Occupational Therapy Projects
The focus is on projects that enable people with limited capacity to be more independent and participate in self-care, education, work, leisure activities, and social life.
Project Database
All Occupational Therapy Research Unit research projects are listed in chronological order by project start date. Specific research projects can also be found by using the search function.
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Artificial Intelligence for Myoelectrically Controlled Cooperative Arm Prostheses: A proof-of-concept Study
This proof-of-concept study will be embedded into our line of research in this field. Our overall aim is to render the control of a myoelectrical forearm prosthesis (MCP) intuitive. Currently, an MCP typically has two integrated electrodes, through which the user provides input to the prosthesis. With these two ...
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Return to work of people with post-covid condition
Moving forward from the COVID-19 pandemic, health systems around the world are adapting to new ways of providing health care services alongside discovering pressing global health issues including mental health issues, substance misuse and abuse, and the disruption in people’s everyday living among others. According ...
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Substance use to maintain occupational performance among persons with chronic pain
Background Around 18 % of the Swiss population suffers from chronic pain at least once in their live. Chronic pain affects all areas of daily life and has a negative impact on quality of life, workability and well-being. Prescribed medications such as opioids are taken by persons with chronic pain primarily for pain ...
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Parti-CP: Barriers and facilitators for participation in children for cerebral palsy, their siblings and families in Switzerland
The aim of Parti-CP is to gather profound knowledge about how children with CP, their siblings, and their families as a whole experience participation in Switzerland, then use this knowledge to formulate evidence-based recommendations. The mixed-methods study will include four work packages with qualitative and ...
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Technologies for Therapy at a Distance for Individuals With Stroke
Stroke is one of the main causes of permanent limitations in activities of daily living and participation in everyday life worldwide. Occupational therapists make a significant contribution to helping clients return to their daily lives after stroke. A high number of people living with the effects of a stroke want ...
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Mobile Inclusion Lab
We create a Real-Lab (Mobile Inclusion Lab, “MobILe”) that enables experimental development of sustainable rehabilitation and assistive (R&A) technologies for people with disabilities. By providing a toolkit (hardware and software, e.g., 3D-printing, sensors, motors, human-computer interfaces) with teaching and ...
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creating inclusive education: form the perspectives of children, parents, teachers and others
Inclusive schools teach children skills to engage with each other and do things together in classrooms, playgrounds, and other places, disregarding differences in abilities, gender, race, class, and language. Education is contextualised within local systems, varying across socio-historical and cultural settings. ...
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Family Outcome of Early Intervention
Background Family-centred practice, an approach in which intervention is directed at the whole family, is now considered "state of the art" in paediatric early intervention. Studies have shown that children develop best in a supportive family where the needs of all family members are addressed. The goal of ...
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Artificial Intelligence for Myoelectrically Controlled Cooperative Arm Prostheses
Individuals with an upper limp amputation often use a prosthesis to conduct activities of daily living and participate in society. However, the upper limb is challenging to replace, as the arm and hand have to conduct very complex gross and fine motor movements, with many degrees of freedom. In a survey with 307 ...
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Tele-Assessment: Leveraging Deep Learning to Assess Upper Limb Kinematics after Stroke with Off-the-shelf Webcams
We are developing and validating a camera-based compensation classifier ("3C") for tele-neurorehabilitation to distinguish normal arm movements from those with compensation. The algorithm can be used with a webcam alone or in combination with an inertial measurement unit (IMU). This method improves ...
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Sleep Coach
Quality of sleep has an impact on mental and physical health and thus on general well-being. several factors that influence sleep quality exert their effect in the hours before falling asleep. Activities that promote or hinder sleep quality during this time are commonly subsumed under the term "sleep hygiene". ...
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Practical considerations for the application of occupational therapy at a physical distance
The Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), in collaboration with the Swiss Occupational Therapists Association, is developing a digital brochure on the use of occupational therapy at a distance for occupational therapists in the Swiss healthcare system. Spatial distance occupational therapy circumscribes all ...
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The situation of paratransit users in Switzerland
Description Many people in Switzerland cannot use public transport or can only use it to a limited extent (e.g., due to a motor or visual impairment). They rely on paratransit services to participate in daily life. Various insurance providers, such as health insurance funds and the Swiss Disability Insurance and Old ...
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Care for Rare - Towards Inclusive Work Environments for Neurodiverse Workers
Three preparatory studies for a larger research project: Systematic literature review on workplace accommodations for ND workers Guideline review on workplace adjustments Pilot study, ASD-focused, on sensory challenges in offices and work-related Outcomes
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Development of a training for professional storytelling to strengthen the professional identity of occupational therapists
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P4Play - european doctorial program for occupational science
P4PLAY is a doctoral programme for occupational therapists, funded as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action by the Horizon Europe funding programme of the EU. P4PLAY stands for the four dimensions "People", "Place", "Policy" and "Practice" and aims to explore knowledge about children's play and the consequences of a lack ...
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Linguistic and occupational therapy support for augmentative and alternative communication in young adults
Persons who are using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) often do not receive new communication devices after compulsory schooling, and they do not receive further speech therapy support. As young adults, they are at a threshold into an important stage of their life, and into vocational education or ...
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Ressources and barriers of health care at a distance
With the Covid 19 pandemic, the digital future has become the present: In the short term, interventions with physical presence have been replaced by interventions at a distance. The effectiveness of these interventions has little been researched, the legal requirements have not been conclusively clarified and are ...
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mHealthINX – The mental Health eXperience; Indication - iNtervention - eXperience
Mental health is a sensitive but important and pressing issue in the professional environment. It encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Chronic stress can have detrimental effects on both mental and physical health. The mHealthINX solution aims to help older workers (50+) manage stress, ...
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Applicability of the GripAble Therapy Robot to Patients After Hand Injuries
Hand injuries account for a significant number of injury-related treatments in the emergency room and cause high costs through medical care (medical treatment and therapy) and absenteeism. Since the recovery of hand function has an influence on the quality of life, and the duration of illness and incapacity to work ...