Date Presented 03/28/20 Individuals with PD often experience cognitive deficits that can cause functional limitations and reduced quality of life. Cognitive self-efficacy (CSE), the belief in one’s own cognitive capacities, may impact how a person with PD performs and participates in cognitively challenging occupations or responds to cognitive interventions. Investigating CSE among individuals with PD would be important to effectively address functional cognitive performance and improve quality of life. Primary Author and Speaker: Pooja Jethani Additional Authors and Speakers: Erin Foster Contributing Authors: Joan Toglia

Date Presented 04/07/19 Adults with ABI on an inpatient rehabilitation unit were significantly less accurate and efficient, used fewer strategies, and followed fewer rules, compared to healthy controls on the short Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (WCPA-10). The WCPA-10 was quick, feasible, and provided functionally relevant information on those that exhibited mild to no cognitive impairments on a cognitive screening tool, highlighting the importance of performance-based tools in identifying functional cognitive deficits. Primary Author and Speaker: Alexis Lussier Additional Authors and Speakers: Joan Toglia

Date Presented 04/07/19 We describe a new approach for assessing executive functions in everyday life and its unique expression in adolescents with epilepsy, using the Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (WCPA). The WCPA provides functionally relevant information on task performance and strategy use that can guide intervention and measure outcomes. We recommend that OTs assess EF among adolescents with epilepsy using a performance-based assessment. Primary Author and Speaker: Sharon Zlotnik Contributing Authors: Aharon Schiff Sarit Ravid, Eli Shahar, Joan Toglia

OBJECTIVE. We compared performance on a cognitively demanding task, the Weekly Calendar Planning Activity, of participants in three age groups and two countries (United States and Israel). METHOD. A sample of 375 U.S. and 433 Israeli healthy adults participated. During the activity, participants were observed for speed, accuracy, strategy use, and efficiency. RESULTS. Accuracy scores were similar in both countries; however, Israeli participants were slower and less efficient (p < .05). The younger and middle-aged Israeli groups were more strategic and the older Israeli group followed fewer rules than the corresponding U.S. groups (p < .05). Older participants in both countries were less accurate, efficient, and strategic than younger participants (p < .05). CONCLUSION. Limited strategy use and poor time allocation may contribute to difficulty managing cognitively demanding activities for older adults and may also be influenced by culture. Practitioners should consider these factors when screening people for occupational performance difficulties.

Date Presented 3/30/2017 This study of baseline data aimed to explore everyday performance and environmental supports of adults with developmental disabilities. It further examined the feasibility of a comprehensive assessment battery of everyday performance and use of technology devices among this understudied population. Primary Author and Speaker: Amiya Waldman-Levi Contributing Authors: Kathleen Golisz, Ric Swierat, Joan Toglia

Date Presented 3/30/2017 This study explores the relationship between screenings of executive function and measures of functional mobility in subacute stroke patients. Preliminary findings suggest that some functional mobility measures have greater associations with cognitive measures than others. Primary Author and Speaker: Anita Marandi Additional Authors and Speakers: Michelle Bassignani, Andrea Mastrogiovanni Contributing Authors: Holly Batistick-Aufox, Michael O’Dell, Joan Toglia

Date Presented 4/7/2016 Cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD) contributes to disability and reduced quality of life. This study supports the feasibility and potential effect of a cognitive strategy training intervention for PD, an important step in ensuring it can be implemented effectively in clinical practice. Primary Author and Speaker: Erin Foster Additional Authors and Speakers: Daniel Spence Contributing Authors: Joan Toglia

Date Presented 4/18/2015 The Stroke Upper Limb Capacity Scale (SULCS) is a newer assessment that needs to be further understood and related to other measures commonly used in rehabilitation settings. This research suggests that the SULCS may be preferred over other traditional assessments as a brief measure of upper-extremity capacity.

OBJECTIVE. We compared abilities and strategy use of at-risk youth aged 16–21 yr with those of a community sample of high school students using a performance measure of executive function, the Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (WCPA). METHOD. We recruited students from an alternative school for at-risk youth (n = 113) and from community high schools in the same region (n = 49). We collected demographic information from and administered the WCPA to both groups. RESULTS. The at-risk group made more errors, used fewer strategies, and broke more rules than the community group; however, the groups were similar in average time for planning and task completion. Moderate relationships were found between WCPA and academic performance in the at-risk group. CONCLUSION. Comparison of at-risk and community youth provides support for discriminant validity of the WCPA and indicates that the WCPA is useful in identifying adolescents who are at risk for occupational performance deficits.

OBJECTIVE. We piloted the Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (WCPA), a performance-based measure of executive function (EF), to establish a baseline for at-risk adolescents. METHOD. Participants were 113 youths ages 16–21 who were enrolled at a charter school for youth returning to high school after dropping out. We administered the WCPA and collected demographic information. RESULTS. On average, participants spent 15.9 min on the WCPA, made 7.9 errors, and followed 4.0 of 5 possible rules. No ceiling effect was observed in overall accuracy. Participants used a mean of 3.1 strategies (standard deviation = 1.9) while completing the WCPA. Participants who used more strategies spent more time planning and completing the task and were more accurate. CONCLUSION. The WCPA may be useful to occupational therapists as a performance measure of EF. This assessment allows evaluation of complex task performance, strategy use, self-evaluation of performance, and error patterns, which can be used in developing intervention strategies.

OBJECTIVE. We investigated the application of dynamic assessment in examining learning potential for adults with right hemisphere stroke and unilateral neglect. METHODS. Forty adults with right cerebrovascular accident were randomly assigned to a control or dynamic group. Both groups were administered standard pretests and posttests of unilateral neglect. The dynamic group received cues, strategy training, and feedback during an object search task. RESULTS. Multivariate analysis of covariance indicated significant differences between groups on the object search task, with reduced unilateral neglect in the dynamic group. Greater initiation of left-sided search, strategy use, and near and intermediate transfer of learning were observed in the dynamic group. CONCLUSIONS. The brief dynamic assessment, developed for this study, provided an opportunity to observe the client's ability to incorporate strategy training and feedback across visual search tasks. This assessment approach has the potential to characterize learning profiles and to guide intervention decisions.