Mapping Effectiveness Studies of Occupational Therapy in Africa: A Scoping Review.

Background: Contextual relevance is an important consideration for evidence-based practice, especially in low- and middle-income countries where the nature of practice may differ from high-income countries. Resources and access to rehabilitation are constrained, and service-users face a range of intersecting challenges to activity and participation.

Aim: To evaluate the body of evidence for the effectiveness of occupational therapy in Africa, and to determine if systematic reviews with meta-analysis and/or meta-synthesis are feasible.

Out-of-home life spaces valued by urban older adults with limited income.

Background: Access to, and occupational performance in, out-of-home-life-spaces is linked to health, wellbeing and quality of life for older adults. There is little evidence of how this relates to older adults with limited resources in an African urban context.

Objectives: To describe the out-of-home-life-spaces accessed and valued by older adults with limited resources, living in an urban South African setting.

Workplace-Based Interventions for Mental Health in Africa: A Scoping Review.

Mental health problems are one of the leading contributors to the global burden of disease. Workplaces provide a valuable and accessible setting for interventions to improve worker health. However, little is known about mental health interventions on the African continent, particularly those based in the workplace.

Participatory Methods to Develop Health Education for PW-SCI: Perspectives on Occupational Justice.

Many people with spinal cord injury (PW-SCI) in the Gaza Strip in Palestine are discharged from inpatient rehabilitation with limitations in their ability to meet basic needs, and reach their full potential. There is limited evidence of how clinicians can promote occupational justice for PW-SCI. To describe participants' perspectives revealed during a participatory action research (PAR) process used to develop an education manual for PW-SCI in Gaza, using Participatory Occupational Justice as a lens.

The Impact of an Evidence-Informed Spinal Cord Injury Activities of Daily Living Education Manual (SADL-eM): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a catastrophic injury associated with functional loss and life-threatening complications. Many people with SCI in the Gaza Strip of Palestine are discharged from inpatient rehabilitation to the community while still lacking many daily life skills. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) seeks to test the impact of the Spinal Cord Injury Activities of Daily Living Education Manual (SADL-eM)-an evidence-based occupational therapy patient educational intervention-on rehabilitation outcomes.

Workplace-based occupational therapy for mental health in Africa: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: Although mental health at work is a pressing and growing concern, mental healthcare accounts for less than 2% of global healthcare, with marked inequality across continents. Africa has the smallest proportion of mental health service providers, and the highest rate of out-of-pocket expenditure for mental health service users. Poor mental health at work results in costs to workers, employers and the economy.

Optimizing a Halfway House to Meet Mental Health Care Users' Occupational Needs.

Halfway houses (HwH) may support community reintegration of mental health care users and can be effective in meeting occupational needs of residents. However, they are not optimally used in South Africa. This study aimed to improve the functioning of a HwH so that it better meets occupational needs of the resident mental health care users.

Motor skill intervention for pre-school children: A scoping review.

Background: There is a high prevalence of motor skill difficulties amongst pre-school children living in low socio-economic areas. Motor skill impairment can affect these children's school readiness and academic progress, social skills, play and general independence.

Objectives: This scoping review investigates the key elements of existing motor skill interventions for pre-school children.

Embedding graduate attributes during occupational therapy curriculum development: A scoping review and qualitative research synthesis.

Introduction: Graduate attributes are the personal qualities, skills and competencies, and values that students develop during their time at university to prepare them for work, and enable them to contribute to their communities. Occupational therapy education may foster well-rounded individuals if the development of graduate attributes is embedded within curriculum design and delivery.

Methods: This study identifies and synthesises existing knowledge on how graduate attributes are embedded in occupational therapy curricula.

Eclectic Application of Theoretical Models in Occupational Therapy: Impact on Therapeutic Reasoning.

We investigated the impact of an eclectic framework for combining theoretical conceptual practice models on occupational therapists' theoretical reasoning using concurrent mixed methods with repeated measures and grounded theory designs. Study participants ( = 9) attended two workshops to review select occupational therapy theoretical conceptual practice models and learn how to use the eclectic framework. We assessed skills in eclectic combination of theoretical conceptual practice models using the Theory Application Assessment Instrument.

The Immediate Effect of African Drumming on the Mental Well-Being of Adults With Mood Disorders: An Uncontrolled Pretest-Posttest Pilot Study.

Objective: This pilot study is the first to examine the effects of an occupational therapist-led African drumming group on mental well-being among adult psychiatric inpatients with mood disorders.

Method: We used a quasi-experimental, uncontrolled, one-group, pretest-posttest design. We collected data for six different drumming groups (N = 13) using the Stellenbosch Mood Scale, the Primary Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale, and the Enjoyment of Interaction Scale.

Reconsidering the "Asphalt Identikit".

Background/Aim The "asphalt identikit" theory suggests that driving cessation inevitably leads to feelings of incompetence and dependency. This article challenges this proposition by investigating the driving-related possible selves of British older adults living in West London. Methods Thematic analysis of data from 19 of 39 interviews in which older adults participating in a larger study talked about driving in the context of their grocery shopping.

Food Activities and Identity Maintenance Among Community-Living Older Adults: A Grounded Theory Study.

Objective: Engaging in food activities and maintaining identity are each important for productive aging. This study explored the role of food activities in identity maintenance among community-living older adults.

Method: We used a grounded theory approach to analyze data collected in semistructured interviews with 39 predominantly White, British older adults living in West London.

Food activities and identity maintenance in old age: a systematic review and meta-synthesis.

Objectives: Services provided to older people should be developed based on active ageing policies. Nutrition is one aspect of active ageing, but little is known about how food activities contribute to psychological well-being in later life. This is a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative research that answers the question 'What is known about the relationship between food activities and the maintenance of identities in old age?'.

Libraries of life: using life history books with depressed care home residents.

Depression is a common, and often undetected, psychiatric disorder in geriatric care home residents. Reminiscence, an independent nursing therapy used by a variety of health and social care professionals, can prevent or reduce depression. This practice development project explored the use of reminiscence life history books as an interpersonal therapeutic tool with 3 depressed care-home residents living in residential care and skilled nursing facilities.