Restful Rehabilitation: Sleep's Essential Role in Occupational Therapy Education, Intervention, and Research.

All humans have the occupational right to sleep; therefore, occupational therapy practitioners must prioritize sleep with their clients. In this column, we identify ways to incorporate sleep health into the education and training of occupational therapy practitioners. This starts with identifying entry-level and continuing education opportunities to proclaim sleep as an occupation and a basic biological need.

Motivations for volunteering in an adapted skiing program: implications for volunteer program development.

Purpose: Volunteers are crucial to sustaining adapted sports programs. The purpose of the study was to understand the personal and professional motivations for volunteers in an adapted skiing program and to make recommendations to improve the volunteer experience.

Material And Methods: Forty-eight volunteers participated in a mixed method study in Winters of 2017 and 2018.

A school-based, interprofessional approach to sustaining oral health on an Island community.

A school-based oral health promotion program was established on a Bahamian island that lacks access to dental care. An interprofessional team of dental hygiene (DH) and occupational therapy (OT) students and faculty delivered an annual service program from 2016 to 2018 based on the Ecological Model of School-Based Health Promotion. The interprofessional team provided oral preventative services and class-based lessons to children to reinforce positive oral health behaviors.

Older Manufacturing Workers and Adaptation to Age-Related Changes.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand the age-related changes, adaptations, and contexts that support older workers in the manufacturing sector.

Method: In a multiple-case study, 10 older workers from two manufacturing companies completed the Job Content Questionnaire, Health and Productivity Questionnaire, and semistructured interviews and underwent task observations for 8 hr over 4 mo.

Results: Age-related changes affecting job tasks included near vision, upper extremity strength, grip strength, joint stiffness, and endurance.

Health Care Provider Burnout in a United States Military Medical Center During a Period of War.

Objective: Provider burnout can impact efficiency, empathy, and medical errors. Our study examines burnout in a military medical center during a period of war.

Methods: A survey including the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), deployment history, and work variables was distributed to health care providers.

Promoting Healthy Lifestyles to Children at School: Using a Multidisciplinary Train-the-Trainer Approach.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine the efficacy of a multidisciplinary train-the-trainer model for improving fitness and food label literacy in third-grade students.

Design: University student trainers taught ABC for Fitness and Nutrition Detectives, established programs to promote physical activity and nutrition knowledge, to 239 third-grade students in 2 communities over a 6-month period. A total of 110 children were in the intervention group and 129 children in the control group (2 schools each).

Using daily routines to promote medication adherence in older adults.

Purpose: To understand the medication routines used by older adults taking four or more medications daily.

Method: One hundred forty-nine community-dwelling older adults were interviewed about the individual routines, storage locations, equipment, and assistance that enabled their adherence to a medication regimen. A subsample of 84 older adults was observed completing one medication routine in their home environments.

Testing for lead in toys at day care centers.

Objective: Exposure to lead-based paint or material has been found to impact children's cognitive and behavioral development at blood lead levels far below current standards. The purpose of the project was to screen for lead in toy items in daycare centers in order to raise awareness of inside environmental lead exposures and minimize lead-based exposures for children.

Methods: Occupational therapy students in a service learning class tested for lead in ten daycare or public centers using the XRF Thermo Scientific Niton XL3t, a method accepted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Does work contribute to successful aging outcomes in older workers?

Older workers are the fastest growing segment of the labor force, yet little is known about designing jobs for older workers that optimize their experiences relative to aging successfully. This study examined the contribution of workplace job design (opportunities for decision-making, skill variety, coworker support, supervisor support) to dimensions of successful aging (social network, emotional support, personal control, generativity) in a sample of 109 older workers in the retail homebuilding industry. Older workers completed four standardized tests reflecting the job design and successful aging variables.

Ergonomic design for dental offices.

The increasing complexity of the dental office environment influences productivity and workflow for dental clinicians. Advances in technology, and with it the range of products needed to provide services, have led to sprawl in operatory setups and the potential for awkward postures for dental clinicians during the delivery of oral health services. Although ergonomics often addresses the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders for specific populations of workers, concepts of workflow and productivity are integral to improved practice in work environments.

Occupational stress in dental hygienists.

Occupational stress represents a cause of attrition from the field of dental hygiene. However, few studies have examined occupational stress in dental hygienists with a focus on the dynamics of the organization and the concept of emotional labor. The purpose of the study was to investigate the nature of occupational stress (organizational stress and emotional labor) in experienced dental hygienists and to examine the relationship between occupational stressors and manifestations of stress (or personal strain).

A qualitative study of two older workers' adaptation to physically demanding work.

Increasing numbers of older blue collar workers are remaining in the workforce. However, the effect of age-related changes on older workers' job performance is not well documented. This study examined how older blue collar workers continue to perform physically demanding jobs as they age.

Musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and shoulder in dental hygienists and dental hygiene students.

Purpose: Dental hygienists have been found to have high rates of neck and shoulder disorders, but there is very limited information on risk factors associated with those disorders, the level of risk for students, and the relationship of prior work as dental assistants for dental hygiene students. This study examines self-reported and physician-diagnosed neck and shoulder pain.

Methods: A cohort consisting of 27 dental hygiene students with no prior dental occupation experience (mean age 24, 6.

The ergonomics of caring for children: an exploratory study.

Background: Caring for one's children is among the most ubiquitous of occupations. However, few studies have examined the ergonomic risks involved in parents caring for children at home.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the frequency, type, and severity of musculoskeletal symptoms in parents of children less than 4 years old.

Minimizing stress in the workplace: Whose responsibility is it?

Work-related stress is pervasive in today's society. Its far-reaching effects on worker health, productivity, and organizational commitment have caused legislators and researchers alike to rethink stress prevention strategies that will best serve all systems involved. This article identifies the issues limiting the development of primary stress reduction programs in the workplace and provides insight as to the emerging global legislative initiatives that support this issue.