Christine A. Helfrich

Mental Health Disorders and Functioning of Women in Domestic Violence Shelters

This study investigates the presence of mental health symptoms and disorders reported by 74 women in a domestic violence shelter and the impact of those symptoms on function in work, school, and social encounters. Findings are compared to estimates of U.S. women generally, based on a national sample of over 65,000 women drawn from the 1995 National Health Interview Survey. The sheltered sample presents significantly higher rates of mental conditions and functional impairments affecting their work, school, and social functioning. These women are also less educated and poorer and use more health services than the U.S. population. Mental health conditions must be identified in shelters to improve functioning and facilitate independence from abusers.

Trauma Symptoms and Life Skill Needs of Domestic Violence Victims

This study identified the trauma symptoms and life skill needs of 84 domestic violence victims from three domestic violence programs. Women completed two self-report tools: Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) and Occupational Self Assessment (OSA). Staff members participated in focus groups regarding their perceptions of the women’s needs. Women scored within the clinical range on the Defensive Avoidance (39.8%), Intrusive Experiences (30.1%), and Tension Reduction Behavior (24.1%) clinical scales of the TSI. On the OSA, the groups’ priorities differed although all demonstrated a desire to function more independently. Their mental health functioning and prioritization of needs differed based on their level of involvement with the service delivery system. Staff members believe women lack skills in the areas of money management, seeking and obtaining employment, locating permanent housing, independently completing self-care and home management activities, managing stress, and parenting. The findings indicate that both mental health and life skills needs must be addressed.

Life Skill Service Needs: Perspectives of Homeless Youth

The present study describes the service needs related to life skill development from the perspective of sheltered homeless youth. Qualitative semistructured life narrative interviews addressing the use of services at an emergency shelter were administered to 30 youth. All youth were residig in an emergency shelter located in a large metropolitan area at the time of interview. Youth identified factors that influence their ability to access and utilize services, categorized as service availability, factors serving as access and/or barriers to services and lack of available services. Youth identify service delivery approaches and staff characteristics as impacting service delivery. Services such as counseling and childcare were identified as facilitating development and acquisition of life skills.

Educating Scholars of Practice: An Approach to Preparing Tomorrow's Researchers

SUMMARY Occupational therapys scholarship too often fails to result in a cumulative body of knowledge that is directly relevant to practice, and links theory and research to practice. This problem has its basis in how therapists are prepared to make scholarly contributions to the field. This article describes an educational strategy for preparing scholars of practice whose work will contribute to building a knowledge base that examines and enhances practice. The strategy is based upon social learning theory, employs principles of situated learning and cognitive apprenticeship, and involves students as members of an ongoing community of scholars. Steps to and benefits of creating this scholarly community and implementing this educational strategy are discussed.

Life skill interventions with homeless youth, domestic violence victims and adults with mental illness

SUMMARY This paper presents three exploratory studies of life skills interventions (employment, money management or food/nutrition) with 73 homeless individuals from four shelters and supportive housing programs located in the urban Midwest for youth, victims of domestic violence and adults with mental illness. The Ansell Casey Life Skills Assessment was administered prior to the eight group and individual sessions. Quizzes and posttests indicated clinical change in all groups, with statistical significance in the domestic violence group. The intervention implementation, challenges encountered, and strategies developed for implementing shelter-based interventions are discussed. Recommendations for successfully providing collaborative university-shelter clinical interventions are provided.

Community Participation Measures for People With Disabilities: A Systematic Review of Content From an International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Perspective

OBJECTIVE To identify instruments that measure community participation in people with disabilities and to evaluate which domains, to what extent, and how precisely they address this construct. The review aims to provide information to guide the selection of community participation instruments and to identify limitations of existing measures. DATA SOURCES A systematic search was performed in PubMed, CINAHL, and PsychINFO in February and March 2012. The latest systematic reviews and references of searched articles were also reviewed to check for measures that were not identified in the initial search. STUDY SELECTION Instruments were included if they (1) were a self-report questionnaire; (2) measured community participation, participation, or community integration; (3) measured actual participation (rather than subjective experience); (4) had available information on the instrument content and measurement properties; (5) were designed for adults; and (6) were applicable for all disabled populations. DATA EXTRACTION Instruments were obtained from identified full-text articles, reference lists, or websites. Two researchers independently reviewed each selected instrument to determine which of their items measure community participation. These items were then classified using 9 community participation domains from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health to reflect each instruments domain coverage. DATA SYNTHESIS Seventeen instruments were identified as containing community participation items, 2 of which were 100% composed of community participation items. The rest of the instruments included 8.7% to 73.1% items measuring community participation. The domain coverage varied from 3 to 8 domains across the instruments. CONCLUSIONS None of the 17 instruments covered the full breadth of community participation domains, but each addressed community participation to some extent. New instruments that evaluate community participation more comprehensively will be needed in the future.

Occupational Identity: Exploring the Narratives of Three Men Living with AIDS

Abstract The relationship between occupation and identity has received increased attention in recent years. This article explores the usefulness of the construct of occupational identity as measured by the Occupational Performance History Interview (OPHI‐II) in understanding the evolving narratives of three men living with AIDS who participated in a vocational rehabilitation program. The narratives of the three men are described and the impact of AIDS and an attempt to return to work on each individuals occupational identity is discussed. Narrative slopes are presented for each of the three men. Directions for future research are suggested.

Outcomes of a Life Skills Intervention for Homeless Adults with Mental Illness

A manualized life skills intervention based on empowerment theory and situated learning was tested on 51 homeless adults with mental illness living in emergency or single room occupancy housing. The intervention improved skills in food, money, room, and self-care management and safe community participation. Participation included baseline measures with intervention post-tests and three and six month follow up measures. Comparisons were made to examine effectiveness between modules. There were significant improvements over time for the room and self-care and safe community participation modules, whereas the other modules did not reach statistical significance. The results suggest that through intervention this population may develop and retain the life skills needed to maintain residential stability.

Improving services for lesbian clients: what do domestic violence agencies need to do?

In her 2004 masters thesis Simpson identified that lesbian victims of domestic violence who are seeking services face systemic, institutional, and individual barriers. For this qualitative study, building on that work, we used in-depth interviews with six staff members who represented both a traditional domestic violence agency and a lesbian social service agency providing domestic violence services. The interviews revealed policy changes that might be made: institutional inclusion, assessment of language and literature, training and supervision, and institutional evaluation and quality assurance. These changes may improve the experiences of lesbian victims who are seeking services from domestic violence agencies. Each change, with specific examples provided, is discussed.

Knowledge and Attitudes of Occupational Therapy Practitioners Regarding Wife Abuse

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine if occupational therapists possess the ability to identify wife abuse by measuring their knowledge and attitudes about such abuse. A sample of 202 occupational therapists answered an average of 65% of knowledge questions correctly. Respondents were found to have empathic attitudes towards wife abuse and its victims, but were only slightly positive about the role occupational therapy should play in the identification of wife abuse. Knowledge and attitudes regarding wife abuse and the role of occupational therapy in its identification were all found to be significantly positively correlated.