viewed as important. Conclusion: The CREW day provided ethics educators the opportunity to share knowledge and begin creating an on-line community of practice. This space for dialogue could be expanded to international rehabilitation ethics educators, to facilitate a broader network for sharing of tacit and experiential knowledge.

Exploring the facilitators and barriers to shopping mall use by persons with disabilities and strategies for improvements: Perspectives from persons with disabilities, rehabilitation professionals and shopkeepers

AbstractPersons with disabilities face challenges which impact on their ability to accomplish daily activities such as moving around, communicating and fulfilling social roles. Social participation assumes individuals with disabilities live within their community and interact with others. Shopping malls are public spaces used by individuals for various reasons. Here, all components of the social and physical environment interact and have an impact on social participation. This exploratory and qualitative study provides a multi-perspective assessment of the usability, as well as of the environmental facilitators and obstacles to social participation in shopping malls. The results also suggest necessary improvements. We interviewed 15 persons with disabilities, 15 rehabilitation professionals and 9 shopkeepers. Participants viewed the mall as a multifunctional place for everyday use, but at times, also as a limiting place. Multiple facilitators and obstacles were identified; the most important were interaction with shopkeepers and the mall's design for mobility or wayfinding. All participants agreed shopkeeper training and an improved awareness of the needs of persons with disabilities would be beneficial. Multiple stakeholders’ perceptions provide a basis for further investigation about needed changes and their potential for making malls more welcoming and inclusive to all

Supporting ethics educators in Canadian occupational therapy and physical therapy programs: A national interprofessional knowledge exchange project

Ethics education is the cornerstone of professional practice, fostering knowledge and respect for core ethical values among healthcare professionals. Ethics is also a subject well-suited for interprofessional education and collaboration. However, there are few initiatives to gather experiences and share resources among ethics educators in rehabilitation. We thus undertook a knowledge exchange project to 1) share knowledge about ethics training across Canadian occupational and physical therapy programs, and 2) build a community of educators dedicated to improving ethics education. The objectives of this paper are to describe this interprofessional knowledge exchange project involving ethics educators (with a diversity of professional and disciplinary backgrounds) from Canadian occupational and physical therapy programs as well as analyze its outcomes based on participants’ experiences/perceptions. Two knowledge exchange strategies were employed: an interactive one-day workshop and a wiki platform. An immediate post-workshop questionnaire evaluated the degree to which participants’ expectations were met. Structured telephone interviews nine to ten months after the workshop collected participants’ perceptions on whether (and if so, how) the project influenced their teaching or led to further interprofessional collaborations. Open-ended questions from the post-workshop questionnaires and individual interviews were analyzed using qualitative methods. Of 40 ethics educators contacted, 23 participated in the workshop and 17 in the follow-up interview. Only 6 participants logged into the wiki from its launch to the end of data collection. Five themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: 1) belonging and networking; 2) sharing and collaborating; 3) changing (or not) ways of teaching ethics; 4) sustaining the network; and 5) envisioning the future of ethics education. The project attained many of its goals, despite encountering some challenges. While the wiki platform proved to be of limited benefit in advancing the project goals, the interactive format and collaborative nature of the one-day workshop were described as rewarding and effective in bringing together occupational therapy and physical therapy educators to meet, network, and share knowledge.Anne Hudon is supported by a doctoral fellowship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQ-S) and was supported by a scholarship from the MENTOR program in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Quebec Research Rehabilitation Network (REPAR) at the time of the study. Maude Laliberté held a doctoral fellowship from the FRQ-S. Matthew Hunt is supported by a research scholar award from the FRQ-S. This project was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR-EOG-120255), the Edith Strauss Rehabilitation Research Project Foundation, the Canadian Council of Physiotherapy University Programs (CCPUP & CPA), the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal (CRIR), and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montreal