Occupational therapy international
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Clinical Trial
The influence of virtual reality on playfulness in children with cerebral palsy: a pilot study.
The purpose of this paper was to examine the effects of virtual play intervention on the level of playfulness of children with cerebral palsy. Thirteen children aged 8-13 years comprised the study group. Children attended eight one-hour virtual reality play sessions in which they were immersed and interacted with virtual reality. ⋯ Two environments did not appear to foster playfulness. A possible reason was that these environments were too unpredictable and frustrating for participants. These results will be useful for creating new virtual reality software applications that will encourage playfulness in children with disabilities.
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Functional capacity evaluations (FCEs) for personal injury claimants are rigorously scrutinized by the stakeholders because of their financial implications. This study examined 51 medico-legal FCE reports for clients all of whom suffered with spinal pain attributed to a motor vehicle accident. The FCEs were completed by 14 occupational therapists. ⋯ Recommendations included the suitability of current and future jobs. However, the reasoning behind occupational therapists' recommendations in the FCE reports was frequently not stated. This content analysis demonstrated that these detailed FCE reports had a consistent focus on work capacity; further, the researchers suggest refinements to FCE reporting practices so that findings, recommendations and predictions about work outcomes for clients are interpreted clearly and realistically.