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Introduction: Successfully maintaining (managing) paid employment can be a challenge as people negotiate the cancer care pathway and survivorship. Little research explores the influence of age on this situation. The purpose of this project was to explore the role of age in managing employment for survivors from age 45 to 64 years. Method: A qualitative descriptive design was conducted to explore the intersection of age and managing employment for cancer survivors. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 United States cancer survivors (lung, breast, colorectal). Interviews were conducted in person or by phone. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Codes were grouped by categories, incorporated into separate topical files, and then aggregated into broader emergent themes. Findings: Survivors are not just "returning" to work after treatment. They are often managing work both during and after treatment. Age may have benefits but can also provide barriers to positive survivorship and employment experiences. Fulfilling the role of employee and maintaining a worker identity was a strong driver for many participants. Again, this was potentially both a support and a barrier. It was discovered that health care providers provided little support to facilitate employment. Conclusion: Age is a factor that is poorly understood but influences both health and personal aspects of the experience of managing paid employment during and after cancer treatment. Occupational therapy practitioners should acknowledge this important role in addressing cancer survivorship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is prevalent in Kentucky and comes with a high cost in care and quality of life for individuals and caregivers affected. Many people living with the condition of TBI have unmet needs. Research among people living with TBI in rural areas is limited. The purposes of this study were to (1) increase understanding of the lived experience of people with TBI and caregivers in rural regions of Kentucky across the continuum of their care and (2) provide their perspectives on barriers and facilitators of optimal function and well-being. Methods:A qualitative descriptive interview study was conducted by a multidisciplinary team. Content analysis was completed with data-derived coding and iterative modifications to analysis, coalescing codes into categories and themes. Results:Thirteen people with TBI and six caregivers participated in the interview. Categories that emerged in analysis included the experiences under each locus of care; themes included relationships, functional competence, and participation in meaningful activity. Conclusion:Relationships represented both barriers and facilitators of well-being. Major unmet needs persisted in terms of medical problems, support for caregivers, community linkages, and participation in meaningful activities. Recommendations are made regarding avenues for addressing unmet needs.Implications for RehabilitationPeople with TBI are living with chronic conditions and may need intensive rehabilitation after the injury and intermittent rehabilitation throughout life to develop and maintain functional competence.Rehabilitation providers need to understand the unique aspects of the rural home environment to which a patient will be discharged (e.g., mountainous terrain, lack of transportation, dimensions of home) and communicate with rural providers directly.Rehabilitation providers need additional focus on improving patient’s and caregiver’s abilities to advocate for themselves.Patients with TBI should be referred to vocational rehabilitation as soon as possible to make the transition to meaningful activity at home more of a possibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine rural Appalachian Kentucky stroke survivors’ and caregivers’ experiences of receiving education from health care providers with the long‐term goal of optimizing educational interactions and interventions for an underserved population. Methods: An interprofessional research team, representing nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech language pathology, conducted a qualitative descriptive study involving semistructured interviews with 13 stroke survivors and 12 caregivers. Qualitative content analysis included predetermined and emerging coding. This article presents an in‐depth analysis of a subset of data from the coding scheme of a larger study that examined the overall experience of stroke for participants. Findings: Findings are presented within a developing model of patient and caregiver education constructs including providers and receivers of education and the content, timing, and delivery of information. Conclusions: Understanding the experience of receiving education for survivors and caregivers will help practitioners provide the right education, to the right people, at the right time, and in the right way to better support underserved groups. Improving patient and caregiver education is paramount to supporting health behavior change to optimize life poststroke and prevent future strokes. Our results suggest the need for improved access to educational providers, proactive identification of informational needs by providers, greater inclusion of caregivers in education, enhanced communication with information provision, and education from multiple providers using multiple delivery methods at multiple time points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To better understand occupational therapists’ clinical decision making processes as they selected which rehabilitation environment to work in, and how the therapists perceived the environment impacted their choice of intervention.Methods: Focus group and individual interviews were conducted following observation of three occupational therapists providing interventions for 16 months with 12 clients following a stroke at an inpatient rehabilitation hospital stroke unit. Therapists could chose from three different environments for interventions: a therapy gym, homelike space, or a combination space.Results: Three themes emerged that revealed therapists’ habits influenced their clinical reasoning; the environment influenced therapists’ intervention choices; and therapists felt safer treating in the gym environment.Conclusion:The environment influenced the therapists’ intervention choices as well as their clinical reasoning. Rehabilitation services on an inpatient stroke program may be improved if therapists increase their awareness of the influence of the environment on interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Connecting the continuum of post-acute care stroke services may be important for easing patients' transition between settings and facilitating recovery and community reintegration. The use of outcome measures is suggested as one means of connecting the continuum. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to describe administrators' and physiotherapists' perceived value of an outcomes program across the post-acute care stroke continuum at a rehabilitation hospital. Data were collected through individual interviews and focus groups with 18 participants. Three themes emerged on the value of the outcomes program: 1) enhanced communication; 2) supports clinical decision-making; and 3) value of objective data. These findings lend support for the use of standardized outcome measures by physiotherapists in stroke rehabilitation. Findings from this study may be useful for organizations and physiotherapists who wish to integrate outcome measures into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted to explore occupational therapists' perceptions of rehabilitation environments and the influence of these perceptions on practice and occupational interventions. Traditionally, inpatient occupational therapists have a choice of intervention environments, ranging from a gym-like to a more home-like setting. Choosing to provide interventions in these different environments can have an impact on occupational performance. In this qualitative exploration, 21 occupational therapists participated in focus groups designed to explore their perceptions of practice environments. Analysis of the transcribed data revealed that therapists felt rehabilitation environments should offer choices and be flexible, that environments influenced intervention strategies, and that the practice environment had an impact on professional identity. On the basis of this data, a conceptual matrix of the intersection of environmental setting and occupation-based interventions is presented to highlight the importance of these two aspects of therapy. Future research in this understudied area is needed to transform this matrix into a clinically useful model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]