Effects of school-based occupational therapy program for children with disabilities in elementary school in Korea: a case study.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this case study was to explore the effects of a school-based occupational therapy on children's attention, school adaptation, sensory processing, and motor function for children in special classes in elementary school in Korea. CASE PRESENTATION: The subjects of this study were a 7-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder and a 9-year-old girl with intellectual disability. The school-based occupational therapy program consisted of 10 sessions and was conducted once a week for an hour and a half. The program consisted of classroom activities, use of school facilities, emotional management, and activities based on sensory integration, and was conducted as individual and group programs according to sessions. As a result of the study, all improved when the pre- and post-scores of the two children's attention assessment, school adjustment scale, sensory processing evaluation tool for the children in school and BOT-2-SF were compared. CONCLUSIONS: Although the results from two cases cannot be generalized, the findings suggest the school-based occupational therapy program may help a positive effect on the school life of children with disabilities. Further investigation is necessary.

Effects of Stroke Lesions and Timing of Rehabilitation on the Compensatory Movement Patterns During Stroke Recovery.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to distinguish between behavioral compensation and behavioral recovery and to determine the role of stroke lesions and the optimal timing of rehabilitation in true recovery. DESIGN: Single pellet reaching test has been performed to analyze both quantitative and qualitative measures of forelimb function in a stroke animal model with lesions in the motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, or sensorimotor cortex. The four gestures of compensatory movement patterns that comprised a reach were head lift, limb withdrawal, pellet chasing, and phantom grasp. RESULTS: Functional recovery improved in all the stroke groups after rehabilitation ( P < 0.001). However, the compensatory movement patterns of the motor cortex and somatosensory cortex stroke groups initially increased and subsequently decreased ( P = 0.0054), whereas those of the sensorimotor cortex stroke group increased and persisted ( P = 0.0063). In the sensorimotor cortex stroke group, compensatory movement patterns significantly decreased when training was initiated 5 and 14 days after stroke ( P = 0.0083, P = 0.0226, respectively), while they increased and persisted when training was initiated 1 day after stroke. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that true recovery by task-specific training after stroke depends, probably, on the lesion size and the timing of rehabilitation.

The Relationship Among Leisure Activities, Depression and Quality of Life in Community-Dwelling Elderly Koreans.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the relationship among leisure activities, depression, and quality of life of community-dwelling elderly in Korea. METHODS: We assessed 100 community-dwelling older adults. Leisure participation and leisure exploration were assessed by using the leisure participation for the elderly. Depression was measured using the Korean version of the Short Form of Geriatric Depression Scale, and quality of life was assessed using EQ-5D. Statistical analysis was performed using the independent-sample t test, the chi-square test, Spearman correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: EQ-5D scores of the depression group were significantly higher (p < .01). Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and EQ-5D scores showed a significant correlation with leisure participation and leisure exploration. Furthermore, leisure satisfaction was a significant factor in depressive symptoms (ß = -.320, p < .01). There was a significant correlation between depression or quality of life and leisure activities corresponding to games, social activities, cultural activities, outings, and information and communication. CONCLUSION: This study showed that leisure participation and leisure exploration of the elderly were significantly related to depression and quality of life. Social, emotional, active, and productive activities were the leisure activities that positively affected depression and quality of life.

The Development of Leisure Participation Assessment Tool for the Elderly.

OBJECTIVES: This study is aimed at developing multidimensional leisure participation assessment tool for the elderly to achieve quantitative and qualitative assessment of leisure participation and leisure exploration. METHODS: This study collected preliminary items through literature review, statistical office data, and survey of the elderly's leisure activities and considered the list of leisure activities as assessment items by conducting a Delphi survey. Reliability was verified through internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The assessment tool was finally confirmed using content validity and discriminant validity. RESULTS: A total of 81 leisure items classified into 8 categories and 22 subcategories were obtained through data collection and Delphi survey. Cronbach's α value was 0.939, and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was 0.941. A content validity test was confirmed by validating that I-CVI was 0.78 or more and the S-CVI was 0.95. According to the result of discriminant validity, there was a difference in the number of participating leisure activities and leisure activities with participation intention by age. CONCLUSION: The leisure participation assessment tool for the elderly developed in this study can obtain information on the overall view of the leisure of the elderly by measuring leisure exploration, leisure participation, and interference factor affecting leisure participation.