Setareh Ghahari

Queen's University | QueensU · School of Rehabilitation Therapy

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the validity, reliability, and feasibility of the Persian version of the Relative Mastery Scale as a measure of the Occupational Adaptation Model in caregivers of people with multiple sclerosis. Method In a cross-sectional study, after translation, face and content validity, the caregivers completed the Relativ...

Objective To describe the adaptations made and to examine interrater reliability and feasibility of administering a telehealth version of the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (tele-MSFC). Design The Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC) is a commonly used, in-person clinical outcome assessment. It is composed of the timed 25-Foot W...

Background: A needs assessment identifies the differences between actual and ideal situations to facilitate the development of a new programme or improve existing services.Objectives: This article shares our experiences conducting the needs assessment in a context where people had limited or no understanding of the need being assessed.Method: Adher...

Purpose: Caregivers of people with Multiple sclerosis (MS) face various challenges in the occupations of daily lives. We investigated the effect of an online occupational therapy program on the mastery and performance in caregivers of people with MS. Method: In a single-blind randomized controlled trial twenty-four eligible caregivers of people...

Background Caregivers of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) are key members of the treatment team. Their needs and challenges should be met as interventions can be effective in improving not only their own health, well-being, and quality of life but also that of those they care for. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate support...

Objectives: Immigrant admission classes represent different entry routes to Canada and potential divergent pathways for later-life well-being. This study examined later-life satisfaction, an important correlate of well-being, comparing levels between Canadian-born older adults with those of older immigrants and refugees by admission class and cons...

Introduction Multiple sclerosis (MS) can have negative consequences on caregivers ’ level of performance and adaptive process. This study aimed to (i) describe the steps of developing an occupation-based program based on the Occupational Adaptation Model (OAM), and (ii) make a preliminary assessment of the feasibility of the program prepared for ca...

Existing literature has reported inequities in access to Canadian health care services among immigrants. The aim of this scoping review was (a) to explore research regarding Canadian immigrants’ unique experiences in accessing healthcare, and (b) to provide suggestions for future research and programming considering the identified immigrant-specifi...

Background People with chronic low back pain experience myriads of problems from living with their condition. This study aimed to explore the lived experience of people with chronic low back pain in Ethiopia. Design This is a qualitative semi-structured study design which used an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach for data analysis....

Background Communication breakdown between patients and health care professionals poses an accessibility gap preventing adequate health care. The Empowered Patient Program was developed to support people with Parkinson’s in improving their health communication skills/strategies and thus facilitate the accessibility gap in their care. Objective Our...

The UN Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urges the establishment of inclusive education and expansion of educational opportunities to maximize access to education among children with disabilities (CwDs). However, more than 90% of 150 million CwDs do not have access to education Rather, they are left without school participation...

Objectives. To identify the facilitators and barriers to older adults’ participation in healthy aging or cardiovascular rehabilitation programs. Methods. We conducted a scoping review to identify healthy aging program evaluations which identified participant barriers and facilitators. We developed a search strategy in the following databases: MEDLI...

Many countries offer different pathways through which migrants can enter a new country. In Canada, there are three main immigrant admission classes: economic, family, and refugee. Previous research suggests that there are differences in health outcomes among various subgroups of migrants. A scoping review was conducted to characterize the role of i...

Background Healthcare providers play a key role in supporting people with chronic low back pain to self-manage their condition. The study aimed at exploring how health care providers understand and conceptualize self-management and how they provide self-management support for people with chronic low back pain in Ethiopia. Methods Health care provi...

Purpose: Peer-based interventions are increasingly popular and cost-effective therapeutic opportunities to support others experiencing similar life circumstances. However, little is known about the similarities and differences among peer-based interventions and their outcomes for people with neurological conditions. This scoping review aims to des...

The government of Bangladesh enacted the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disability Act of 2013 (the Act) in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This article sheds light on the Act with particular emphasis on (a) support offered to children with disabilities (CWDs) and their families to address...

This article captures the results of a study illustrating the challenges experienced by newcomer youth to Canada in adapting to online learning between March and June 2020. A collaborative research team consisting of a local immigrant-serving agency, local school board and educators, and a group of interdisciplinary university researchers conducted...

Parkinson’s disease is a complex condition that affects many different aspects of a person’s health. Because of its complexity, people with Parkinson’s disease require access to a variety of healthcare services. The aim of the present study was to identify the barriers to access healthcare services for people with Parkinson’s disease. We conducted...

Purpose Cross-culturally translate, adapt, and validate Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) in Amharic language in Ethiopia. Methods The English version RMDQ was translated into Amharic and back-translated into English. An expert review committee reviewed the translations and created Amharic version of the RMDQ (RMDQ-Am). Pilot testing a...

Purpose: This study seeks to gain an understanding of access to rehabilitation services and disability allowances for children with disabilities and their families from the perspectives of service providers. Method: We interviewed 21 service providers in Bangladesh and used thematic analysis to analyze data. Results: Participants reported thei...

Background The Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ) is a valid and reliable instrument that evaluates pain self-efficacy beliefs in people with pain conditions. However, it has not been validated and used in Ethiopia. We conducted this study to translate, adapt, and test the psychometric properties of the PSEQ in the Amharic language and Ethiopi...

Background: The symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) can be diverse, complex, and progressive, creating a need for frequent and long-standing health care services. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify the barriers people with MS encounter when attempting to access multidisciplinary health services and the reported facilitators for bet...

Due to the unpredictable and progressive nature of multiple sclerosis, the burden of care is placed on the primary caregivers. This study aimed to explore occupational adaptation strategies implemented by primary caregivers to adapt to occupational challenges of caregiving. Seventeen primary caregivers of people with MS were interviewed using purpo...

PurposeThe effectiveness of diabetes self-management interventions has been more generally demonstrated in adults, but there is little evidence of diabetes self-management specific to older adults situated in Iran. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Persian Diabetes Self-Management Education on self-efficacy, quality of...

Background and Objectives: Walking disorder is one of the most important manifestations of multiple sclerosis (MS), and indicates the progression of the disease. Fatigue and walking are considered as key symptoms affecting the patient’s quality of life. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between walking status and fatigue,...

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disorder. The progressive and unpredictable nature of MS indicates the patients’ need for long-term care as well as the increased burden of their primary caregivers’ care and occupational challenges that emerge in their daily life activities. Objectives: The current study aimed to explore t...

Purpose The purpose of the study was to understand the experiences of families in accessing government support (i.e., disability allowances and rehabilitation services) for their children with disabilities (CWDs) in Bangladesh. Method We employed a qualitative descriptive method of study and interviewed 27 family members of CWDs. A thematic analys...

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system. It is considered a major cause of non-traumatic disability in young adults. One of the most common and disabling symptoms of MS is fatigue. MS fatigue can impact all aspects of quality of life, including physical, mental and social function. Fortunat...

While access to support for individuals with disabilities has attracted international attention, children with disabilities and their families continue to face a range of barriers that limit their timely access to the needed support, including health service. This is even worse for children with disabilities living in resource poor settings like Ba...

Background: In Canada's increasing immigrant population, a phenomenon called the "healthy immigrant effect" has arisen in which health declines after four years of settling. Access to healthcare is an important consideration. There is strong evidence that immigrants lack confidence and knowledge for navigating health services. The aim of this stud...

Use of occupational therapy interventions to help people with diabetes adapt to their chonic condition and adopt a healthy occupational lifestyle

Background: Children with disabilities (CwDs) make up around 150 million of the billion people with disabilities in the world. The Sub-Saharan African countries have a large number of CwDs who have limited access to healthcare and rehabilitation care. This, combined with chronic poverty, low education, and inadequately trained healthcare professio...

Although resettlement allows for refugees to live in a safer place, there are many issues that accompany this drastic life change. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively examine the literature on the life experiences of refugees in Canada to identify the challenges that they face and their unmet needs, as well as potential sources of supp...

Objective: The objective of this longitudinal study examined, first, whether people with multiple sclerosis who previously advocated for angioplasty to treat chronic cerebral spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) through YouTube continued reporting benefits. Second, it examined a new cohort reporting on CCSVI treatment, and third, whether perspective...

Objective: To explore self-management strategies used by people with multiple sclerosis (MS) with aim of developing a MS self-management model. Methods: A grounded theory approach guided development of a MS self-management model. Eighteen individuals living with MS for three or more years and self-identifying as successfully managing their MS we...

Purpose Families of children with disabilities often have needs related to the care of their child with a disability. Although there has been extensive exploration of family needs in high‐income contexts, there is little known about this issue in low and middle‐income countries like Bangladesh. In this study, we explored the needs of families of ch...

Objective: To extend our understanding of self-management by using original data and a recent concept analysis to propose a unifying framework for self-management strategies. Methods: Longitudinal interview data with 117 people with neurological conditions were used to test a preliminary framework derived from the literature. Statements from the...

Introduction: Community integration (CI) has been known in the literature to promote physical and mental heath and well-being within the growing population of older adult immigrants in North America. However, the components of CI that promote this positive impact is unclear. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the components of CI for older adu...

Study design: Cross-sectional psychometric study. Objectives: To translate the Spinal Cord Independence Measure III (SCIM-III) into Persian, to evaluate it culturally and to analyze the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the SCIM-III (P-SCIM). Setting: Brain and Spinal Injury Research Center (BASIR), Tehran, Iran. Methods: Th...

Introduction: Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) which reduces quality of life in these people. Sleep disorders are also common in people with MS. In order to facilitate management of fatigue and sleep disorder in this group of patients, it is important to determine those factors that are affecting the...

Background and purpose: Fatigue is a common symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS). Available fatigue measurement tools evaluate severity or impact of fatigue and none of them can be used to guide therapists on planning fatigue management interventions. Comprehensive Fatigue Assessment Battery for Multiple Sclerosis (CFAB-MS), in addition to assessment...

Background: We conducted a rigorous review of videos related to multiple sclerosis (MS) and chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) treatment posted by people with MS on one social media website (YouTube) that describe symptoms before and after the surgical procedure, as well as videos presented by health-care professionals (HCPs). Met...

Background: The Wheelchair Outcome Measure (WhOM) evaluates participation outcomes associated with wheelchair use. While English and French versions of this measure have shown appropriate psychometric properties, it is not clear whether this measure is valid and reliable when used in a culture significantly different from the western culture. Obj...

The effectiveness of self-management interventions has been demonstrated. However, the benefits of generic vs. disease-specific programs are unclear, and their efficacy within a practice setting has yet to be fully explored. To compare the outcomes of the diabetes-specific self-management program (Diabetes) and the generic chronic disease Self-mana...

Canadian population-based surveys report comparable access to health care services between immigrant and non-immigrant populations, yet other research reports immigrant-specific access barriers. A scoping review was conducted to explore research regarding Canadian immigrants' unique experiences in accessing health care, and was guided by the resear...

The purpose of this case report was to evaluate the effectiveness of training of transfer techniques to a caregiver of a person who had suffered a stroke in decreasing musculoskeletal pain, depression and anxiety. This study adopted a single subject research design to evaluate the effectiveness of transfer-techniques training on musculoskeletal pai...

To assess the validity of the Patient Activation Measure (PAM13) of patient activation in persons with neurological conditions. "The Everyday Experience of Living with and Managing a Neurological Condition" (The LINC study) surveyed 948 adults with neurological conditions residing in Canada in 2011 and 2012. Using data for 722 respondents who met c...

Objective: The paper describes development of the Assessment of Community Integration Programme Attributes (ACIPA) measure based on a descriptive community integration framework. The purpose of this measure is to allow evaluation of community integration programmes for adults with acquired brain injury (ABI). Methods: The Community Integration Fram...

Objectives: This paper reviews the current literature on acquired brain injury (ABI) with a focus on ABI burden, importance of community integration, and community integration definitions suggested by the literature. Methods: Literature review Results: Acquired brain injury (ABI) is referred to a diverse range of disabilities resulted of injury in...

Background: The Multiple Sclerosis Self-Management Scale (MSSM) is currently the only measure that was developed specifically to address self-management among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). While good internal consistency (α = 0.85) and construct validity have been demonstrated, other psychometric properties have not been established. T...

More than 2.5 million people around the world and about 60,000 Iranians suffer from multiple sclerosis (MS). MS usually starts during productivity years of life (2nd and 3rd decades). Although employment is one of the main areas of activity for adults and, people with MS lose their jobs very quickly. After diagnosis, about two third of people with...

This paper reviews the current literature examining the pervasive symptom of fatigue experienced in three of the most common degenerative neurological conditions: multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease (PD) and post-polio syndrome (PPS). The existing literature can be considered under four headings; definition and prevalence, type, cause, imp...