Background. “Recovery” is the new mantra for reforming the mental health system and occupational therapists have embraced the change. Purpose. To critically examine the concept of recovery across ...five dimensions: clarity, simplicity, generality, accessibility, and importance. Key Issues. The implicit assumption that the recovery concept is universally applicable is challenged. This examination raises concerns about the application of the recovery concept cross culturally, across the lifespan, and at different levels of service delivery. Implications. The meaning and application of the recovery concept will need to be cautiously applied to populations traditionally underserved by the mental health care system, including seniors, visible minorities, children and youth, recent immigrants, and refugees. Research exploring the meaning and process of recovery across diverse groups and at different levels of service delivery is needed. Occupational therapists must continue to critically examine the concept of recovery to position our field thoughtfully and inclusively within mental health care reform.
It has been reported that up to 50% of patients receiving mental health services disengage from treatment, with adolescents and young adults being particularly at high risk. Even in the context of ...specialized services in youth mental health, such as early intervention programs for psychosis, disengagement rates remain high. There is a need for extensive and innovative efforts to address the issue of service disengagement in first-episode psychosis (FEP). A multi-dimensional understanding of the phenomenon of engagement can help to inform the development of strategies to address this important clinical issue. In our paper, we propose a conceptual framework for understanding service engagement, provide an overview of the issues pertaining to service engagement in FEP, and suggest future directions for research and practice.
Despite acknowledging the importance of knowledge translation (KT), the occupational therapy profession has demonstrated only emerging KT activity. Organizations are seen as playing an important role ...in supporting KT. To date, there have been no known attempts to explore KT activities conducted by occupational therapy organizations in Canada. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe KT activities occurring in Canadian occupational therapy organizations. An environmental scan was used to identify KT activities. The websites of occupational therapy national and provincial associations and/or regulatory bodies and the educational programs were searched. A Knowledge Mobilization Matrix (KMM) website was applied to each organizational website. The total KMM scores were highest for universities and lowest for regulatory organizations. The type and nature of the KT activities varied according to the type of organization. Canadian occupational therapy leadership organizations play an important role in supporting KT.
Background. Photovoice is a participatory action research method combining photography and group work to give people an opportunity to record and reflect on their daily lives.
Purpose. To review the ...use of Photovoice in health research and consider the implications for occupational therapy research.
Methods. Literature review, guided by a scoping framework, reveals the purposes, rationales and populations with whom Photovoice has been used.
Findings. From 351 documents retrieved, 191 original studies were surveyed; 68% were peer-reviewed. The majority of studies (76%) occurred within the public health domain and a smaller percentage (24%) with individuals experiencing a specific illness and/or disability, with very few (2%) documented in the occupational therapy literature.
Implications. Photovoice provides a useful framework to apply a participant-centred research approach on occupational participation. It is important to consider and further examine ethical and methodological issues related to stigma, physical and cognitive capacities, mobility and technical accessibility related to using this method.
Relapse after first-episode psychosis (FEP) is a major clinical challenge for specialized early intervention services. Understanding patient perspectives on factors contributing to relapse can inform ...the development of risk assessments and preventive interventions. The objective of this study was to identify factors that may contribute to and prevent relapse from the perspectives of patients receiving services for FEP. Data from 25 participants across four focus groups in Canada were analyzed with a descriptive content analysis approach. Twelve factors were identified, of which four (social environment, technology use, medication, and lifestyle behaviors) had both contributory and preventive roles. In descending order of frequency, risk factors for relapse included substance use; unsupportive social environment; technology use; taking and not taking medication; lack of sleep; work, career, or school stress; significant life events; symptoms of depression or mania; generalized worry; and financial stress. Preventive factors consisted of having a supportive social environment, using technology, taking medication, using coping strategies, and engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors and meaningful activities. These findings extend the literature on relapse vulnerability and protective factors. Importantly, the factors identified in this study are modifiable, and thereby provide insights for the development and optimization of relapse risk assessments and preventive interventions.
Evidence on co-occurring mental health problems in youth with physical disabilities is growing, however how services are provided remains unclear. This study examined current interprofessional ...rehabilitation practices for physical and mental health services.
Youth (aged 15-24) followed for a physical disability that had mental health problems were identified. Chart reviews were used to identify practices. Mental health-related diagnoses/symptoms, assessments, goals, interventions, and referrals were extracted for inductive content analysis.
Sixty charts were reviewed. Mental health problems included anxiety (
= 53), depression (
= 25), neurodevelopmental (
= 19) and personality disorders (
= 8), often (
= 36) citing more than one. No mental health assessments were found, and in 43%, no goals or interventions were evident. Relevant goals (
= 98) targeted emotional management, autonomy/communication of needs, acceptance of physical condition, socialization, routines/energy levels, school/work supports, and leisure/calming environments. Interventions (
= 104) included emotional management, formal individual/group therapy, links with external supports, routines/activities, reflection/acceptance, and school/work support. Mental health services were received in-house (
= 24) and/or externally (
= 30), plus 18 referrals pending and 14 not referred.
Many had more than one mental health problem, suggesting the complexity of their condition. While some mental health goals/interventions are documented, problems may often not be reported or addressed in this context.
The foliage of mulberry, Morus indica, serves as feed for the silkworm, and developing elite cultivars of this species is thus vital for the sericulture industry. However, due to lack of information ...on the molecular control of its cellular metabolism, it is difficult to design strategies for genetic engineering for improvement of this species of immense economic importance. We report here the construction of a complementary DNA (cDNA) library from mature leaf of mulberry based on Universal PCR amplification method. The library is enriched in transcripts ranging from 1 to 2 kb. In this study, a total of 1,500 randomly selected clones were isolated and sequenced from the leaf cDNA library of M. indica var. K2. Based on sequence homology with available databases, expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were further assigned into functional categories with protein metabolism (15%), transport (8%), stress-related proteins (9%), energy (5%), and photosynthesis (4%). A large group amongst the total ESTs (22%) did not show any significant homology with known proteins. Several abiotic stress-related clones, including membrane transport proteins like vacuolar Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter, aquaporins, and stress-related proteins like LEA, RD22, dehydrins, and HAL3, were obtained in this library. Some of the selected clones have been characterized further by studying their transcript levels in different tissues as well as under various abiotic stress conditions. The identification of a large number of genes encoding enzymes involved in various secondary metabolites in mulberry opens up new avenues for research on natural product chemistry in mulberry.
We report the fabrication and characteristics of native oxides-interfaced heterovalent GaAs/Ge np heterojunction diodes. The native oxides (GaAs) x O y and Ge x O y were intentionally created as a ...passivation layer for single crystal GaAs surface and single crystal Ge surface via exposing the p-type Ge (2×10 19 cm -3 ) substrate and the released n-type GaAs (2×10 18 cm -3 ) layer in air for different time lengths. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the formation of these oxides and their content variations with the oxidation time lengths. The surface oxidized GaAs and Ge were then put together via chemical bonding with careful consideration of the thermal budget such that atomic inter-diffusion between Ge and GaAs do not occur. The measured current-voltage characteristics of the diodes with different oxidation times were compared showing that the 2-hour air oxidation displays the optimal diode characteristics. This work supports the semiconductor grafting concept where interface passivation is necessary to form high-performance pn abrupt heterojunctions between two single crystalline semiconductors and may provide useful guidance for future applications employing GaAs/Ge heterojunctions.
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