Background and Purpose-Trials of occupational therapy for stroke patients living in the community have varied in their findings. It is unclear why these discrepancies have occurred.
Methods-Trials
Little research has been carried out investigating the sources of stress and methods of coping with them in recently qualified basic grade occupational therapists. A postal survey was conducted involving 80 basic grade occupational therapists nationwide who graduated in 1995. The results, from 62 respondents (78%), indicated that organisational issues were the most popular sources of stress, with ‘too much paperwork’, ‘limited resources for client/patient care’ and ‘staff shortages' being the top stressors. The findings suggest that many coping strategies are available to basic grades in the workplace, including formal supervision and informal support, and that they are using them.
Work is key to participating in society. This paper reports two independent studies, which addressed different aspects of returning to work after a stroke. Study I, using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure and the Role Checklist, established the perception of returning to work of 26 participants aged 34–55 years post-stroke. Study II, using interviews, established the support required and obtained for six participants who returned to work post-stroke. Both studies found that the participants considered work to be important, that they wished to return to work and that help was needed to do so. Study II found that occupational therapists had a limited role in providing support and recommends their greater involvement in work rehabilitation service provision for those who have had a stroke. The findings of these studies suggest that there is a gap in providing appropriate support to enable people to carry out an occupation that both they and society value.
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