The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association
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This systematic review summarizes existing studies on dry needling for spasticity and range of motion (ROM) and discusses its potential for use as an occupational therapy intervention. ⋯ This article provides information that may be helpful in determining the appropriateness of dry needling as an occupational therapy intervention.
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Review
Moving From Cultural Competence to Cultural Humility in Occupational Therapy: A Paradigm Shift.
As the U.S. population becomes increasingly multicultural, occupational therapy practitioners must be adept at working with diverse populations. For the past 15-20 yr, many occupational therapy scholars have recognized this need, and in response, they have promoted cultural competence training. Although cultural competence has provided an important initial conceptual framework for the field, I argue that it is time to move toward a practice of cultural humility, which is defined by flexibility; awareness of bias; a lifelong, learning-oriented approach to working with diversity; and a recognition of the role of power in health care interactions. In this article, I present three main arguments why cultural humility is a more useful and critical conceptual framework than cultural competence, and I review preliminary research that examines the influence of cultural humility on patient experience. I conclude by briefly describing how cultural humility can be incorporated in occupational therapy curricula and applied in clinical and community practice settings. ⋯ This article provides a clear articulation of what cultural humility is, how it differs from cultural competence, and how it can be applied in occupational therapy.
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Case Reports
Occupational Therapy Interventions for Productive Aging Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults.
Evidence Connection articles provide clinical application of systematic reviews developed in conjunction with the American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA's) Evidence-Based Practice Project. In this Evidence Connection article, we describe a case report of an older adult who was referred to outpatient occupational therapy services due to chronic back pain from herniated discs. ⋯ Each article in the Evidence Connection series summarizes the evidence from the published reviews on a given topic and presents an application of the evidence to a related clinical case. These articles illustrate how the research evidence from the reviews can be used to inform and guide clinical decision making.
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Sensory symptoms in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are commonly reported by researchers. However, an often overlooked sensory aspect of ASD is sensory discrimination in general, and somatosensory discrimination in particular. ⋯ The occupational therapy evaluation of people with ASD can benefit from addressing somatosensory discrimination and its contribution to other clinical symptoms. This type of assessment can help improve intervention strategies for people with ASD by promoting a focus on the effect of discrimination deficits on daily function.
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This systematic review presents research on the effectiveness of occupation- and activity-based interventions to improve everyday activities and areas of occupation and social participation for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Nineteen studies identified through a comprehensive database search were reviewed and synthesized into five themes: (1) multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary treatment approaches, (2) community-based rehabilitation programs, (3) treatment approaches using client-centered goals and relevant contexts, (4) social skills training and peer mentoring interventions, and (5) community mobility interventions. Evidence supports the use of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches across a variety of settings, with no single treatment approach or setting clearly superior to another. The specific contributions of occupational therapy practitioners and the nature of occupational therapy interventions have not been well studied, making it difficult to determine the extent to which occupation- and activity-based interventions provided by occupational therapy practitioners improve occupational performance and social participation after TBI.