Any Occupational Therapists out there?HELP!?

Question

I'm in my third year reading BSc Occupational Therapy....im supposed to do a reasearch project and am stumped for ideas. I am not allowed to interview ppl outside of my university due to ethics committee rules...please can you help me with ideas for research and also any good books which can help me with Research Methods?

Just a reminder that Occupational Therapy is not exactly the same as Occupational Health Officer.

Answer 1

I'm an OT. Let's brainstorm for a bit shall we?

(1) The effects of stress on students and faculty at the college. For example, you could lead a relaxation/imagery group for a group of student in the dorm to help them reduce stress. Design a questionnaire, and have students rate their stress levels before and after the relaxation session.

(2) You could survey people to determine what their most meaningful occupations are as students and faculty. Maybe you could get people to track their daily activities (work, play, self-care) for a week and then you could create pie charts of how people spend their time. Then, you could compare the charts to determine how different groups of people use their time. You could then use the Model of Human Occupation to assess if most people have (or don't have) an adequate balance between work, play, and self-care.

(3) You could participate in a simulation activity in which you use a wheelchair on campus and in the community for 24 hours or more. You could then write a paper about the physical barriers you experienced and about people's reactions to your assumed disability. Maybe you could get other people at the college (professors, other students, the college president, various deans, or faculty members from non-health departments) to each use a wheelchair on campus for a day. You could then interview these people to get their perspectives on the accessibility of the campus, their ability to successfully (or unsuccessfully) do their job that day, and their perception of others' reactions to them. (3 people usually allows for an interesting comparison)

(4) You could research the benefits and risks of using physioballs for exercise purposes. You could then design a safe exercise program for a specific population (ie. seniors) using a physioball. This could be very effective if you take the time to provide pictures of positions and bind the program into a nice booklet form. A digital camera and a willing model would be helpful.

(5) Interview someone on campus who has cared for an ill or disabled parent, spouse, or child. Talk to them about their role as a caregiver and get their perspective about how difficult or easy it was to be in a caregiving role. Ask if they had an adequate support system and what they would have wanted to do differently if they had to do it all over again.

The possibilities really are endless. Open-ended projects can seem so overwhelming, but in the end, they tend to be the most fun because they offer the most options. Two books that have been recommended to me for research purposes are as follows:

"Introduction to Research: Multiple Strategies for Health and Human Services." By: Elizabeth DePoy and Laura N Gitlin. St. Louis: Mosby, 1998.

"Practical Research: Planning and Design." (8th edition) By: Paul D Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Pearson Prentice Hall Publication, 2005.

Answer 2

Yes, occupational therapists can treat morbidly obese patients. They treat patients of any size. Most do not work with morbidly obese patients everyday. But that is a possibility if you work in a specialized center for the obese or open your own practice. The first thing the occupational therapist would do is find out what the patient has difficulty with. The patient may have difficulties due to obesity, as well as difficulties due to other medical conditions like a stroke, mental illness, or Alzheimer's. Morbid obesity can make lots of every day tasks extremely difficult. An occupational therapist might recommend the patient widen the doors in their house and build a ramp or strong stair railings outside. The OT might recommend a wheelchair and teach the patient to use it. The OT could help the person figure out strategies to use the bathroom and bath independently. These might be simple things like having the patient sit on the toilet facing a different direction so they can reach down there or using a strong shower chair and flexible shower hose instead of sitting in the bathtub. The OT can also help with figuring out how to arrange furniture so that the person can get around and have company. The person may do better with hard, taller chairs so they can get up more easily than a short, soft recliner. The OT may help the person figure out where to keep their pots and pans so they do not have to bend to reach them. The OT might also help the person learn to cook in the microwave if they can't lift their arms enough to keep from getting burnt from the stove. The OT would also help the person deal with quality of life issues. They would help the person figure out hobbies and ways to socialize despite their disabilities. Do you mean how do you get into this as a person who wants OT, or as a person who wants to become an OT? If you want OT, you would need insurance or government assistance. You would ask your doctor or case manager. Becoming an occupational therapist requires a master's degree. So first you would need a bachelor's degree. Then you would apply to master's degree programs in occupational therapy. There are some schools that allow you to do your bachelor's and master's at the same time. You would need to take prerequisite courses like anatomy, physiology, psychology, sociology, etc, depending on the school. You would also need to get observation hours with a current occupational therapist.

Answer 3

I guess it would depend on what the prof is looking for, esp if you are only allowed to interview people at the university.
1. The role of OT viewed by different groups of occupations in the medical field
2. If you have friends in different programs you could do a research project on stress during the college years with different groups ie- married, children, single, working students, etc

Answer 4

You could interview a "high-stress" faculty? If your University has a Faculty of Medicine, ask them what they think about Occupational therapy, whether they could use it, how you think it could benefit them, etc.

Then, interview a "low stress" faculty. I don't know any real low stress faculties, but the Faculty of History, or the Arts, or something like that, and compare the amount of people in the high-stress faculty who said they thought occupational therapy could benefit them versus those in the low-stress faculty?

Answer 5

no, sorry