2012
issn 1652-1153 isbn 978-91-7668-903-5
Kajsa Lidström Holmqvist is a registered occupational
therapist and she received a degree of Master in Occupa-tional Therapy at Linköping University in 2003. She has been working as an occupational therapist and manager for many years but in the latest decade she has worked as a lecturer at Örebro University. In recent years she has combined the work with doctoral studies at the School of Health and Medical Sciences at Örebro University. Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a generic term for brain injuries caused mainly by stroke or traumatic brain injury (TBI), although other causes are included as well. Impairments following an ABI are heterogeneous and affect both sensory-motor, cognitive, and emotional functions. Studies have reported a high frequency of cognitive impairment in both early and late stages after ABI resulting in, for example, visuo-spatial neglect, impaired attention, impaired memory, apraxia, and difficulties in planning, organising and ini-tiating activities. Cognitive impairment can create difficulties in all areas of daily activities, and consequently, impact on every aspect of life. Studies have shown that the consequences of cognitive impairments often have a greater influence on independence in the performance of daily activities than do physical impairments.
The occupational therapist plays an important role in the multidisciplinary team caring for clients with cognitive impairment following ABI (CIABI), and is responsible for interventions addressing the consequences of the cognitive impairments in occupational performance. Occupational therapy interventions have been shown to have a positive effect on the occupational performance among clients with CIABI. However, the content of these interventions are insufficiently described leading to a lack of knowledge regarding what com-ponents that form the occupational therapists interventions. By identifying and describing the component parts of occupational therapy practice patterns with regard to clients with CIABI, the content of interventions can be clarified. Such knowledge can be used in the continuing development of evidence-based interventions, the identification of content not previously researched, and separating effective practice patterns from ineffective.
The overall aim of this thesis was to describe occupational therapy prac-tice for clients with CIABI from the perspective of practicing occupational therapists.
Örebro Studies in Care Sciences örebro 2012
Doctoral Dissertation
Occupational therapy practice for clients with cognitive
impairments following acquired brain injury
– Occupational therapists’ perspective
Kajsa Lidström Holmqvist
Medical Science with focus on Health- and Care Sciences
