OBJECTIVE. We investigated motor control and muscle activation when reaching for and grasping objects with a reacher compared with the unaided hand. METHOD. In a repeated-measures counterbalanced design, 41 healthy participants with no previous experience using a reacher were randomly assigned to a sequence of four conditions. Movements of the wrist and fingers were recorded using a three-dimensional Qualisys camera system for assessing reach and grasp. Muscle activations from finger and arm flexors and extensors were recorded by surface electromyography. RESULTS. Participants exhibited a smaller grasp aperture, longer reaching time, and more muscle activity when they used a reacher. CONCLUSION. Efficient motor control, which requires both time and practice, is needed to successfully use a reacher. Clients presented with reachers without sufficient time to develop motor skills unique to reacher use may be more likely to abandon this assistive device and fail to benefit from its function.

OBJECTIVE. To investigate whether the performance of a multisegment motor task is influenced by reading a segment-specific action word. METHOD. Twenty-four participants performed tasks that involved reaching for a bottle, grasping it, lifting and placing it on a shelf, and returning their hand to the starting position. At the initiation of each task, participants read either aloud or silently five randomly provided, task-related words (reach, grasp, lift, place, and return). RESULTS. Reading task-related words significantly affected the reach and lift/place segments in the direction of the hypothesis (p < 0.05) but not the return segments. Grasp times were shorter and grasp velocities were higher when participants read aloud or silently the words grasp and place for the grasp segment (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION. The results suggest that in young adults, motor performance may be influenced by precuing or priming the brain with performance-related words. A meaning of a motor performance can be manipulated by contextually relevant language, which can facilitate performance.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to comparatively analyze the perceptions of clients and occupational therapists regarding their involvement in the process of client-centered practice. METHOD. Participants (11 occupational therapists, 30 clients) in adult/geriatric health care facilities were each engaged in a semistructured interview to determine their perceptions of client-centered practice, specifically in the goal-setting process. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the item data. In addition, one-way analysis of variance was computed to identify the differences of opinions in clients and occupational therapists on the process of client-centered practice in four facilities: long-term-care or rehabilitation, hospital outpatient, hospital inpatient, and nursing homes. RESULTS. The occupational therapists in this study indicated use of the principles of client-centered practice in their delivery of occupational therapy services. Their clients, however, displayed mixed perceptions about their role as active participants in client-centered practice and all responded in the negative when asked if they were aware of the approach. Perceptual differences existed between the occupational therapists and their clients in relation to the use of client-centered practice, because their responses to similar questions varied. Last, type of facility significantly influenced clients’ knowledge of certain aspects of their treatment processes in the following four areas: (a) treatment goal selection, (b) encouragement provided in setting clients’ goals, (c) clients’ perception of the importance in the goal-setting process, and (d) education of clients about their participatory role in the goal-setting process. CONCLUSION. Results suggest that a perceptual gap exists between occupational therapists and their clients in relation to their stated use of and participation in client-centered practice. In light of the results, development of a systematic strategy by occupational therapists to elicit the roles that their clients desire to play in the therapeutic process may be an effective intervention to ensure that occupational therapists and their clients are able to fulfill their roles in client-centered practice.

OBJECTIVE. Occupational therapists are routinely involved in upper-extremity rehabilitation in persons with stroke. Recently we have reported that self-speech can be used to facilitate simple reach in young and older adults. The purpose of this study is to examine whether self-speech-induced facilitation of simple reach can be translated in persons with stroke. METHOD. Following a counterbalanced repeated-measure design, seven persons with right brain stroke performed reaching and placing a glass on a cabinet shelf under four concurrent speech conditions of vocalizing the word “yeah” with both hemiplegic and nonhemiplegic sides. These four conditions are self-vocalization, external vocalization, imaginary vocalization, and no vocalization. Consistent with our previous study, in this study we also recorded the movement kinematics of angular movement of the upper arm. RESULTS. Reaching velocity was significantly higher under self-vocalization conditions compared to the reaching velocity under no vocalization or other vocalization conditions (p < .05). Motor performance in terms of velocity, nonhemiparetic side was significantly better than hemiparetic side (p < .05). CONCLUSION. The results suggest that self-speech can be used in facilitating movements in patients with stroke. When working with patients with right hemispheric stroke, therapists might explore possibilities of using patient’s self-speech to enhance the quality of movement performance.