Occupational Therapy

Research Projects
- Occupational Therapy Research and Development
Effect of dynamic sitting on pain development in adult pain developers in sedentary environments – a randomized controlled cross-over trial
DetailsWorksite based prolonged static sitting postures can cause musculoskeletal pain. While the development of pain increases due to the constant growth of digitalization at work, numerous interventions to reduce prolonged sitting periods have been created. The effects of such interventions have not yet been properly examined. Thus, the "DynSit-Pain" project was initiated to investigate the influence of dynamic sitting on the pain development of pain developers in office environments.
Professional Identity Development in Austrian Physio-, Occupational and Speech and Language Therapists – a mixed method investigation
DetailsProfessional Identity (PI) has been defined as an ongoing transformative evolutionary process. PI is the adoption of specific beliefs, attributes and (ethical) values and experiences to become a member of a profession or the way individuals „think and act in line with the… group, … expressed by normative behaviour and loyalty”. Lacking clarity of PI can lead negatively to a professional’s attenuated perceived self-value, can weaken the profession itself and the confidence in performing her/his role. On the other hand, a well-developed concept of one’s PI can lead to enhanced professional confidence and a better exercise of the profession chosen.
Efficacy of an ergonomic handwriting pen – a monocenter randomised controlled counter-balanced trial
DetailsEven though increasing digitalisation reduces handwriting activities, the intensive use of a handwriting tool can lead to problems in the hand or finger areas. Since these problems are often induced by too much pressure and excessive forces during the handwriting process, an ideal design shall help in reducing them. Such an innovative design will be investigated in a cooperative study with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
aktiChron ꟷ “fully active despite chronic illness”
DetailsPatients with chronic diseases require specific skills for managing their symptoms. Therefore, an education programme for chronically ill people will be developed at the University of Applied Sciences for Health Professionals Upper Austria. The programme will comprise six workshops, individual coaching sessions, and regular group meetings.
The programme will be implemented in a primary care centre. Experiences, effectiveness, and acceptance will be evaluated in a study.
Robotic pets for use with dementia patients
DetailsPeople with dementia often develop problems to communicate with other people. Contacts with domestic pets, however, are often less complicated for them. For this reason, pets are employed to stimulate social interaction and well-being. If this is not allowed by the given institutional arrangements, robotic pets can be used instead. At present only little information is available on the reactions of persons concerned as well as on what to consider when using robotic pets with dementia patients.
Health Education for People with Non-Communicable Diseases
DetailsAccording to the WHO, non-communicable diseases such as chronic heart and lung diseases, insult, cancer, diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis, accounted for around 40 million deaths worldwide in 2015, which is around 70% of the total number of deaths.
- Healthcare and Nursing Dietetics Occupational Therapy Speech and Language Therapy Physiotherapy Research and Development
Lica – „Scientific support in further development of a digital platform (app) for family carers and a personal supervisors"
DetailsIn Austria, nursing predominantly takes place at home. Mainly relatives or informal caregivers working for agencies which provide personal assistance are involved. Professional nurses and medical specialists are often contacted at a very late stage. This leaves both family and informal caregivers with a variety of challenges.
Effective post-stroke rehabilitation through Virtual Reality Assisted Therapy
DetailsThe aim of stroke rehabilitation is to significantly increase the patient’s quality of life. In addition to traditional therapy, the use of more widespread consumer electronics (e.g. smart phones, tablets, gesture-controlled devices or virtual reality devices) can help to support the rehabilitation.
Time4me - Meaningful leisure-time activities of children and adolescents: occupational balance as a basis to improve health-related quality of life
DetailsIn this project, we focussed on the meaningful leisure-time activities of 10 to18 year old children and adolescents. Within the scope of a co-operation with the “Khevenhüller Gymnasium Linz”, we reviewed the following questions: How do 10-18 year olds spend their time (especially their leisure time), do they experience occupational balance, does this have an effect on their well-being?
Orthoses and mobility aids assisted by generative manufacturing (rapid prototyping) process - RaProErgo
DetailsThe aim of this project, which was approved for the Upper Austrian Tender 2015 – Medical Technology (Health care, ageing society), is the development of orthoses for people with limited mobility.
fun.tast.tisch. – development of an innovative training software for Microsoft® PixelSense™ in neuro-rehabilitation
DetailsThe project’s aim was to develop a training software based on PixelSense technology that is suitable for patients with acquired brain injury. One of our special concerns was to motivate patients using a clear and attractive design (making it “fun”), the use of multi-touch and the integration of objects (“tast”, German for touch) as well as the possibility to use the table (“tisch”, German for table) from different angles. In total, we developed 14 modules for application in neuro-rehabilitation.