Associate Professor Samantha Ashby

Introduction: As the rate of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among military personnel and military veterans continues to rise, occupational therapists are increasingly concerned with the impact of this disorder on health, occupational performance, and quality of life. However, the literature on occupational therapy for military personnel and military veterans with PTSD has not been summarised. Method: The objective was to identify what is known from the published, peer-reviewed literature, about the services provided by occupational therapists to military personnel and military veterans experiencing PTSD. Arksey and O¿Malley's five steps for scoping reviews were utilised. A search of three databases identified 27 articles. Results: Of the 27 papers reviewed, 13 papers discussed military personnel, 13 for military veterans, and 1 reported on both populations. Of these 27, 9 research papers provided data to support the efficacy of interventions, whereas 2 papers reported occupational performance issues. Eight opinion and eight service description papers were included. The most commonly mentioned interventions across the reviewed papers were stress and anger, or coping skills (n¿=¿11), returning to duty (n¿=¿9), physical training (n¿=¿7), and sleep hygiene (n¿=¿6). Conclusion: Occupational therapists provide services to military personnel who are vulnerable to PTSD from combat and operational stress. Rarely did publications address intervention efficacy for military personnel. Additionally, there is a paucity of literature that addresses occupational therapy interventions following transition from military service for veterans with PTSD specific to facilitating reintegration to civilian life. Despite this, occupational therapists are well suited to enable military veterans to build upon their existing strengths, skills, and professional identities to minimise the impact of PTSD on daily life and to reach their full potential.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the injured worker¿s perspective of experiences with their workplace return to work coordinator (RTWC), and explore some of the barriers they encountered in the return to work process. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten injured workers from New South Wales, Australia. The thematic analysis of transcripts was completed. Findings: The findings provide an insight into the experiences of injured workers and their relationship with RTWCs. Five key themes emerged from the data: return to work experiences and the RTWC role, high turnover and lack of consistency in the role, RTWC ¿ideal¿, knowledge and skills, communication skills and the RTWC role and GP visits privacy and conflict of interest with peer RTWCs. Practical implications: The role of the workplace RTWC in the return to work process for injured workers is important and these findings are highly relevant to the return to work sector. Consistency within the role at the workplace and careful consideration of the specific traits and characteristics required by an individual to perform the role need to be observed during the selection process by employers when appointing a workplace RTWC to assist injured workers return to work. Originality/value: This is the first Australian study to examine the injured workers views and experiences with the workplace RTWC and other factors that shape the return to work process.

The aim of the study was to compare the changes in the prevalence of pressure injuries from 2008 to 2014 in relation to staff behaviour in acute/subacute inpatient care settings. In 2008, the large regional health district Hunter New England Local Health District implemented an initiative called the Crystal Model which resulted in changes in their policy and an e-learning education program for all nursing staff. A retrospective cross sectional study compared data from the 2008, 2010 and 2014 point prevalence surveys of PI in acute services. These were collected as part of an annual pressure injury prevention and management quality audit for adult inpatients. The total number of participants included 1407 participants in 2008, 1331 participants in 2010 and 1199 participants in 2014. From 2008 to 2014 there was a 15.7% decrease in percentage of patients with hospital-acquired pressure injuries and the percentages of each stage of pressure of injury 1¿4 decreased. From 2008 to 2014 the completion and documentation of risk assessment, the documentation of repositioning and the implementation of pressure-relieving equipment increased. A multifactorial model can reduce the prevalence of pressure injuries in acute inpatient settings. The theories of knowledge translation and the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour can be utilised to analyse changes in health professionals habituated pressure injury prevention practice.

Background/aim: Professional practise placements in occupational therapy education are critical to ensuring graduate competence. Australian occupational therapy accreditation standards allow up to 200 of a mandated 1000 placement hours to include simulation-based learning. There is, however, minimal evidence about the effectiveness of simulation-based placements compared to traditional placements in occupational therapy. We evaluated whether occupational therapy students completing a 40¿hour (one week block) Simulated Clinical Placement (SCP) attained non-inferior learning outcomes to students attending a 40 hour Traditional Clinical Placement (TCP). Methods: A pragmatic, non-inferiority, assessor-blinded, multicentre, randomised controlled trial involving students from six Australian universities was conducted. Statistical power analysis estimated a required sample of 425. Concealed random allocation was undertaken with a 1:1 ratio within each university. Students were assigned to SCP or TCP in one of three settings: vocational rehabilitation, mental health or physical rehabilitation. SCP materials were developed, manualised and staff training provided. TCPs were in equivalent practice areas. Outcomes were assessed using a standardised examination, unit grades, the Student Practice Evaluation Form-Revised and student confidence survey. A generalised estimating equation¿approach was used to assess non-inferiority of the SCP to the TCP. Results: Of 570 randomised students (84% female), 275 attended the SCP and 265 the TCP (n¿=¿540, 94.7% retention). There were no significant differences between the TCP and SCP on (i) examination results (marginal mean difference 1.85, 95% CI: 0.46¿3.24; P¿=¿0.087); (ii) unit score (mean (SD) SCP: 71.9 (8.8), TCP: 70.34 (9.1); P¿=¿0.066); or (iii) placement fail rate, assessed using the Student Practice Evaluation Form-Revised (100% passed both groups). Conclusion: Students can achieve equivalent learning outcomes in a 40 hour simulated placement to those achieved in a 40 hour traditional placement. These findings provide assurance to students, educators and professional accreditation bodies that simulation can be embedded in occupational therapy education with good effect.

Introduction: Goal-setting in client-centred occupational therapy is often problematic. The Assessment of Client's Enablement was developed to measure the gap between an occupational therapist's and client's ratings of occupational performance. This study examines the reliability and convergent validity of the assessment. Method: The assessment was used by 22 occupational therapists with 44 clients. Convergent validity was examined between the assessment (client, occupational therapist and gap scores), Canadian Occupational Performance Measure performance and Functional Independence Measure scores. Test¿retest reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient. Forty-four clients participated in the test¿retest reliability study. Findings: Good-to-moderate correlation was found in the assessment scores (intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.86, 0.95 and 0.78 for client, occupational therapist and gap scores, respectively). The validation study was completed by 34 clients. The correlation between Canadian Occupational Performance Measure and Assessment of Client's Enablement scores was significant (client score, Spearman¿s Rank Order Correlation (rs) = 0.47; occupational therapist score, rs = 0.45). The correlation between Functional Independence Measure and the assessment's occupational therapist scores was significant (rs = 0.43). Conclusion: The study confirms the reliability and convergent validity of the Assessment of Client's Enablement. The assessment requires less time to administer than similar instruments and requires no formal training, making it feasible in rehabilitation settings.

Background: While legitimate practice tools have been the subject of debate within the profession, little attention has been paid to psychological frames of reference (PFsOR). Hence, this article explores the ways psychological theories and therapies shape occupation-based practice in mental health settings. Methodology: Narrative inquiry methods and thematic analysis were used to explore the career stories of nine occupational therapists who had worked in mental health practice for more than five years. Findings: Respondents found it difficult to hold onto their occupational focus in the psychology-dominated world of mental health practice. The main themes to emerge were (i) tension between occupation and psychology; (ii) overwhelming pressures to adopt PFsOR; (iii) resistance to PFsOR; and (iv) using PFsOR to enhance professional repertoires. Findings pointed to the need to ensure PFsOR include occupational considerations for occupation-based practice in mental health. Conclusion: A occupation-based perspective means balancing PFsOR with occupation-based considerations, so service-user issues are holistically addressed. There is a need to critically review occupational therapists' use of PFsOR lest their most visible practical actions appear psychologically based rather than occupation based.

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd The development of student-practitioners' practical clinical skills is essential in health professional education. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations are central to the assessment of students performing clinical procedures on simulated patients (actors). While feedback is considered core to learning providing timely, individualised student OSCE feedback is difficult. This study explored the perceptions of students about the multiple factors which shape the utility of e-feedback following an electronic Objective Structured Clinical Examinations, which utilized iPad and specialised software. The e-feedback was trialled in four courses within occupational therapy and physiotherapy pre-professional programs with a cohort of 204 students. Evaluation of student perceptions about feedback was collected using two surveys and eight focus groups. This data showed three factors shaped perceptions of the utility of e- Objective Structured Clinical Examinations feedback: 1) timely accessibility within one day of the assessment, 2) feedback demonstrating examiners' academic literacy and 3) feedback orientated to ways of improving future performance of clinical skills. The study found training in the provision of feedback using IPads and software is needed for examiners to ensure e-feedback meets students' needs for specific, future-oriented e-feedback and institutional requirements for justification of grades.

© 2016 Occupational Therapy Australia Background/aim: The successful development and maintenance of professional identity is associated with professional development and retention in the health workforce. This paper explores students' perspectives on the ways pre-entry experiences and curricula content shape professional identity. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was sent to students enrolled in the final year of entry-level programmes in five countries. Descriptive statistical analyses of data were completed. Results: The results reflect the perceptions of 319 respondents from five countries. Respondents identified professional education (98%) and professional socialisation during placement (92%) as curricula components with the greatest influence on professional identity formation. Discipline-specific knowledge such as, occupation-focussed models and occupational science were ranked lower than these aspects of practice. The students' length of programme and level of entry-level programme did not impact on these results. Conclusion: When designing curricula educators need to be mindful that students perceive practice education and professional socialisation have the greatest affect on professional identity formation. The findings reinforce the need for curricula to provide students with a range of practice experiences, which allow the observation and application of occupation-based practices. It highlights a need for educators to provide university-based curricula activities, which better prepare students for a potential dissonance between explicit occupation-based curricula and observed practice education experiences. The study indicates the need for further research into the role curricula content, and in particular practice education, plays in the multidimensional formation of professional development within entry-level programmes.

Aim: The aim of this analysis is to establish if dietitians have the knowledge, skills and attitude to provide support to other health professional (HP) groups in the provision of weight management advice to overweight/obese patients. Methods: A secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional survey of HPs was undertaken to perform a gap analysis with regard to practices, knowledge, confidence and attitudes in the provision of weight management advice. Survey responses and additional measures (practice, knowledge, confidence and attitude scores) were compared between dietitians and other HPs. Descriptive statistics were undertaken, and differences between group ¿2 tests were performed for nominal data and the Wilcoxon rank sum test for ordinal and non-parametric data. Results: About 100% of dietitians had received initial weight management training and 85% had participated in professional development training, compared with 18 and 19% of HPs, respectively, although 70% believed it was within their scope of practice to provide evidence-based advice. Dietitian respondents achieved a higher median score (maximum 10) in the following areas (practice = 6.5, knowledge = 8.0, confidence = 8.3) when compared with HP respondents (practice = 4.2, knowledge = 7.0, confidence = 5.4). The median attitude score for both groups was 6.0. Conclusions: HPs are receptive to providing evidence-based weight loss messages to overweight/obese clients in their current practice. However, weight management training is required to enhance HPs' knowledge and skills in order to increase confidence and improve practice skills. Dietitians can assist HPs to ensure that clear, consistent, evidence-based messages are delivered to overweight clients throughout the health-care system.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a regional area in Australia to measure nurses' perceptions, practices, and knowledge in regard to providing healthy lifestyle advice to people who are overweight or obese. Responses were compared between geographic regions. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. Of the 79 nurse participants, 68% considered that provision of healthy lifestyle advice was within their scope of practice. Only 28% reported frequently estimating body mass index in the practice setting. Nurses often recommended increasing activity levels (44%), but recommended reducing daily caloric intake less often (25%). Nurses' knowledge about weight management was variable and the proportion of correct answers to knowledge items ranged from 33-99%. Nurses have many opportunities to deliver healthy lifestyle advice in a range of practice settings. The variation in practices and knowledge of nurses indicates a need for improved healthy lifestyle education for undergraduate and practicing nurses.

Background/aim: Practice education is a compulsory component of all entry-level programmes in the health professions. It is used as a teaching strategy to connect theoretical knowledge, such as occupation-focussed models with practice. The study aimed to explore students' perceptions about the influence of practice educators on their understanding of the use of occupation-focussed models in practice. Methods: Using a phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews gained an understanding of six participants' experiences of their practice education. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically. Findings: Three themes emerged from participants' experiences of practice education. 'Explaining the theory-practice nexus' referred to participants' difficulties in distinguishing between different forms of theoretical knowledge, it described educators struggle to fulfil the dual roles of educator and practitioner' when articulating the theoretical knowledge underpinning practice. This often led participants taking an active role in their own learning. 'Experiencing dissonance between university-based studies and the real-world' described the difference between the importance university studies placed on theory in comparison to practice. 'Creating a positive mindset for the use of theoretical knowledge in practice for future practice' illustrated strategies used by some practice educators to articulate the use of theoretical knowledge. Conclusions: The study highlighted practice educators role in shaping students' perceptions of theoretical knowledge use in professional reasoning. The increased recognition of practice educators on the implicit curricula creates an onus on the university sector to provide discussion and information exchanges to increase educators' opportunities to develop, update and increase their skills in describing and using theoretical knowledge to underpin practice.

Background/aim: Obesity affects more than half the Australian population and has become epidemic throughout the world. Little is known regarding occupational therapy interventions with clients who are overweight or obese. This study aimed to identify occupational therapy practice in relation to the provision of weight management. This was part of a larger study investigating health professional practice. Methods: A cross-sectional study design using a self-administered, purpose-designed survey was employed to identify the current practices of occupational therapists working in a regional area of New South Wales, Australia. Participants were recruited via email or mail as publically available. Results: Fifty-one occupational therapists anonymously completed the survey. Results revealed that 53% (n = 26) of respondents did not consider weight management to be within their scope of practice or their workplace role description. The most common intervention was the provision of physical activity advice (65.2%; n = 30). Dietary advice was provided by 20.8% (n = 10), while 77% (n = 32) referred onto dietitian services. During entry-level occupational therapy education, only 7.8% (n = 4) had received weight management advice education. Completion of postgraduate professional development training in this area was reported by 14% (n = 7) of respondents. Conclusion: This study provides insight into the current practices of Australian occupational therapists in relation to the provision of weight management advice. This research displays a need to acknowledge both a generic and a discipline-specific role for the provision of healthy lifestyle interventions. This may be achieved through better access to education during entry-level programmes and in the workplace. © 2013 Occupational Therapy Australia.