Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Document Type

Dissertation

Valued occupations, social participation, and quality of life of the brain injury survivor: A Path Analysis

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.

Department

College of Health Care Sciences – Occupational Therapy Department

First Advisor

Ferol Menks Ludwig

Publication Date / Copyright Date

7-2005

Publisher

Nova Southeastern University

Abstract

"July 2005" A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Occupational Therapy. Typescript Project Advisor : Ferol Ludwig This study explored the relationship between occupational performance, occupational satisfaction, social participation, and quality of life for survivors of brain injury participating in a community based program. This research project used multivariate analysis, specifically path analysis to test a proposed model exploring quality of life for individuals living with brain injury. Few research studies have undertaken the task of looking at relationships between social participation and quality of life; even fewer studies have looked at how meaningful occupations influence quality of life. To explore this relationship the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, Community Integration Questionnaire, and the Wisconsin HSS Quality of Life Inventory were used. A participant pool of 80 survivors of brain injury completed each of the assessments. The findings of this study determined that social participation is a significant predictor of quality of life. The regression model that explored occupational satisfaction and social participation was also found to be significant. Another finding was that social participation significantly influenced the cohort's feelings of love and belonging. Finally, it was found that safety and security is an area of need for this cohort as they attempt occupations in the broader social environment. The findings indicate that social participation has the greatest effect on quality of life in this model; and occupational satisfaction has a slightly weaker effect. The effects of both occupational satisfaction and occupational performance were stronger as they directly influenced quality of life, however, the path model demonstrated that these two variables are influenced by social participation as they influenced quality of life for the survivor of brain injury participating in community programming. These findings are critical to the development of programming by occupational therapists. Finding indicate that social participation, facilitated by satisfaction with desired occupations, should be an important consideration in influencing the quality of life of survivors of brain injury participating in community programs.

Disciplines

Occupational Therapy

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