Research Priority Grant (2009) Not awarded
Research Priority Grant (2008)
Dr Philippa Logan Project title: A study of long term economic consequences of short term stroke occupational therapy rehabilitation
Stroke causes long term functional limitations and although there is evidence that occupational therapy can improve independence, we know very little about its cost and cost effectiveness. The aim of this study is to describe and implement the use of health economic outcome measures in stroke rehabilitation research and produce a health economic model that can predict the long term effects of a short term rehabilitation programme with cost implications. Three linked studies will be completed.
This research will highlight and encourage economic evaluations. It will provide occupational therapists with a guide to the outcome measures to use. It will provide evidence of the most cost effective rehabilitation for policy makers, commissioners and researchers.
Research Career Development Grants (2009)
Gary Derwent Project title: The application of health informatics to rehabilitation goal-setting Abstract
Ten million people in the UK are living with a neurological condition which has a significant impact on their lives. Many of these will undergo rehabilitation to enhance independence and quality of life. A key component of neurological rehabilitation programmes is the technique of goal-setting. Goal-setting has been shown to motivate the client, co-ordinate the multi-disciplinary team and can act as a form of outcome measure. However, the potential of goal-setting is reduced by the lack of agreed and consistent means of storing, processing and displaying goal-setting information to staff and clients. The present project is in two stages: stage one seeks to propose a common data structure for goal-setting information which would be capable of accommodating information from a variety of goal-setting systems. Stage two will develop software tools based on this underlying data structure in order to assist clinical teams in writing goals and automatically producing supporting information.
Jean McQueen Project title: Brief interventions in general hospital (BIG Trial)
Abstract The research will evaluate the effectiveness of brief interventions in reducing alcohol consumption and investigate the role that occupation plays in promoting and sustaining behaviour change for hazardous and harmful alcohol abusers (not alcohol dependent). All admissions to a general hospital will be screened using a standardized tool (FAST Hodgson 2002). Those scoring between 3 and 12 indicative of hazardous/harmful drinking will be invited to participate in the research. A total of 294 patients (based on power calculations) will be recruited and receive either brief intervention and an alcohol and your health leaflet, or just a leaflet. The brief intervention will consist of a 20-minute motivational interview delivered in hospital, encouraging participants to review their alcohol consumption and consider options to reduce it. The primary outcome measure will be units of alcohol consumer per week taken at baseline, six months and one year post-intervention. This will be measured via drinking diaries and self-report data and converted into units of alcohol consumed per week. Qualitative data will be collected via semi-structured interviews at six months and one year to investigate the role that occupation plays in enhancing and sustaining behaviour change and what individuals rate as important enablers and barriers in changing alcohol consumption levels.
Kee Hean Lim Project title: Longitudinal study exploring the value of occupation in the recovery of mental health service users within the Kawa Model framework
Abstract
This longitudinal doctorate study seeks to explore the personal recovery journeys of mental health service users through the period of a year in their lives. Factors that enhance or hinder personal recovery, be it socio-cultural, economic, physical, psychological, environmental or occupational influences, will be examined within the framework of the Kawa Model. Ten participants will be interviewed at 3-monthly intervals over the period of a year. The in-depth qualitative interviews will be analysed via interpretative phenomenological analysis. Participants will also keep a personal journal that maps their own recovery journey through their year, with the aim of promoting greater awareness, personal involvement and influence in determining their own recovery process.
Research Career Development Grant (2008)
Dr Louise Sewell Project title: Daily activity patterns and the effect of energy conservation advice in clients with CPD
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a major cause of disability in the UK. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has been shown to improve physical activity in clients with COPD and is recommended as an essential element in the management of COPD. Energy conservation advice, delivered by occupational therapists, is an integral part of PR education programmes. It is assumed that clients with COPD require energy conservation advice in order to attain optimum levels of independence in ADL. However the extract patterns of daily activity have not been previously measured in the COPD population. Similarly, the effect of energy conservation advice has not been explored. This study aims to describe the daily activity profile of clients with COPD using activity monitors and seeks to establish if energy conservation advice has an impact upon the daily routine of a client with COPD as measured by activity monitors and the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure.
Institute of Social Psychiatry Scholarship (2009)
Rachel Wakefield Project title: An investigation into the relationship between forensic staff attitudes and forensic service users’ experiences of interventions to promote community participation
Forensic mental health services are expected to promote the social inclusion (community participation) of their service users, balancing this against their distinguishing clinical role, risk management. Current social inclusion literature fails to address or resolve the tension between forensic mental health policy and practice. To date, practice-based evidence suggests that the frequency of socially inclusive occupations is inadequate and the clinical effectiveness of such experiences is contingent on the attitudes of the staff members involved. Moreover, the importance of understanding attitudes to vulnerable marginalised groups is being recognised as key to the development of acceptable and successful rehabilitation initiatives. With regard to social inclusion, occupational therapists occupy a crucial position within forensic services, working at the interface between institutional care and community participation. Improving the understanding of factors (staff attitudes) impacting on social inclusion may inform services as to the role and value of forensic occupational therapy within community reintegration. The objective of this research is to provide a conceptual review of social inclusion in forensic mental health with the view to developing a measure of social inclusion for use within forensic mental health settings.
Pressalit Care Research Award (2009)
Brian Abraham Project title: Determining the relationship between the forces applied and the space required when manoeuvring four-caster chairs with heavy occupants (100kg)
Architectural access is crucial to enablement and occupational therapists have a prime role providing guidance. However, most published architectural guidance is of a general nature and occupational therapists work with individuals for whom the pattern of physical, psychological and social details is highly specific. This is certainly so for assisted wheelchair users. Not least some wheelchair occupants are heavy, others light, some assistants are older with reduced strength and others are employees with multiple manoeuvring tasks. The broad aim is to provide access assessment methods which take account of specifics: vehicle, body shape, ability and architectural layout preferences and thus also allow resources to be targeted on individual needs and preferences. The project will measure forces applied during assisted four-caster vehicles (glide-about commodes, shower chairs, mobile hoists) manoeuvres. A method of determining which access spaces do and do not require assistants to apply hazardously large forces to make the manoeuvres will result.
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