Therapists need to be aware that counselling to address the emotional barriers experienced by women is important during ergonomic education.

Upper limb RSIs are prevalent amongst the general population, especially in females. Participation in housework may entail biomechanical loads which may contribute to or worsen upper limb RSIs. Occupational classification systems should include homemakers as a standalone category, distinct from paid domestic help, given the similar nature of physical work involved.

Introduction The aim of this study is to understand the patterns of occupations among community-dwelling older adults in Singapore. The objectives are to describe their occupational engagement using the Activity Card Sort Singapore, understand their occupational preferences and perceived barriers and facilitators to engagement. Methods A convergent parallel mixed-method study was conducted over a 5-month period in 2018. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit the participants. Individual 1-h interviews were conducted at participants’ homes. Quantitative data collected include demographic information, Modified Barthel Index scores and activity engagement based on the Activity Card Sort Singapore. Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Results 105 participants were enrolled in the study. Overall, older adults engaged mostly in instrumental and social activities. However, leisure and social activities were most preferred. Gender, educational level and age were found to influence occupational engagement. Overall, six main themes relating to perceived barriers and facilitators to occupational engagement were identified: cognition and physical status, self-efficacy, resources, affect and meaningfulness, social influence and environmental factors. Conclusion The findings from this study provided insights into the occupational patterns of community-dwelling older adults in Singapore and their perceived barriers and facilitators to engagement. Recommendations for practice were identified.

BACKGROUND: The biomechanics of homemakers has been minimally studied. The way laundry-drying is performed in Singapore public-housing, using the pipe-socket-system (PSS), could expose the homemakers to musculoskeletal disorder risk. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to quantify the musculoskeletal risk exposure (MRE) associated with laundry-drying amongst female homemakers using the PSS in Singapore public-housing. METHODS: Using snowball sampling approach, five female homemakers familiar with the described laundry-drying method were recruited. The postures of the participants were analysed from video-recorded data and scored using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). RESULTS: This pilot study revealed very strong evidence (p = 0.001) that the participants were exposed to medium risk (REBA score 4.3) when performing this housework task. CONCLUSIONS: Extreme awkward postures and repetitive motions were observed from the participants during the analysis. High REBA scores were frequently associated with the awkward postures adopted due to constraints of physical work space.

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