Activity Use in Occupational Therapy: Occupational Therapy Students' Fieldwork Experience

Abstract

This article explores the results of a small quantitative study conducted with 54 occupational therapy students. The data, gathered using a purpose-designed questionnaire, were based on respondents' reports of the 662 activities seen during their fieldwork education. These were categorised using headings from the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (Law et al 1994). The findings showed that client-related leisure activities were the most frequently seen in all practice settings (physical disability, mental health and learning disability). The activities seen most often consisted of those in thè quiet recreation' category. Activities aimed at productivity, and particularly at household management, were also widely spread. Such activities formed a smaller but consistent percentage of those seen in all fields of practice. Self-care, and in particular personal care, activities were most prevalent in physical disability settings, but formed a lower percentage of the activities seen elsewhere. This article discusses these findings in relation to previous research in the field and considers the continuing place of activity in occupational therapy and in undergraduate occupational therapy education.

A Systematic Review of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure: A Clinical Practice Perspective

“…Cup et al (2003) Reliability and validity of the Canadian Occupational Performance ✓ ✓ ✓ Measure in stroke patients Dedding et al (2004) Validity of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure: ✓ ✓ ✓ a client-centred outcome measurement Donnelly and Carswell (2002) Individualised outcome measures: a review of the literature ✓ ✓ ✓ Drew and Rugg (2001) Activity use in occupational therapy: occupational therapy ✓ students' fieldwork experience Fedden et al (1999) Out of the woods: the Canadian Occupational Performance ✓ ✓ ✓ Measure, from the manual into practice Gaudet (2002) Measuring the impact of Parkinson's disease: an occupational ✓ ✓ ✓ therapy perspective…”

The Effectiveness of Origami on Overall Hand Function After Injury: A Pilot Controlled Trial

“…The more creative aspects of activity have traditionally been closely related to crafts (Holder 2001, Perrin 2001. However, within hand therapy, and reflecting occupational therapy generally, the occupational nature of rehabilitation has moved somewhat to the periphery of treatment programmes in recent decades, eclipsed by a more biomechanical approach, possibly in response to changed priorities within the health service, but also perhaps due to a general shift away from using creative activities therapeutically within physical settings (Bayliss et al 1983, Barris et al 1986, Rook 1986, Smith 1989, Taylor and Manguno 1991, Drew and Rugg 2001. This move towards a more explicitly functional approach, incorporating the terms 'therapeutic exercise' and 'purposeful activity', opened up another layer of debate (Dutton 1989, Mills and Fraser 1989, Laseter and Carter 1996, Paquette 1998, Hunt 2001 with views for and against, citing the benefits of both.…”