The horse has been used as a therapeutic medium since the time of the ancient Greeks and Xenophon is quoted as saying that ‘the best thing for the inside of a man is the outside of the horse’ (Longden 1998, p44). Man has been using horses for more than 3,500 years as draught horses or for riding; therefore, the man-horse relationship may be perceived ‘as a close psychophysical attachment’ (Schulz 1997, p65). The horse and its environment has been and continues to be used as a therapeutic tool for people with a wide range of needs and abilities, as is evidenced in the literature. This paper identifies some of the benefits and limitations of therapeutic horse riding and its relationship with occupational therapy, through a review of the literature and the use of case summaries from the author's personal experience.
The therapeutic benefits of the horse to humans have existed for years. Although early findings on the benefits of the horse as a therapeutic medium exist, the first scientific inquiry into the therapeutic usefulness of the horse did not take place until the mid-19th century. Even today, the literature existing on the benefits of horsemastership is lacking. In a previous article, the components of horsemastership were discussed from a therapeutic perspective and the skills and knowledge of the occupational therapist were applied to highlight the potential the occupational therapy profession has to offer this developing field. In this article, the benefits of horsemastership as a therapeutic medium will be discussed and related to the practice of the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy. The contraindications and precautions of horsemastership are also highlighted and discussed.
Video streaming has the potential to offer tutors a more flexible and accessible means of incorporating moving images into learning resources for their students than conventional video. Consideration is given to this assertion by drawing upon the experiences of staff and evidence from students at the University of Southampton in the use of a video, Back Care for Health Professionals, before and after it was streamed. The resulting case study highlights various issues and concerns, both logistical and pedagogic. These include ease of access, the form and frequency of guidance with respect to technical matters, the use of multiple channels of communication to convey key messages about the availability and value of the video, and the provision of demonstrations or ‘tasters'. In other words, what some might regard as the ‘softer' aspects of technological developments should receive at least as much attention as the ‘harder'
This article describes the development of a distance learning course for occupational therapy and physiotherapy fieldwork supervisors by the School of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy at the University of Southampton. It is based on a method of practice teacher education (the social work equivalent of fieldwork educator training) developed in the Department of Social Work Studies. The course is designed for a small teaming group of fieldwork supervisors based in the locality of its members, making it particularly useful as a distance learning approach for teaching person-related skills. The group meets at regular intervals for up to 2 years, during which time each course member supervises two different students on placement. The advantages of this concurrent training approach, where supervisors work with students at the same time as developing their own skills, are explored.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.