Disability, Pity, and the Workplace.

Purpose: The purpose is to examine perceptions of pity directed toward people with disabilities to gain a deeper understanding of the effect of these perceptions on the employment success of people with disabilities and to provide direction to disability-related training and strategic planning in the workplace.

Methods: Two studies were developed to explore these relationships. The first measured the characteristics most frequently associated with people with disabilities in the workplace.

Teaching and Evaluating an Occupational Perspective in Canada: A Descriptive Qualitative Study.

Occupation is the core domain of occupational therapy, and an occupational perspective is foundational for practice. Research has explored how an occupational perspective is taught. Yet, little has explored the Canadian occupational therapy educational context.

Understanding occupation in Canada: Recent graduates' perspectives.

Background: A robust occupational perspective can fortify an occupational therapist's professional identity, which is especially important as occupational therapists can struggle with professional identity. Occupational therapy curricula are critical to the development of an occupational perspective. Recent graduates can offer valuable insights on an occupational perspective, having transitioned from occupation-centred curricula into often medicalised practice settings.

A mixed-methods study exploring and comparing the experiences of people who sustained a spinal cord injury earlier versus later in life.

Study Design: Mixed-methods.

Objectives: (1) To explore psychosocial and quality of life outcomes between those injured early versus later in life, and (2) to explore their post-injury experiences.

Setting: GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre, Vancouver, Canada.

The Impact of COVID-19-Related Restrictions on Social and Daily Activities of Parents, People With Disabilities, and Older Adults: Protocol for a Longitudinal, Mixed Methods Study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to wide-scale changes in societal organization. This has dramatically altered people's daily activities, especially among families with young children, those living with disabilities such as spinal cord injury (SCI), those who have experienced a stroke, and older adults.

Objective: We aim to (1) investigate how COVID-19 restrictions influence daily activities, (2) track the psychosocial effects of these restrictions over time, and (3) identify strategies to mitigate the potential negative effects of these restrictions.

Integrated Knowledge Translation Guiding Principles for Conducting and Disseminating Spinal Cord Injury Research in Partnership.

Objective: To address a gap between spinal cord injury (SCI) research and practice by rigorously and systematically co-developing integrated knowledge translation (IKT) guiding principles for conducting and disseminating SCI research in partnership with research users.

Design: The process was guided by the internationally accepted The Appraisal of Guidelines for REsearch & Evaluation (AGREE) II Instrument for evaluating the development of clinical practice guidelines.

Setting: North American SCI research system (ie, SCI researchers, research users, funders).

A cognitive occupation-based programme for people with multiple sclerosis: A new occupational therapy cognitive rehabilitation intervention.

Introduction: Cognitive difficulties have been reported to have the greatest effect on function and quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis, affecting 50-60% of people. To date, few interventions have been developed to treat cognitive issues in multiple sclerosis. Here we report on a Cognitive Occupation-Based programme (COB-MS) for people with Multiple Sclerosis an evidence-based intervention to address everyday problems encountered due to cognitive difficulties.

"Waiting for Science to Catch up with Practice": an examination of 10-year YouTube trends in discussions of chronic cerebral spinal venous insufficiency treatment for multiple sclerosis.

: The objective of this longitudinal study examined, first, whether people with multiple sclerosis who previously advocated for angioplasty to treat chronic cerebral spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) through YouTube continued reporting benefits. Second, it examined a new cohort reporting on CCSVI treatment, and third, whether perspectives have changed.: YouTube videos from August 2011 to January 2019 related to CCSVI were retrieved.

Multiple sclerosis self-management model: Personal and contextual requirements for successful self-management.

Objective: To explore self-management strategies used by people with multiple sclerosis (MS) with aim of developing a MS self-management model.

Methods: A grounded theory approach guided development of a MS self-management model. Eighteen individuals living with MS for three or more years and self-identifying as successfully managing their MS were interviewed twice using semi-structured face-to-face or telephone interviews six months apart.

Upper Limb Intention Tremor in Multiple Sclerosis: An Evidence-Based Review of Assessment and Treatment.

Background: To present the current knowledge on the characteristics, assessment, and treatment of upper limb intention tremor to inform and improve future intervention studies in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), we conducted a literature review for articles on upper limb intention tremor in patients with MS.

Methods: Two reviewers conducted searches in PubMed, Web of Science, and MEDLINE (Ovid). Relevant articles, sorted on inclusion criteria, were examined for descriptions and assessments of upper limb intention tremor, and intervention studies were evaluated based on treatment type.

Occupational Performance Issues of Adults Seeking Bariatric Surgery for Obesity.

Objective: We sought to describe the occupational performance issues of a sample of bariatric surgery candidates and to explore the relationships among occupational performance, satisfaction with performance, demographic characteristics, and mental health factors.

Method: We reviewed the health records of 241 bariatric surgery candidates and analyzed their scores on the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and standardized mental health questionnaires.

Results: Exercise and eating behavior were the most common occupational performance issues.

Occupational therapy private practice workforce: Issues in the 21st century: La main-œuvre en ergothérapie dans le secteur privé : Les enjeux du 21 siècle.

Background: The number of occupational therapists working in the private sector in British Columbia (BC) has risen steadily since 2008, employing approximately 25.7% of occupational therapists by 2012. Processes used to determine workforce needs for occupational therapists in BC have previously overlooked this growing sector.

Ascribing Meaning to Occupation: An Example From Healthy, Working Mothers.

Ascribing meaning to occupation is a multifaceted process. Understanding this process is illusive, yet fundamental to theory and practice. The objective is to describe the meaning that mothers ascribe to their occupations.

Occupational Therapists' Views of Nussbaum's Life Capability: An Exploratory Study.

Life Capability is the first and most fundamental of Nussbaum's 10 Central Human Functional Capabilities (CHFCs). This capability refers to a person having a quality life of normal duration. The purpose of this study was to explore the views' of occupational therapists about Life Capability, specifically, their perspectives of this capability and its perceived relevance to practice.

Social Media Representation of Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency Intervention for Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: We conducted a rigorous review of videos related to multiple sclerosis (MS) and chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) treatment posted by people with MS on one social media website (YouTube) that describe symptoms before and after the surgical procedure, as well as videos presented by health-care professionals (HCPs).

Methods: All relevant videos posted from December 2009 to July 2011 were downloaded, viewed, and systematically organized. Categorical data were classified, and dominant messages were gleaned.

Measurement properties of eating behavior self-assessment tools in adult bariatric surgery populations: a systematic review.

The present study aims to identify the range of eating behavior self-assessment tools reported in the adult bariatric surgery literature and evaluate the measurement properties of these tools using pre-established criteria. This systematic review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. This review revealed the use of 20 distinct tools; however, evidence for measurement properties specific to bariatric surgery populations was limited to only ten of these tools, as reported in 14 papers.

The multiple sclerosis self-management scale: clinicometric testing.

Background: The Multiple Sclerosis Self-Management Scale (MSSM) is currently the only measure that was developed specifically to address self-management among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). While good internal consistency (α = 0.85) and construct validity have been demonstrated, other psychometric properties have not been established.

Feasibility of sensory tongue stimulation combined with task-specific therapy in people with spinal cord injury: a case study.

Background: Previous evidence suggests the effects of task-specific therapy can be further enhanced when sensory stimulation is combined with motor practice. Sensory tongue stimulation is thought to facilitate activation of regions in the brain that are important for balance and gait. Improvements in balance and gait have significant implications for functional mobility for people with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI).

Sharing the agenda: pondering the politics and practices of occupational therapy research.

Aims: Occupational therapists espouse a client-centred philosophy of practice, yet little attention has been given to pondering the politics or client-centred practices of occupational therapy research. The aim of this paper is thus to foster reflection on occupational therapy's commitment to client-centredness in the practice of occupational therapy research.

Major Findings: Occupational therapy research is not consistently undertaken in a collaborative manner.

Health of people with spinal cord injury in Singapore: implications for rehabilitation planning and implementation.

Purpose: This study aimed to provide a broad overview of the health of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) in Singapore, so as to highlight areas of potential need. These areas could then guide future research and rehabilitation programme development.

Methods: Demographic data, injury information and information about SCI-related secondary impairments, chronic conditions and their associated risk factors, medical and hospital utilisation, participation (Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique) and life satisfaction (Satisfaction with Life Scale) were collected via interviews from people living with traumatic SCI.

Managing fatigue following spinal cord injury: a qualitative exploration.

Purpose: To identify, from the perspectives of people with spinal cord injury (SCI), (a) appropriate components of a fatigue management programme; and (b) important outcomes or indicators of success.

Method: Collaborative, qualitative methodology comprising four focus groups undertaken simultaneously in Kelowna, Prince George, Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Participants included a purposive sample of 21 men and women with complete and incomplete SCI of high and low tetraplegia and paraplegia.

Types and categories of personal projects: a revelatory means of understanding human occupation.

Choice of activity and the way it is described may have little to do with the presence of disease and may or may not align with predetermined conceptual or practice frameworks. The present study examines data previously collected by use of Personal Projects Analysis (PPA) in order to compare the types of projects listed by people with and without multiple sclerosis and to compare the categories of projects selected by both groups to those pre-established in the literature. Secondary analysis tests the differences and similarities in the types of personal projects between two groups, multiple sclerosis (n = 38) and control group (n = 25), matched for demographic characteristics.

Employment after spinal cord injury: the impact of government policies in Canada.

The British Columbia Paraplegic Association (BCPA) sought a research partnership to evaluate where its activities should be focused. A survey of members with disabilities of the BCPA included questions on employment and identified three priorities related to employment. These were the need for assistance in finding appropriate work, the impact of policies of government and insurance agencies, and attitudes of employers.

Community participation after spinal cord injury.

Objectives: To describe participation among a community-based sample of adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to explore the relationship between participation and life satisfaction.

Design: Survey.

Setting: Community.