Occupational therapy students' perceptions of their cultural awareness and competency.

Occupational therapy students' perceptions of cultural awareness and their self-rated level of cultural competence were investigated. Seventy-two participants at four stages of education (on entry, on completion of university-based studies, on completion of fieldwork and one year following graduation) completed the Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity Questionnaire. The findings indicate that occupational therapy students graduated with an understanding of cultural diversity and the realization that cultural awareness and sensitivity are essential to culturally competent practice.

Development of a Chinese version of the Modified Barthel Index-- validity and reliability.

Objective: To establish the structural validity of the Chinese version of the Modified Barthel Index and to estimate its inter-rater reliability for use with patients who have had a stroke.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: A regional general hospital and a day hospital in Hong Kong.

Performance on figure ground perception following stroke induced hemiplegia: a compairson of pre-and post-rehabilitation with the neurologically unimpaired.

This article compares performance times on the Figure Ground Perception (FGP) of the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) in persons with stroke-induced hemiplegia and unimpaired older persons. Two hundred and twelve right dominant persons with hemiplegia on admission and discharge from comprehensive rehabilitation and 321 neurologically unimpaired persons in the community were evaluated on the FGP subtests of the SIPT. There were significant differences in performance between unimpaired persons and those with hemiplegia following a stroke.

Teacher stress and coping strategies used to reduce stress.

This pilot study investigated teachers' symptoms of stress and their coping strategies. Measurements of 'stress levels' and 'coping strategies' used were acquired by constructing a questionnaire made up of four individual standardized questionnaires. The data were analysed by a series of correlational analyses that highlighted significant relationships between ways of coping and levels of distress.