Sharon A. Gutman

Understanding the Lived Experience of Formerly Homeless Adults as They Transition to Supportive Housing

The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with formerly homeless adults who had moved to supportive housing to understand their perceived occupational needs and the factors that affected their transition. A qualitative research design with four participants who had a history of substance abuse and mental illness was used. Participant interviews that addressed categories of daily living and personal satisfaction produced data that were coded for analysis using conventional content analysis. Mega themes emerged that related to factors shaping the housing transition and maintenance experience. Occupational therapists can use these findings to create informed interventions to enhance this populations occupational performance.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Pilot Housing Transition Program for Homeless Adults with Mental Illness and Substance Use

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine if a housing transition program was feasible and acceptable to homeless clients with mental illness and substance use histories. Ten male residents of a homeless shelter participated in the 3-week housing intervention. The intervention used a DVD format with instructional videos, graphics, and opportunities for hands-on practice of functional skills in a simulated apartment environment. Outcome measures included goal attainment scale scores (GAS), satisfaction surveys, and case manager reports. Six of the 10 participants completed the program and achieved GAS scores at a greater level than expected at baseline (T > 50). Participants reported the intervention to be engaging and enhanced their knowledge of the housing transition process. The intervention appears to have assisted the participants in the attainment of housing skills and warrants further study.

Comparative Effectiveness of Three Occupational Therapy Sleep Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Study

Although sleep intervention is within the domain of occupational therapy, few studies exist supporting practice. Effectiveness of three sleep interventions was compared: Dreampad Pillow®, iRest® meditation, and sleep hygiene. Twenty-nine participants were randomly assigned to the Dreampad Pillow® (n = 10), iRest® meditation (n = 9), and sleep hygiene (n = 10) groups. In Phase 1, all participants used a 7-day sleep hygiene regimen to reduce poor sleep habits. In Phase 2 (14 days), 10 participants used the Dreampad Pillow® and sleep hygiene, nine used the iRest meditation and sleep hygiene, and 10 continued sleep hygiene only. At intervention-end, the iRest meditation group experienced statistically greater time asleep than both the Dreampad Pillow® (p < .006, d = 1.87) and sleep hygiene groups (p < .03, d = 1.80). The Dreampad Pillow® group experienced statistically fewer nighttime awakenings than the iRest® meditation (p < .04, d = −1.53) and sleep hygiene (p < .004, d = −1.43) groups. No differences were found between groups in perceived sleep quality, length of time needed to fall asleep, and fatigue level next day. This study provides support for sleep interventions within occupational therapy’s domain.

A bibliometric analysis of occupational therapy publications

Abstract Background: Bibliometrics involves the statistical analysis of the publications in a specific discipline or subject area. A bibliometric analysis of the occupational therapy refereed literature is needed. Aim: A bibliometric analysis was completed of the occupational therapy literature from 1991-2014, indexed in the Science Citation Index-Expanded or the Social Sciences Citation Index. Method: Publications were searched by title, abstract, keywords, and KeyWords Plus. Total number of article citations, citations per journal, and contributions per country, individual authors, and institution were calculated. Results: 5,315 occupational therapy articles were published in 821 journals. It appears that there is a citation window of an approximate 10-year period between the time of publication and the peak number of citations an article receives. The top three most highly cited articles were published in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, JAMA, and Lancet. AJOT, BJOT and AOTJ published the largest number of occupational therapy articles with the United States, Australia, and Canada producing the highest number of publications. McMaster University, the University of Queensland, and the University of Toronto were the institutions that published the largest number of occupational therapy journal articles. Conclusion: The occupational therapy literature is growing and the frequency of article citation is increasing.

Home Safety Fall and Accident Risk Among Prematurely Aging, Formerly Homeless Adults

OBJECTIVE. Homelessness prematurely ages people. A large subgroup of formerly homeless adults between ages 40 and 64 yr have health conditions similar to or worse than people categorized as elderly. Little is known about the impact of this groups chronic health conditions on their ability to safely function in supportive housing. METHOD. Home safety visits were carried out with 25 formerly homeless adults, ages 40‐64 yr, now residing in supportive housing. RESULTS. Participants had physical, cognitive, and mental health problems that significantly interfered with their ability to perform daily life skills, safely function in an apartment, and manage chronic health conditions. Home safety hazards included cluttered walking paths, the presence of steps, and the lack of grab bars and nonskid flooring. CONCLUSION. The homeless population would benefit from aging specialists, such as occupational therapists, who could help people to maintain and function more safely in their homes. Without such services, this population may be at risk for home safety events leading to hospitalization and mortality. &NA; Results from evaluations of a group of formerly homeless adults living in supportive housing suggest that aging specialists, such as occupational therapists, could help this population maintain and function more safely in their homes.

Impact factor, eigenfactor, article influence, scopus SNIP, and SCImage journal rank of occupational therapy journals

Abstract Background: Journals are currently assessed and ranked using a number of different quantitative performance metrics. Aim: To compare and correlate the publication metrics of English-language occupational therapy journals published in 2015. Method: Bibliometric data was sourced for 14 English-language occupational therapy journals including the Journal Citations Report (JCR) 2-year impact factor (IF), Eigenfactor Score (EFS), Article Influence Score (AIS), Scopus Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP), Scopus Citescore, and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) score. The JCR, Scopus, and SJR 2015 bibliometric data were correlated. Results: The top six English-language occupational therapy journals in relation to JCR IF, EFS, AIS, SNIP, Citescore, SJR score, and SJR IIF were AJOT, AOTJ, POPT, CJOT, SJOT, and BJOT. JCR IF, EFS, JCR AIS, SNIP, Citescore, SJR score and SJR IIF were all significantly correlated with coefficients ranging from 0.751 to 0.961 (pu2009<u20090.05; pu2009<u20090.01). The calculated SJR IIF was on average 0.335 larger than the JCR IFs reported. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the range of available bibliometric measures should be used collectively to yield a more comprehensive assessment of journal and article rankings rather than the singular use of IF scores that currently and frequently occurs in many jurisdictions.

A Bibliometric Analysis of the Quantitative Mental Health Literature in Occupational Therapy

ABSTRACT A bibliometric analysis was performed to examine the impact and use of the peer-reviewed occupational therapy intervention effectiveness literature addressing adults with mental illness, 2000–2016. Of 2,597 articles, 68 were quantitative studies assessing an intervention for adults with mental illness. These studies had a collective citation count of 1,455 and were published in 29 journals in 14 countries. The majority (nu2009=u200936; 52.94%) were randomized controlled and two-group controlled studies. The most commonly assessed interventions were life skills and community reintegration (nu2009=u200920, 29.41%) and supported employment (nu2009=u200916, 23.52%). Sixty-five (95.58%) studies found statistically significant results on the primary or secondary outcomes.

Reliability and convergent validity of the Emotional Intelligence Admission Essay Scale, revised

Introduction The purpose of this study was to reassess the reliability and convergent validity of the revised Emotional Intelligence Admission Essay Scale, and determine whether the scale could identify students demonstrating professional behavior problems in the classroom and fieldwork environments. Method Thirty-six student participants completed the revised Emotional Intelligence Admission Essay Scale and Schutte Assessing Emotions Scale. Interrater reliability, internal consistency, and convergent validity were established. Results Interrater reliability and internal consistency were found to be high (intraclass correlation coefficientu2009=u2009.82, pu2009<u2009.001; Cronbach’s alphau2009=u2009.96, pu2009<u2009.001, respectively). When participants were separated by age, convergent validity between the Emotional Intelligence Admission Essay Scale and Schutte Assessing Emotions Scale of participants agedu2009≥u200926 years was high (rsu2009=u2009.83, pu2009<u2009.002) compared to thoseu2009≤u200925 years (rsu2009=u2009.58, pu2009<u2009.002). Six participants (16.6%) received Emotional Intelligence Admission Essay Scale scores of 0 and were identified as potentially exhibiting professional behavioral problems; three of these students demonstrated professional behavior problems in the academic and/or fieldwork settings. Conclusion The Emotional Intelligence Admission Essay Scale can be used as a screen to identify whether students may exhibit professional behavior problems; however, caution should be used as some identified students may be able to prevent professional behavior problems once aware of program expectations.

Occupational therapy publications by Australian authors: A bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUNDnBibliometrics refers to the collection and measurement of publishing and citation data configurations with the goal of quantifying the influence of scholarly activities. Advantages of bibliometrics include the generation of quantitative indicators of impact, productivity, quality and collaboration. Those parties who benefit from the results of bibliometric analysis include researchers, educators, journal publishers, employers and research funding bodies.nnnMETHODSnA bibliometric analysis was completed of peer-reviewed literature from 1991 to 2015, written by Australian occupational therapists (who were able to be identified as such), and indexed in the Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-Expanded) or the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) databases. Occupational therapy and occupational therapist(s) were used as keywords to search journal articles publication title, abstract, author details, keywords and KeyWord Plus.nnnRESULTSnBetween 1991 and 2015, 752 peer-reviewed journal articles were published by Australian occupational therapy authors. On average, those articles had 3.7 authors, 35 references, and were nine pages in length. The top four journals in which Australian occupational therapists published were Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, British Journal of Occupational Therapy, American Journal of Occupational Therapy, and Physical and Occupational Therapy in Paediatrics. The four Australian institutions that generated the largest number of occupational therapy articles were the University of Queensland, University of Sydney, La Trobe University, and Monash University. The top four countries with whom Australian authors collaborated in manuscript writing were the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Sweden.nnnCONCLUSIONnThe volume of occupational therapy peer-reviewed literature has grown over the last two decades. Australian authors have and continue to make significant contributions to the occupational therapy body of knowledge nationally and internationally.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Highly Cited and High Impact Occupational Therapy Publications by American Authors

ABSTRACT A bibliometric analysis was completed of peer-reviewed literature from 1991–2015, written by American occupational therapists, to examine US high impact scholarship with “occupational therapy” and “occupational therapist(s)” used as keywords to search journal articles publication title, abstract, author details, and keywords. Results included 1,889 journal articles from 1991–2015 published by American occupational therapists as first or corresponding author. Sixty-nine articles attained a TotalCitation2015 ≥ 50 and 151 attained a Citation2015 ≥ 5 indicating that they were the most highly cited literature produced in this period. Although the majority (58%) of this literature was published in occupational therapy-specific journals, 41% was published in interdisciplinary journals. Results illustrate that the volume of highly cited American occupational therapy peer-reviewed literature has grown over the last two decades. There is need for the profession to strategize methods to enhance the publication metrics of occupational therapy-specific journals to reduce the loss of high quality publications to external periodicals.