Dynamic and diverse ways of knowing in mental health occupational therapy

This study focused on evidence based practice in mental health occupational therapy. It investigated the theoretical, evidentiary and practical knowledge that occupational therapists use to support consumers and understand the relationship between occupation and health.

Whole-body vibration and occupational physical performance: a review

Introduction: In the occupational environment, there are a considerable number of stressors that can affect physical performance in job tasks. Whole-body vibration (WBV), which arises from vehicle transit, is one such stressor that has been demonstrated to alter human function in several ways. This study identifies the known physical changes to human function which result from WBV, to comment on changes which may translate to performance in physically demanding occupational tasks. Methods: A systematic review is performed on the literature relating to changes in the neuromuscular, physiological and biomechanical properties of the human body, when exposed to WBV. Selection criteria are constructed to synthesise articles which strictly relate to in-vehicle WBV and physical responses. Results: In total, 29 articles were identified which satisfied the criteria for inclusion. A range of physical responses produced from WBV are presented; however, little consistency exists in study design and the responses reported. Discussion: Given the inconsistency in the reported responses, the precise changes to human function remain unknown. However, there is sufficient evidence to warrant the design of studies which investigate occupationally relevant physical performance changes following WBV.

Individual prevention courses for occupational skin diseases: changes in and relationships between proximal and distal outcomes

BACKGROUND: To treat people with occupational contact dermatitis, the German Accident Prevention and Insurance Association in the Health and Welfare Services offers 2-day individual prevention (IP) seminars. OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether there are short-term and medium-term changes in proximal (e.g. behaviour) and distal (e.g. symptoms) outcomes after an IP seminar, whether changes in proximal outcomes are associated with changes in distal outcomes, and whether subgroups can be identified that benefit in particular. PATIENTS/MATERIALS/METHODS: In a prospective study, 502 participants of 85 IP courses completed the health education impact questionnaire (heiQ™) and skin symptom questionnaire (Skindex-29) at the start of the course, immediately thereafter, and after 6 months. Change was assessed according to standardized effect size. Regression techniques were used to analyse associations between proximal and distal outcomes. RESULTS: After 6 months, participants showed improved self-management skills and preventive behaviour, and less fear of job loss, disease-related symptoms, and emotional distress. Significant associations between proximal and distal outcomes were found. Participants who felt more limited by their skin disease showed greater effects. CONCLUSIONS: The results are consistent with the assumption that IP courses provide a range of benefits for people with occupational contact dermatitis. Changes in distal outcomes may be influenced by changes in proximal outcomes.

Evidence for mental health occupational therapy: trends in the first decade of the new millenium (200-2013)

This article reports on the evidence for mental health occupational therapy in peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2013. Descriptive and inductive methods were used to address this question, with evidence from CINAHL, OTDBase, PSYCInfo, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar® included. Many articles (n = 1,747) were found that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 47 different methods were used to develop evidence for mental health occupational therapy, and evidence appeared in 300 separate peer-reviewed journals. It takes on average 7 months for an article to progress from submission to acceptance, and a further 7 months to progress from acceptance to publication. More than 95% of articles published between 2000 and 2002 were cited at least once in the following decade, and around 70% of these citations were recorded in non-occupational therapy journals. The current evidence base for mental health occupational therapy is both substantial and diverse.

Occupational stress and job satisfaction in media personnel assigned to the Iraq War (2003)

This paper investigates occupational stressors amongst media personnel assigned to work on covering the Iraq War via interviews with 54 journalists from the BBC and Reuters, who worked in Iraq between February and April 2003. A range of stressors were identified that could be categorized into three main themes, control over the situation, support from management and grief from the death of colleagues. Journalists not embedded with military units were more likely to report negative physical and emotional health outcomes. The study concludes that hazardous work environments do not, by themselves, cause stress and poor job satisfaction. Rather, organizational factors, the imbalance between the ability to make decisions about how to carry out their job effectively and the perceived rewards of working in such environments appear to have a greater impact on work related stress.

Security networks and occupational culture: understanding culture within and between organisations

Security networks are organisational forms involving public, private and hybrid actors or nodes that work together to pursue security-related objectives. While we know that security networks are central to the governance of security, and that security networks exist at multiple levels across the security field, we still do not know enough about how these networks form and function. Based on a detailed qualitative study of networks in the field of ‘high’ policing in Australia, this article aims to advance our knowledge of the relational properties of security networks. Following the organisational culture literature, the article uses the concept of a ‘group’ as the basis with which to analyse and understand culture. A group can apply to networks (‘network culture’), organisations (‘organisational culture’) and sections within and between organisations (‘occupational subcultures’). Using interviews with senior members of security, police and intelligence agencies, the article proceeds to analyse how cultures form and function within such groups. In developing a network perspective on occupational culture, the article challenges much of the police culture(s) literature for concentrating too heavily on police organisations as independent units of analysis. The article moves beyond debates between integrated or differentiated organisational cultures and questions concerning the extent to which culture shapes particular outcomes, to analyse the ways in which security nodes relate to one another in security networks. If there is one thing that should be clear it is that security nodes experience cultural change as they work together in and through networks.

Occupational class differences in suicide: evidence of changes over time and during the global financial crisis in Australia

BACKGROUND: Previous research showed an increase in Australian suicide rates during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). There has been no research investigating whether suicide rates by occupational class changed during the GFC. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the GFC-associated increase in suicide rates in employed Australians may have masked changes by occupational class.

METHODS: Negative binomial regression models were used to investigate Rate Ratios (RRs) in suicide by occupational class. Years of the GFC (2007, 2008, 2009) were compared to the baseline years 2001-2006.

RESULTS: There were widening disparities between a number of the lower class occupations and the highest class occupations during the years 2007, 2008, and 2009 for males, but less evidence of differences for females.

CONCLUSIONS: Occupational disparities in suicide rates widened over the GFC period. There is a need for programs to be responsive to economic downturns, and to prioritise the occupational groups most affected.