Best Practice is a way of thinking about problems in imaginative ways and applying knowledge creatively to solve performance problems. Providing services in community based settings is vital to the best application of occupational therapy principles and beliefs. Best Practice Occupational Therapy: In Community Service with Children and Families applies theoretical and evidence based knowledge to best practice with emphasis on children and families in community settings. It emphasizes best practice, and incorporates clinical reasoning and practice models into the material. Students are provided with methods for working through the problem solving processes as they learn the material. The text introduces core principles and demonstrates how, along with OT knowledge, they can be applied to the best interests of children and families. Included throughout the book are worksheets, space for writing notes, and 10 detailed case studies illustrating the core principles and knowledge application in practice.

Currently in the United States, 20% of children ages 6 years or younger live in poverty. Poor children have fewer opportunities than their peers to resources that are important for child development. At the same time, the prevalence of developmental disabilities has increased to 1 in every 6 children. Early identification of developmental delays is critical, and more than half of all American parents do not know the warning signs. Occupational therapy professionals in early intervention and preschool practice can provide the necessary services to support children's health in early childhood. This Practice Guideline explains the occupational therapy process for young children--and their families, caregivers, and teachers--which includes evaluation, intervention, and outcomes planning to enhance a child's occupational performance, adaptation, health and wellness, community participation, role competence, and self-advocacy. Topics include social-emotional development; feeding, eating, and swallowing; cognitive and motor development; service delivery; autism; obesity, cerebral palsy; and parent training. This work can help occupational therapy practitioners, as well as those who manage, reimburse, or set policy regarding occupational therapy services, understand the contribution of occupational therapy in evaluating and serving young children. This guideline can also serve as a resource for parents, school administrators, educators, and other early childhood staff.

As occupational therapy celebrates its centennial in 2017, attention returns to the profession's founding belief in the value of therapeutic occupations as a way to remediate illness and maintain health. The founders emphasized the importance of establishing a therapeutic relationship with each client and designing an intervention plan based on the knowledge about a client's context and environment, values, goals, and needs. Using today's lexicon, the profession's founders proposed a vision for the profession that was occupation based, client centered, and evidence based--the vision articulated in the third edition of the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process. The Framework is a must-have official document from the American Occupational Therapy Association. Intended for occupational therapy practitioners and students, other health care professionals, educators, researchers, payers, and consumers, the Framework summarizes the interrelated constructs that describe occupational therapy practice. In addition to the creation of a new preface to set the tone for the work, this new edition includes the following highlights: a redefinition of the overarching statement describing occupational therapy's domain; a new definition of clients that includes persons, groups, and populations; further delineation of the profession's relationship to organizations; inclusion of activity demands as part of the process; and even more up-to-date analysis and guidance for today's occupational therapy practitioners. Achieving health, well-being, and participation in life through engagement in occupation is the overarching statement that describes the domain and process of occupational therapy in the fullest sense. The Framework can provide the structure and guidance that practitioners can use to meet this important goal.

This book provides up-to-date information for all occupational performance measures, including a systematic, detailed focus on measures important for evidence-based occupational therapy. Measurement issues and practices are discussed, and a decision-making framework is provided to guide the choice of assessment tools.

Occupational Therapy Interventions: Functions and Occupations, Second Edition is a unique and comprehensive text intended to provide the essential information required for occupational therapy practice in the physical approach to the intervention process. This practical and user-friendly text offers an entry-level approach to bridging the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Occupational Therapy Practice Framework,Third Edition with everyday practice, specifically concerning interventions. Dr. Catherine Meriano and Dr. Donna Latella focus each chapter of the text on an area of occupation, evidence-based practice, current intervention options, as well as a specific hands-on approach to grading interventions. Although the focus of the text is the intervention process, Occupational Therapy Interventions: Function and Occupations, Second Edition also includes a detailed “Evaluation Grid” which offers a unique approach to choosing occupational therapy evaluations. New in the Second Edition: New evidence-based articles have been added to each of the chapters Some new rewritten and expanded chapters Updated references throughout Includes sample exam questions with each chapter Updated key concepts and incorporated new documents such as: AOTA’s Occupational Therapy Practice Framework,Third Edition AOTA’s Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics AOTA’s Guidelines for Supervision, Roles, and Responsibilities During the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services Included with the text are online supplemental materials for faculty use in the classroom. With the incorporation of new evidence-based concepts, updates to reflect the AOTA’s newest documents, and new hands-on approaches to interventions, Occupational Therapy Interventions: Functions and Occupations, Second Edition should be by the side of every occupational therapy student and entry-level practitioner.

Evidence-based practice is one of the driving forces in current healthcare practice. Occupational therapists recognize the need for research and for an evidence-based approach to intervention, yet they may need guidance on how to achieve this. This book makes evidence-based practice accessible and relevant to occupational therapists, using examples from therapy practice. Key features: *explores the value of both qualitative and quantitative research as evidence *explains how to make evidence-based practice work in the clinical setting *includes many worked examples