Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Occupational Therapy

Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

First Advisor

Wendy Stav

Date of original Performance / Presentation

1-1-2026

Publication Date / Copyright Date

1-1-2026

Abstract

The relationship between occupation-based practice and parent-infant co-occupations in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was explored in this quantitative dissertation. While scholars have suggested that fostering parent-infant co-occupations should characterize occupation-based practice in this complex medical setting, this relation had yet to be studied empirically. Lack of empirical investigation about parent-infant co-occupations is in part due to the lack of instruments to measure and rate co-occupations objectively. The Delphi method was utilized to obtain expert opinion on a proposed rating scale to quantify observable features of co-occupations. Twelve expert reviewers achieved consensus at greater than 90% agreement on the content of the rating scales, which were then used to operationalize and measure parent-infant co-occupations in the study. Occupation-based practice was measured using the occupation-based practice assessment (OBPA) when parents were present versus absent during therapeutic intervention; when present, OBPA scores were compared with co-occupation scores. Fourteen infants participated in 164 interventions. OBPA scores were statistically significantly higher when parents were present for intervention than when they were absent (U = 1025.5, p < .001). There was a statistically significant but weak-to-moderate positive relationship between OBPA total scores and co-occupation total scores (rs = .380, p < .001). Quantifying these complex aspects of practice is critical to solidifying occupational therapy’s unique contribution to the infant-parent dyad in this setting. Future research should continue exploring quantitative measurement of co-occupation and the impact of occupation-based services on dyadic health and well-being.

Disciplines

Occupational Therapy

Keywords

co-occupation; neonatal intensive care; occupation-based practice

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