Participation is an indicator of healthy functioning and well-being, as emphasized by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (World Health Organization, 2001). The Activity Card Sort (ACS) is a valid and reliable assessment tool that measures participation. This study describes the process of developing the Arab heritage version of the ACS (A-ACS). The original ACS was translated to Arabic using World Health Organization forward-backward translation guidelines, and activities that are common in Arab cultures were nominated using the ACS investigators' guidelines. Participant respondents were 156 Jordanians, from different age groups and socioeconomic classes. The process initially yielded 179 activities common to all international versions of the ACS, 19 of which were unique to the Arab culture. Eighty-eight items were validated for the A-ACS. The A-ACS validated in this study is the first assessment tool, for Arab adults whose heritage is in the Middle-East and North Africa, that measures participation. We expect the tool to have excellent clinical utility not only in Arab countries, but also for immigrants and citizens of Arab origins worldwide.

The purpose of this study is to understand religious factors role during recovery period among Jordanian receiving treatment for alcohol and substances abuse. Participants were asked to answer open-ended questions related to role of religion on their recovery from alcohol and substances abuse. Content analysis was used to explore the role of religion on their recovery process. One hundred and forty-six clients from two treatment centers participated with two main themes that emerged from the analysis: role of religion and role of religious men. Religion not only helps during the recovery process, but also is considered as a protector from drug and alcohol abuse in the future.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the working conditions and factors related to job satisfaction among Jordanian occupational therapists. A self-administered survey consisting of several questions about the participants' jobs was developed for this study. The inclusion criteria included occupational therapists who worked in the field of occupational therapy (OT) in Jordan and who had at least six months of experience. The survey was distributed to 120 occupational therapists in different OT settings. One hundred and one occupational therapists from different hospitals, centres, schools and universities responded to the survey. Salaries of the participants were low in comparison with the salaries of the rest of healthcare practitioners in Jordan. Chi-square analysis revealed significant relationship between participants' perceived job satisfaction and the administration of the setting, and between the choice of studying OT and the salary that the participant makes. Most occupational therapists in Jordan are young, have modest experience and work in general OT services in government-owned facilities or paediatric centres. A sense of dissatisfaction was obvious among the participants. Further studies are needed to explore reasons of work satisfaction and dissatisfaction among occupational therapists in Jordan.

A culturally adapted Arabic form of the PACS emerged from this investigation. This is the first step in developing a psychometrically sound assessment tool to evaluate participation of Arabic-speaking preschool children.

Background/Aim: There is a shortage of tools aimed for occupational therapy practice in

The Activity Card Sort is a valid and reliable assessment tool that was created to assess Participation. It has been translated to several languages and adapted to different international cultures. The most recent version of this tool is the Arabic Heritage Activity Card Sort (A-ACS). The purpose of this study was to establish the psychometric properties of the new Arabic version in Jordanian adults. Forty three Jordanian patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 62 healthy adults were recruited to test the psychometric properties of the tool. The A-ACS correlated moderately with the participation index of the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory (r = -0.458, p < 0.00) (concurrent validity), was able to discriminate between patients and healthy participants on the current and retained levels of participation (F = 5.09, p < 0.03; F = 6.01, p < 0.02, respectively) (discriminative validity), and correlated moderately with the total scores of the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory (r = -0.458, p < 0.00) and the total score on the Arabic version of the self-report Performance Assessment of Self-care Skills (r = 0.581, p < 0.00) (convergent validity). The tool also showed good test-retest reliability (r = 0.80, p < 0.00) and excellent internal consistency (α = 0.90). The Arabic Heritage of the Activity Card Sort is a valid and reliable tool for Arabic-speaking occupational therapists to use when assessing participation in Jordanian patients with MS or healthy adults. Limitations of this study include using only one diagnostic group from Jordan and examining only the Recovery and Community Versions of the tool. Future studies are needed to examine further psychometric properties for patients with different diagnoses and from different countries in the Arabic region for all three versions of the A-ACS.

The Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory 4 (MPAI-4) is a valid and reliable assessment tool to detect clinical impairments in patients with acquired brain injury. The tool is widely used by rehabilitation therapists worldwide, given its good psychometric properties and its availability in several languages. The purpose of this study was to translate the tool into Arabic and to examine its validity and reliability with multiple sclerosis and stroke patients. A total of 128 participants were enrolled in this study: 49 with multiple sclerosis, 17 with stroke, and 62 healthy adults. The psychometric properties of discriminative and convergent construct validity as well as test-retest reliability were tested. The translated tool, the Arabic-MPAI-4 (A-MPAI-4), significantly discriminated among the three subgroups (F=50.93, P<0.001), correlated moderately but significantly with the Arabic version of the Performance Assessment of Self-Care Skills Self-Report as a measure of functional independence in daily activities (r=-0.35, P<0.001), and showed good stability over time (r=0.73, P<0.001). The A-MPAI-4 is a valid and reliable tool for clinical use with multiple sclerosis and stroke patients who speak Arabic.

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