Importance: When in-person rehabilitation is not feasible, interventions delivered in remote telephone-based sessions may be an option. Objective: To determine whether telephone-based reality orientation therapy (T–ROT) can improve cognition, mood, and neuropsychiatric symptoms among patients with major neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) who are forced to isolate and also whether T–ROT can relieve the burden of distress among their caregivers. Design: Nonrandomized interventional comparison study. Setting: Individual telephone calls between practitioners and patients and their caregivers. Participants: Twenty-seven patients (14 in the experimental group, 13 in the control group) with a major NCD and their primary caregivers. Intervention: Ten T–ROT sessions and a pretest–posttest neuropsychological evaluation over 4 wk. Outcomes and Measures: Outcomes measured included cognitive and behavioral symptoms of patients with major NCDs and correlations between changes in patient clinical condition and caregiver stress. Primary outcome measures were two measures of depressive symptoms, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire and the Telephone Mini-Mental State Examination, administered at baseline and program discharge. Results: T–ROT significantly outperformed nontreatment on all measures of depression, behavior, cognition, and caregiver burden. Conclusions and Relevance: T–ROT combined with emotional support appears to be an effective intervention for monitoring and managing the behavioral symptoms of patients with major NCDs who are forced to isolate. What This Article Adds: Occupational therapy practitioners can use T–ROT or similar procedures not only during a pandemic but also when it is not possible to treat patients in person at a hospital or at home. Telephone-based treatment may also represent a good practice to be integrated into traditional rehabilitation programs.

OBJECTIVE. We describe the development and content validation of the revised Self-Report Assessment of Functional Visual Performance (R–SRAFVP). METHOD. The content validation process consisted of three stages: (1) three occupational therapy experts in low vision rehabilitation revised items on the 38-item SRAFVP via written feedback and semistructured interview, (2) eight occupational therapy low vision experts evaluated items for relevance and provided feedback on the rating scale, and (3) five adults with low vision provided feedback on item clarity via cognitive interviewing. RESULTS. In Stage 1 review, 21 items were added, totaling 59 items. In Stage 2 evaluation, 9 items were eliminated, resulting in the 50-item R–SRAFVP with a 4-point scale. The scale content validity index of the R–SRAFVP was .9. Stage 3 cognitive interviewing provided no substantive changes in content. CONCLUSION. R–SRAFVP content was relevant to evaluate the ability of adults with low vision to complete vision-dependent daily tasks and was understandable by these participants.

OBJECTIVE. Our objective was to validate the construct of the Revised Self-Report Assessment of Functional Visual Performance (R–SRAFVP) for older adults with low vision resulting from age-related eye disease. METHOD. The 50-item draft of the R–SRAFVP was administered to 87 older adults with low vision. Construct validation included principal-components analysis and the known-groups method. RESULTS. Principal-components analysis revealed nine components (comprising 33 items): Personal Care, Oral Care, Meal/Laundry Preparation, Financial Management, Telephone Usage, Personal Preference Activities, Reading, Writing, and Functional Mobility. Cronbach’s α ranged from .72 to .84 for individual components and was .92 overall. Known-groups comparisons showed that participants with moderate to profound acuity loss or contrast sensitivity deficits reported significantly greater difficulty completing tasks on the R–SRAFVP than those with milder acuity loss or normal contrast sensitivity. CONCLUSION. The 33-item R–SRAFVP demonstrates adequate evidence of reliability and validity to evaluate the ability of older adults with low vision to complete vision-dependent activities of daily living.

OBJECTIVE. The Executive Function Performance Test (EFPT) is a reliable and valid performance-based tool to assess executive functions (EFs). This study’s objective was to develop and verify two Internet-based tasks for the EFPT. METHOD. A cross-sectional study assessed the alternate-form reliability of the Internet-based bill-paying and telephone-use tasks in healthy adults and people with subacute stroke (Study 1). It also sought to establish the tasks’ criterion reliability for assessing EF deficits by correlating performance with that on the Trail Making Test in five groups: healthy young adults, healthy older adults, people with subacute stroke, people with chronic stroke, and young adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Study 2). RESULTS. The alternative-form reliability and initial construct validity for the Internet-based bill-paying task were verified. Criterion validity was established for both tasks. CONCLUSION. The Internet-based tasks are comparable to the original EFPT tasks and can be used for assessment of EF deficits.

This study investigated the outcomes of a yearlong formal curriculum-mentoring project sponsored by the American Occupational Therapy Foundation. Five occupational therapy faculty groups were selected through a competitive application process and paired with mentors to assist in curriculum change. The experiences of each of the teams were studied using multiple methods of data collection, including semistructured interviews conducted in person and via telephone, a mailed questionnaire, and bimonthly electronic journal entries. The process and outcomes of two representative cases are reported in this qualitative, critical case study analysis. Overall, the faculty groups in each of the two teams seemed to benefit from mentoring in differing degrees as a result of their participation in this curriculum mentoring project. An important finding was that a well-focused mentoring plan with clearly outlined expectations needs to be established at the onset of any formal mentoring project. Additionally, a systematic, strategic plan agreed on by both mentors and participants, with a clear outline of responsibilities, will enhance the outcomes of a mentoring relationship.

The purpose of this study was to report the development of the Falls Behavioral (FaB) Scale for Older People, an assessment designed to evaluate behavioral factors that could potentially protect against falling. Instrument development included content analysis, expert review, and factor analysis. Ten behavioral dimensions were identified including Cognitive Adaptations, Protective Mobility, Avoidance, Awareness, Pace, Practical Strategies, Displacing Activities, Being Observant, Changes in Level, and Getting to the Phone. The final 30item scale had a Content Validity Index of 0.93. Test–retest reliability was ICC = 0.94 (p < .01). Construct validity was established by showing that, as expected, scale scores were positively associated with increasing age (rs = 0.46, p < .01) and negatively associated with greater physical mobility (rs = −0.68, p < .01). People who had fallen utilized safer behaviors than those who had not reported a fall (p < .05) providing a benchmark for using the scale in future studies. The FaB is an easily completed, reliable, and valid tool for determining the presence or absence of protective behaviors. It has potential to assist in goal setting for falls prevention and to evaluate behavioral outcomes of fall prevention programs.