Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Testing an Occupation-Based Cultural Group Intervention for Residents in Long-Term Care Settings

In today's society adults are living longer and one challenge these adults face is a relocation that often happens late in life when they are no longer able to live independently, whether that is for financial, physical or cognitive reasons. Some of these adults are leaving their life long homes where they raised their families to move closer to their children (or move in with their children). Some are moving to retirement communities, long term care facilities, or into assisted living. Whatever the reason they are leaving these people are just looking to be able to call some place "home" again.

The purpose of this study was to look at the effect occupation-based cultural heritage intervention (OBCHI). The intent of the intervention was to improve the occupational adaptation process for older adults who experience recent relocation.The group was led by a well trained activity staff and met twice a week for 4 weeks.

The quality of life index was used to measure the effectiveness of intervention given to the experimental group (n= 13) compared to those in the control group (n=8).  Those participants that experienced OBCHI demonstrated significant improvement in physical health and significant improvement in quality of life compared with those in the control group. Physical health was measured by a physician at the LTC facility. Follow up interviews were given 1 month after last intervention to show positive long last effects on quality of life. 

Results provide insights into the transition and adaptation to new environment in LTC settings and a perspective of the relationship between a cultural intervention and quality of life. A larger study would be beneficial to see if the results could be better generalized to the overall growing population of older adults. 

I chose to read this article because I am facilitating a group session on taking care of aging parents and I wanted to read the effects of a group intervention on easing the transition to a new environment for aging adults.

Pei-Fen Chang, Anlee Birch-Evans, Harriett Davidson, Gayle Hersch, Kai-Li Tsai; Testing an occupation-based cultural group intervention for residents in long-term care settings. American Journal of Occupational Therapy 2017;71(4_Supplement_1):7111520284p1. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2017.71S1-PO3161.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leadership Summit

On Tuesday, March 6, I met with my fellow classmates to discuss our group facilitation procedures we will be implementing during our life skills group sessions. We each introduced our topics and each went through our protocol and discussed each of Cole's 7 steps and how we are addressing each step throughout our group session. We all had different topics we selected such as communication, providing care for aging parents, seeking volunteer opportunities, and home management. Open discussion occurred and feedback was provided when discussing concerns about goals or if we had any suggestions on modifying their current protocol. The leadership summit session helped me feel more confident in my work and gave me insight on what the group member's experience might be like when implementing my group intervention on Wednesday, March 7.
Read more

Foundations Finale

Today we had a final debriefing of probably the most important course we have taken in our first term of occupational therapy school. The reason I found this class to be so important was it really built our foundation of our knowledge of what OT is, and the process that goes into working effectively with clients in various settings no matter their disability or background. Starting OT school you think you have a good idea of what OT is and what they do, and you probably do. However, the profession is so much more broad than you can ever imagine and the possibilities are endless. We learned all about the OT process from the time you initially meet your client, to implementation planning, until you discharge them hopefully more independent than when they were referred to OT. Although these past couple of weeks have been so overwhelming and stressful, I feel now more than ever that I am where I am meant to be.
Read more

TBI and how it changes everything

I have always had an interest in working with trauma patients in Occupational Therapy. The human brain is an amazing thing and how it can sustain such injury and recover is somewhat of a miracle. However, TBI's can change you. My boyfriend's step dad acquired a TBI after being bucked off a mule on a pavement road. It took months of recovery and he was able to return back to work but he has told me first hand he lost many of his friends due to his accident because people said he changed and didn't know how to act around him. I've talked to him first hand on his experience because the accident happened before I knew him so to me he's just then same sweet Kevin I've always known. Kevin has told me that this has affected his confidence and he doesn't see the same person when he looks in the mirror anymore. He also lost his sense of smell which affects his taste and he doesn't even like the same foods as before. I just feel that people should be more aware
Read more