LCSH

Brain damage--Patients--Rehabilitation; Personalized medicine; Ambulatory medical care

Abstract

This study examined occupational therapists’ current knowledge and practices in cognitive rehabilitation for adults with mild acquired brain injury (mABI). A survey was sent to 250 occupational therapists with questions that addressed assessment, treatment, and discharge planning for this population. Fifty-seven therapists (22.8%) returned the survey and met inclusion criteria. The Mini-Mental State Examination was the most well-known and used assessment overall and the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills and Executive Function Performance Test were the most well-known and used occupationally based assessments. Therapists cited availability of an assessment as the main reason for use and lack of knowledge about the assessment as the main reason for nonuse. The most common treatment was compensatory strategy training with quadraphonic and multicontext approaches used least. The modal reason for using certain strategies was their ability to lead to functional gains. The modal reason for not using certain strategies was a lack of knowledge. Over 75% of therapists responded that they discharge clients for further cognitive evaluation at least 50% of the time, mostly to outpatient therapy. There was only a slight difference in treatment between outpatient and inpatient therapists. This is problematic, particularly because outpatient therapists may have more time to treat using the multicontext approach, which increases transferability of skills between tasks. Occupational therapists need better occupationally based assessments to identify mild cognitive deficits with improved training on both new and existing assessments. Additionally, discharge planning practice patterns are adequate for this population.

First Advisor

Tatiana Kaminsky

Second Advisor

Lucretia Berg

Third Advisor

George S. Tomlin

Date of Completion

Spring 2012

Degree Type

Thesis

Format

PDF

URI

http://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/ms_occ_therapy/52

Language

English

Degree Name

Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT)

Date of Award

4-1-2012

Department

Occupational Therapy

Institution

University of Puget Sound

K_Babbitt.pdf (180 kB)
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