The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) is a private graduate institution devoted to health sciences education. Founded in 1979 as the Institute of Physical Therapy, it is headquartered in San Marcos, California. It has campuses in San Marcos and in St. Augustine, Florida; Miami, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Dallas, Texas. The school is owned by the private equity firm Altas Partners.
Formerly incarcerated women (FIW) face personal, societal, and systemic barriers to reintegration. Occupational therapy professionals (OTPs) are called to support marginalized groups and advocate for change. Guided by the Framework of Occupational Justice, this qualitative study examined how barriers and facilitators shape FIW's occupational participation and experiences of occupational injustice. Interviews with 20 FIW explored post-incarceration experiences in home, work, health, and social engagement. Data were analyzed thematically and organized into personal, societal, and systemic categories. Personally, FIW's self-efficacy and drive/persistence rebuilt their occupational identity, while choice overload contributed to occupational imbalance. Societally, support/opportunity, environment, and stigma/discrimination shaped the degree of help received, promoting or hindering occupational alienation. Systemically, parole/probation, state resources, and legislation facilitated reintegration or reinforced continued institutionalization, leading to occupational deprivation. Post-release challenges highlighted OTPs' role and advocacy with FIW.
Low back pain (LBP) is a common cause of activity limitation in individuals that can result in socioeconomic costs up to $200 billion per year. Most cases of LBP lack a known underlying pathology. The L4/L5 motion segment is the most impaired lumbar segment, likely due to high load-bearing function. The ability to model L4/L5 compressive loading from surface electromyography (sEMG) data during dynamic activity may add to the understanding of LBP. Eight volunteers with no history of LBP participated in this study. Muscle activity of the erector spinae, rectus abdominus, and external obliques were recorded by a wireless EMG system (Trigno, Delsys, Natick, MA, USA) during a straight-leg stoop-to-stand task. L4/L5 compressive loading was estimated using a subject-specific sEMG model and validated by comparison with an AnyBody model and publicly available data from OrthoLoad. A specific trendline showed a significant decrease in percent error of estimated force for all muscles. Significantly lower impulse values were estimated by the AnyBody model than the sEMG subject-specific model (p = 0.007). Although our sEMG model was subject to high variability, loading values largely remained within those reported in the literature. Significant variation was found comparing the sEMG model with the AnyBody model, which may validate continued development and testing of personalized measurements of L4/L5 loading.
PURPOSE:Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the school setting need to efficiently locate, evaluate, and utilize research evidence in their clinical practice. This tutorial provides resources focused on the foundational aspects of evidence-based practice (EBP) and its application for SLPs to implement research into clinical practice. METHOD:This tutorial (a) reviews study design and discusses clinical questions best suited to each; (b) provides key tips for extracting information from main sections of research articles; (c) discusses the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) as a clinical and research tool, including actionable steps and examples for using AI in EBP; and (d) provides detailed strategies to increase interaction with research beyond reading articles. RESULTS:School-based SLPs can utilize the information and strategies provided to increase their confidence in evaluating research literature, applying information, and incorporating resources from research articles into their clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS:This tutorial equips school-based SLPs with actionable steps and concrete tools to increase ease and efficiency of applying research evidence into clinical practice. It provides guidance on different study designs, practical strategies to review research articles, and a case study demonstrating these strategies as well as discusses the potential use of AI to support clinicians in generating clinical questions and the steps of the EBP process. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.31652170.
The purpose of this study is to examine experiences of infertility treatment to identify occupational needs and areas of occupational disruption. The data collection consisted of 13 in-depth qualitative interviews collected through recorded interviews via online video with 13 women who have completed infertility treatments. Inductive data analysis found a common theme of occupational disruptions among the women interviewed. The next level of analysis identified subcategories that aligned with the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework. The disruptions in occupations in this study were sleep and rest, leisure, hygiene, work, childcare, sexual activity, and health management. The results include examples of the complexity of women's experiences across occupations. The identified occupational disruptions demonstrate a gap in current infertility care and create an opportunity for occupational therapists to develop individualized intervention plans and offer holistic, client-centered treatment.
Despite the recent surge in the use of telerehabilitation (TR) for neurological disorders, there is a lack of TR programs tailored to persons with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD), particularly in low-resource settings. To address this gap, we aimed to develop a tele-assisted home exercise program for improving balance and functional mobility in PwPD (TELEPORT-PD). An e-Delphi process was conducted with an international, interprofessional team of experts involved in rehabilitation of PwPD. A comprehensive pool of exercises was compiled and evaluated across three rounds of e-Delphi process. Out of 473 exercises pooled from literature and experts, 99 exercises entered the e-Delphi process after deduplication and were categorized under six domains. After consensus, the final program included 42 exercises along with dosage, progression, and safety considerations. The TELEPORT-PD protocol developed through an international, e-Delphi consensus could be adapted for its use in low-resource settings worldwide.
