Help shape the future of robots in OT and dementia
A national occupational therapy survey exploring the use of multifunctional robots in occupational therapy and dementia is now live. Occupational therapists across the UK are being invited to complete a national survey for an RCOT-funded project, ‘Co-creating the future: the use of multifunctional robots in occupational therapy and dementia’.
This research is being led by Edinburgh Napier University, in collaboration with the National Robotarium, Heriot Watt University and Alzheimer Scotland.
They are exploring how multifunctional robots could potentially support occupational therapy practice with people living with dementia and their caregivers.
They are interested in occupational therapists’ views, across all practice settings, as to the future of robotic technology and dementia. You can complete the survey at
http://bit.ly/3IhiTgX.
This research has favourable ethical approval, granted by the Research and Integrity Committee within the School of Health and Social Care at Edinburgh Napier University (Reference: SHSC3364832).
If you have any questions about the research or survey, please contact either Dr Fiona Maclean,
Principal Investigator
[email protected] or Lynne Bushby, Project Research Assistant
[email protected].
AI in occupational therapy
RCOT has published guidance that sets out advice for the safe and effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) in occupational therapy practice, education and research.
This resource explores how AI is already shaping our profession and what we need to do now to use it safely, ethically and effectively. AI in occupational therapy is not a ‘how to’ guide; it reflects the current capabilities of AI and takes a risk-based approach, with more permissive guidance for low-risk scenarios and greater oversight where there is potential for harm.
At the same time, we want the occupational therapy workforce to embrace the opportunities that AI offers and to think creatively about innovation and service improvement.
The guide introduces key types of AI, including: predictive analytics; large language models (LLMs); generative AI; natural language processing (NLP); machine learning for diagnostics; robotic process automation (RPA); and agentic or autonomous AI systems.
Use this guidance together with employer-specific policies and procedures and national guidance. You should check which AI tools are approved for use in your organisation.
We’ll review and update this guidance yearly (unless there are major changes) to reflect advancements in AI technology and evolving best practices in practice, education and research.
Let us know how you’re using AI in your work – or what you’d like to learn more about. This is just the beginning. Join the discussion on RCOT Communities at
https://bit.ly/4m2hs41. Read the guidance at https://bit.ly/47tOVkk.
BJOT next issue
Welcome to Volume 88, Issue 9 of BJOT. This month, we’ve grouped our research into themes and you can read all our peer-reviewed articles at
https://journals.sagepub.com/
home/bjo.
Editorial
Roberto Tedeschi discusses from an occupational therapy perspective the drucebo effect, which refers to the negative impact of patient expectations and contextual factors on treatment outcomes, leading to poorer recovery, reduced adherence and heightened perceptions of disability.
Occupational therapy is particularly susceptible to drucebo effects due to its strong reliance on patient engagement, motivation and belief in the intervention’s effectiveness.
Editor’s choice
A scoping review with narrative synthesis on spirituality in occupational therapy practice, by Heather So et al, is our editor’s pick of the issue. The study finds that despite spirituality being a central component of occupational therapy models of practice, further research, guidelines, policies and training are needed that applies spirituality to occupational therapy practice.
Research round-up
Kristie Harper and colleagues explore development and initial psychometric properties of the timed upper limb assessment (TULA) in older adults with Parkinson’s in their research paper.
It adds evidence that TULA provides clinicians with a reliable and validated assessment tool specifically designed for efficiently measuring functional upper limb performance in people with Parkinson’s.
The role of sensory processing patterns (SPPs) on mental health in healthy adults is explored by Selma Ercan Doğu and Selen Aydoner Bektaş . The results indicate that healthy adults with extreme SPPs may experience mental ill-health issues, and that occupational therapists can assess clients’ unique SPPs and provide tailored strategies to enhance selfawareness of sensory needs and mental health.
Tai Frater et al investigate the acceptability and feasibility of online occupational performance coaching for parents of children with disabilities in the UK. The study adds to the growing evidence base supporting occupational performance coaching as an acceptable and feasible intervention to be delivered online.
Nancy A Baker and colleagues analyse characteristics of immersive virtual reality (IVR) experiences for chronic pain management in assessing the interrater reliability of the Virtual Reality Activity Analysis for Pain instrument (VRAA-Pain).
The research found that IVR is an emerging area in occupational therapy and the VRAA- Pain is the first of its kind of tool that can help occupational therapy practitioners integrate virtual reality experiences into practice.
The association between perceived occupational performance and satisfaction and balance, gait and fear of falling in older adults with mild cognitive impairment is explored by Güllü Aydın-Yağcıoğlu and colleagues .
The study highlights the importance of mobility interventions in older adults with mild cognitive impairment, as improvements in gait may contribute to measures perceived occupational performance.
Finally, Setareh Ghahari et al assess the impact of severity of multiple sclerosis on caregivers’ occupational performance and coping strategies, with the study showing significant impact, informing interventions and policies to improve their wellbeing.