Beth P. Velde

The Friendship Club: an after-school program for children with Asperger syndrome.

The Friendship Club is a program designed and implemented by occupational therapy students and faculty to help teach children, ages 8–15, activities related to friendship and skills necessary to maintain friends. The program, a joint effort between university partners, a local parent support group, and a local Rotary Club that provided funding, was deemed successful by participants, parents, and leaders. This article reviews the interdisciplinary development of the club, the program, and its outcomes. Recommendations for the groups continuation are supported by feedback obtained from participants and their parents.

The Tillery Project

The purpose of this project was to provide an opportunity for OT and PT students to work together as an interdisciplinary team in a rural healthcare setting. Since residents who were evaluated and treated in their homes and in a community center were all 65+ year old African Americans, participants had a unique socio-cultural experience. A description of the project, its goals, and future plans is provided. Outcome data from participant journal entries, a questionnaire designed to study role perceptions, and a questionnaire to assess results of the project is described. Results indicate that the Tillery Project experience was a very positive learning experience for faculty, students, and Tillery residents and that an increased awareness of the roles of the OT and PT disciplines were seen in the students who participated.

Hands-On Learning in Tillery

The Tillery Experience provides a unique, cross-cultural opportunity for students to learn and practice occupational therapy skills in a rural, primarily African American community in northeastern North Carolina. This qualitative study investigates how involvement in this community-based experience affects participants. Twelve past and current students participated in a focus group. Results indicate that participants valued the hands-on learning they experienced, felt enriched as a result of the hands-on learning, and developed cultural competency as a result of their involvement in the Tillery Experience. These themes relate to theories of transformative education, transformative learning, and situated cognition. Implications for supervision and planning educational experiences are discussed.

Helping Occupational Therapy Students and Faculty Develop Cultural Competence

SUMMARY Given the need for health professionals, including occupational therapists, to be able to work with individuals and populations from a variety of cultures, this paper describes a qualitative study in which faculty and students from an occupational therapy program have been immersed in a community-built program serving African American, elderly citizens. Cultural competency and its measurement are addressed and used to assess positive results from the study.

Integration of Occupation for Individuals Affected by Parkinson's Disease

The purpose of this study was to describe the essence of occupation for community living adults aged 50 to 80 years old affected with Parkinsons disease. Through the development of seven themes, the phenomenon of activity integration for a person with Parkinsons disease was described. The themes transmit a message to occupational therapists regarding the idiosyncratic nature of occupations and the individual nature of adaptive strategies used by individuals with the disease to retain a meaningful occupational lifestyle. This is best accomplished when the therapist is able to retain a person-centered stance.

Quality of Life of Older African American Women in Rural North Carolina

ABSTRACT Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of activity to the quality of life of female African American elders. Methods: Framed in the critical emancipatory paradigm, the study used qualitative research methodology, including the analysis of transcribed interviews and the critical review of relevant literature. Results: Contributors to this study identified numerous past and present activities. The activities were bound together with the themes of “The Lord,” Doing, Family, Environment, “I had to let it go,” and “Just a part of life.” Discussion: Study results indicate that participants have enhanced their quality of life and emancipated themselves through engagement in a variety of activities that hold both real and symbolic meaning.

Occupational Therapy in the Community: What, Why, and How

SUMMARY This paper discusses ways of defining community practice. It differentiates between the terms “community-based” and “community-built” and makes the argument that community-built occupational therapy practice is the best alternative.

Quality of Life Issues in Community Occupational Therapy Practice

SUMMARY Quality of life has long been purported to be an outcome of occupational therapy practice. Yet little outcome data is available illustrating the effectiveness of occupational therapy in enhancing quality of life. Recent authors have addressed health related quality of life issues. Community practice would also benefit from attention to global quality of life concepts and outcome measures. This article discusses global quality of life and reviews related outcome measures.

A Review of: "Occupational Therapy: Performance, Participation, and Well-being (2005)".

Editors Christiansen and Baum have reinvented previous editions of the text into a user friendly, three-section book that presents a case for quality of life as an indicator of health. Using the co...

Using Chaos Theory to Understand a Community-Built Occupational Therapy Practice

SUMMARY Community-built occupational therapy programs interact with a wide range of systems. This interaction does not occur in an orderly manner, but in an unpredictable fashion. The use of chaos theory may help program developers understand actual and potential interactions that may occur. To illustrate the use of chaos theory, a case study is presented.