Occupational Balance and Meaning Mediate Higher Education Students' Mental Health During War: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis.

Importance: Exposure to trauma and extensive changes in daily life circumstances and occupations as a result of an ongoing armed conflict can significantly affect mental health.

Objective: To examine factors related to the mental health status of Israeli students during the Swords of Iron war.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Ecological virtual reality-based cognitive remediation among inpatients with schizophrenia: A pilot study.

Schizophrenia presents a considerable clinical challenge due to limited progress in promoting daily-life functioning among diagnosed individuals. Although cognitive remediation (CR) has emerged as a promising approach to improving cognitive and functional outcomes in schizophrenia, its effectiveness among inpatients and within hospital environments-where opportunities to practice skills in real-world contexts are limited-remains unclear. Here, we aimed to establish the feasibility and initial efficacy of a short, ecological virtual reality-based CR training (CR-EVR) in acute mental health inpatient settings.

Daily life participation in PTSD: pilot study on patterns and correlators.

Introduction: Participation in daily life activities with both the personal and community meaning is an important component of health and well-being. Even though there are mounting reports on the challenges in various aspects of daily-life functioning among individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to date little research has been conducted on their comprehensive patterns of participation. The study aimed to describe objective and subjective participation dimensions in PTSD compared to healthy controls and investigate the association between personal and environmental factors and participation.

Sense of Belonging, Meaningful Daily Life Participation, and Well-Being: Integrated Investigation.

The association between well-being, sense of belonging, connectedness to community, and meaningful participation in daily life occupations was theoretically proved and demonstrated in several health conditions or specific age groups. This study aimed to investigate an interplay between well-being, sense of belonging, and connectedness, and meaningful participation in a range of daily life occupations among healthy adults of working age in Israel. Participants (N = 121; age: M = 30.

Closing the Gap: From Research to Practice in Mental Health Interventions.

Evidence-based practice is critical but challenging in mental health. Rigorous research-proven interventions often do not yield expected results in the clinical practice. This study aimed to explore factors contributing to the effectiveness of Occupational Connections (OC)-an intervention for promotion of engagement in meaningful occupations in serious mental illness (SMI)-based on case series study of three quasi-experimental studies.

Study of recovery model implementation in psychiatric hospitals: Clients and multidisciplinary staff perspective.

The recovery model guides mental health services. However, the delivery of recovery-oriented services in inpatient settings is still a challenge. Factors affecting recovery model implementation can be classified into three types: the hospital environment, the inpatient and the service provider.

A multimodal approach for the ecological investigation of sustained attention: A pilot study.

Natural fluctuations in sustained attention can lead to attentional failures in everyday tasks and even dangerous incidences. These fluctuations depend on personal factors, as well as task characteristics. So far, our understanding of sustained attention is partly due to the common usage of laboratory setups and tasks, and the complex interplay between behavior and brain activity.

Occupational intervention in mental health hospitals: Study of contextual impact.

Background: Recovery-promoting and occupation-oriented interventions for people with schizophrenia who receive in-patient services are scarcely investigated, limiting our understanding of the factors affecting intervention effectiveness and hindering occupational inclusion.

Aims: To investigate the impact of contextual factors on the effectiveness of 'Occupational Connections' (OC) - occupational intervention for in-patient psychiatric settings.

Materials And Methods: Quasi-experimental, single-blind study compared between inpatients with schizophrenia participating in OC ( = 14) and those receiving treatment as usual only ( = 16) on primary outcomes of participation dimensions and recovery-orientation of the service, and on secondary outcomes of cognition, symptom severity, and functional capacity.

Transition to Labor Market among Young Adults with Serious Mental Illness.

Background: The research on job attainment and retention among young adults with serious mental illness (SMI) is limited. The objective of this study was to investigate the contributions of emotional, cognitive, motor, demographic, and work-related factors to the transition into supported employment (SE) and retention. Methods: This cross-sectional study included young adults with SMI involved in prevocational (N = 21) services or those who have transferred to SE (N = 21) following prevocational services.

COVID-19 Isolation in Healthy Population in Israel: Challenges in Daily Life, Mental Health, Resilience, and Quality of Life.

Background: Pandemics produce long-lasting secondary impacts on health, with a significant burden on people and society. Until now, the secondary impact of COVID-19 has been little estimated. Our aim was to investigate factors underlying quality of life (QOL) during COVID-19 lockdown among a healthy population, while QOL reduction expands vulnerability to the pandemic secondary impact.

Occupation-focused intervention for in-patient mental health settings: Pilot study of effectiveness.

Purpose: Participation in meaningful occupation is associated with recovery in serious mental illnesses, however, few evidence-based, occupation-focused interventions for hospital settings exist. This study investigated the effectiveness of "Occupational Connections" (OC), a manualized, short-term, group intervention, addressing issues in daily-life occupations' participation and functioning of people with serious mental illness as early as during hospitalization.

Methods: Thirty-three inpatients with schizophrenia completed single-blind, pre-post study procedures (up to 10 weeks) in two groups: OC group intervention and open leisure activity group (control condition), in addition to treatment as usual.

Comparing executive functioning and clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of people with schizophrenia who hold a driver's license to those who do not.

Background.: Community engagement requires driving. However, there is paucity of research focusing on the potential to drive for people with schizophrenia.

Executive functioning and daily living of individuals with chronic stroke: measurement and implications.

Deficits in executive functioning (EF) are often still present at the chronic stage after stroke, which may negatively impact independent living. The objectives of this study were (a) to characterize the EF and independence in daily living of community-dwelling individuals with chronic stroke by using pen-and-paper and performance-based EF assessments, (b) to explore correlations between scores detected by different EF assessments and (c) to assess the correlations between EF and independence in basic activities of daily living (BADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). This cross-sectional study included 50 (30 men and 20 women) community-dwelling individuals [mean (SD) age 59.

Motor skills, cognition, and work performance of people with severe mental illness.

Purpose: Employment offers many benefits to people with mental illness, yet their employment rate is much lower than that of the general population. We investigated the effect of work-related motor skills, neurocognition, and job attitudes on the work performance of people with mental illness, comparing those working in sheltered workshops, with controls working in similar jobs.

Methods: Twenty-nine adults with severe mental illness and 27 controls matched by gender and age were enrolled into the study using convenience sampling.

Problem-based learning in occupational therapy curriculum - implications and challenges.

Purpose: Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational method that fosters self-directed study in small groups. The purpose of this study was to describe the Tel Aviv University's occupational therapy (OT) program and the challenges implementing such program. In addition, the study compared the PBL grades obtained by students who are native Hebrew speakers with those students who are native Arabic speakers; and, assessed the correlation between the grades in the PBL course and the grades in the clinical fieldwork studies.

Description of and Preliminary Findings for Occupational Connections, an Intervention for Inpatient Psychiatry Settings.

People with mental health conditions (MHCs) frequently experience participation and functional restrictions. Today, hospitals still serve a significant number of people with MHCs. However, there is little evidence for occupation-oriented interventions to support participation, health, and well-being in these hospital settings.

Prediction of the intensity and diversity of day-to-day activities among people with schizophrenia using parameters obtained during acute hospitalization.

Purpose: Participation in day-to-day activities of people with schizophrenia is restricted, causing concern to them, their families, service providers and the communities at large. Participation is a significant component of health and recovery; however, factors predicting participation are still not well established. This study examines whether the parameters obtained during acute hospitalization can predict the intensity and diversity of participation in day-to-day activities six months after discharge.

Participation in daily life of people with schizophrenia in comparison to the general population.

Background: Participation in occupations is a basic human right. Although people with schizophrenia commonly experience restrictions in participation, there is a paucity of research in this area.

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the participation patterns of people with schizophrenia to people without mental illness (control group).

Factors discriminating employment status following in-patient evaluation among persons with schizophrenia.

Background: Employment is a key element in recovery from schizophrenia. Yet 60%-80% of people with schizophrenia are not involved in work occupations. Factors influencing employment were explored mostly in community settings, while the recovery process begins already during hospitalization.

From hospital admission to independent living: is prediction possible?

An integral component of recovery from mental illness is being able to engage in everyday activities. This ability is often restricted among people with schizophrenia. Although functional deficits are addressed during hospitalization, the ability to predict daily functioning based on information gathered during hospitalization has not been well established.

Sensory modulation and daily-life participation in people with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is considered to be an extreme mental health disturbance that affects a person's well-being and participation in everyday activities. Participation in meaningful everyday occupations is an important component of recovery from mental illness, the ultimate goal of mental health services. The participation restrictions of people with schizophrenia have been widely investigated through different factors, such as illness symptoms and course, cognition, and demographic data; however, the resulting explanations were incomplete.

Context and psychosocial intervention in mental health.

Occupational therapy (OT) services have been provided for people with mental health conditions since the foundation of the profession, but OT practices are not clearly outlined. This paper presents the standard OT practices performed in the mental health area. The aim of the study is to quantitatively characterize domains of OT intervention in mental health.

Car driving in schizophrenia: can visual memory and organization make a difference?

Purpose: Driving is a meaningful occupation which is ascribed to functional independence in schizophrenia. Although it is estimated that individuals with schizophrenia have two times more traffic accidents, little research has been done in this field. Present research explores differences in mental status, visual working memory and visual organization between drivers and non-drivers with schizophrenia in comparison to healthy drivers.