Publications by authors named "Sharon J Elliott"
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. Findings from the systematic review of occupational therapy for community-dwelling older adults were published in the July/August 2018 issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (Berger et al.
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- The study aimed to test whether it's practical to conduct fall risk screenings in a community event and gather follow-up data on participants' balance confidence and changes made after receiving educational information.
- About 50% of the adults screened were identified as being at risk for falls, and most who planned to make changes to enhance safety did so during the follow-up period.
- Although the study showed promising results in encouraging behavior changes, there was no significant improvement in balance confidence among participants from the start to the end of the follow-up period.
Falls are a serious public health concern among older adults in the United States. Although many fall prevention recommendations exist, such as those published by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) in 2010, the specific role of occupational therapy in these efforts is unclear. This article presents a scoping review of current published research documenting the role of occupational therapy in fall prevention interventions among community-dwelling older adults, structured by the AGS and BGS guidelines.
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- The study involved 663 adults over 50 years old and found a high fall prevalence rate of 62.1%, significantly above the national average of 33%.
- Both younger seniors (ages 50-60) experienced more frequent falls than older age groups, and injuries were reported at 80.3%, with walking being the main cause of falls across all demographics.
- Key results highlighted that women, especially those living alone, experienced more falls and were more likely to inform friends about their incidents, alongside a notable fear of falling leading many to limit their activities.
Purpose: This exploratory study, using a phenomenological framework with ethnographic methodology investigated the use of theory in everyday practice as described by three registered occupational therapists.
Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three practicing occupational therapists. Ethnographic observations and field notes supplemented the data collection.