Doctoral Degrees (Occupational Therapy)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Occupational Therapy) by Subject "Resilience (Personality trait) in adolescence"

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    Occupational resilience : an occupational therapy practice model facilitating high school participation post traumatic brain injury
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) Jacobs-Nzuzi Khuabi, Lee-Ann Juliana; Swart, Estelle; Soeker, Mogammad Shaheed; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences. Occupational Therapy.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : School participation may be disrupted post traumatic brain injury (TBI). Adolescents have to adjust to their developmental stage, multiple impairments and increased dependence resulting from the TBI. This combined with contextual factors may affect their school participation post TBI. There are no clear occupational therapy guidelines facilitating school re-entry post TBI and hence inconsistencies are noted in school transition practices. Furthermore, existing school transition programs for learners with TBI are informed by the recommendations of studies conducted in developed contexts. This study therefore sought to explore the perspectives on and experiences of adolescent high school learners’ school re-entry and school participation post TBI within a developing context. It was anticipated that this would provide an improved understanding of the enablers and barriers to high school participation post TBI. The main aim of this study was to develop a practice model with a view to improve service delivery that aims to adequately prepare and support learners for high school participation post TBI. The first phase of the study included a qualitative multi-case study. Each of the eight cases consisted of an adolescent learner, his/her primary care-giver, teacher and principal. Data collection methods included document analysis, semi-structured interviews and semi-structured observation. Analysis included an inductive process, combined with cross case synthesis. The findings indicated that personal, multi-system environmental and occupational factors served as both enablers and barriers to school re-entry and school participation post TBI. Learners reported that to overcome occupational challenges and participate in the occupation of school, required a process of adaptation (i.e. adapting for and through occupation). This process of adaptation required that learners draw upon internal resources as well as navigate and negotiate the availability and accessibility of personally and culturally relevant external resources. That is, it required a display of resilience from learners. A theory generative design promoted by Chinn and Kramer (2015) and Walker and Avant (2015), was used to conduct the second phase of the study. This included an analysis of the concept of occupational resilience that was uncovered in the first phase of the study. The second phase of the study further included the construction of relationship statements; a description of the model as well as the evaluation and operationalization of the model, i.e. Occupational Resilience: An Occupational Therapy practice model to facilitate high school participation post TBI. The practice model highlights that occupational therapists may promote resilience to facilitate the participation in valued occupation (i.e. promote occupational resilience). Occupational resilience may be facilitated through a series of resilience-promoting tasks that include cultivating resilience thinking, developing and employing strategies to overcome occupational challenges, engagement in occupation and fostering an enabling environment. The model further highlights that throughout the process of facilitating occupational resilience, it is necessary to create opportunities for the adolescent to display agency. The thesis concludes with recommendations for occupational therapy practice and education. Further recommendations to the Departments of Health and Education as well as the Road Accident Fund were explicated to facilitate optimum support provision for adolescent learners with TBI.