Sara Rosenblum, Ph.D (CV)
Department of Occupational Therapy
Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Science
University of Haifa
The World Health Organization (ICF, WHO, 2001) has published a concept system and a frame of reference model, which emphasizes the need to evaluate more than just the individual's physical/body functions. When evaluating the individual on a scale of health and illness / ability and disability, it is necessary to evaluate varied aspects of human activity (the way the person performs daily life activities or functions) and participation in society, in diverse life domains.
Such a change in focus requires the development of evaluation tools that are sensitive to nuances in activity and participation abilities among different populations. There is a need for a continuous dialogue between medical doctors who specialize in the physical aspects, and occupational scientists who are expert in human function analysis.
In the CHAP laboratory, evaluation tools are being developed, which are especially designed to identify the development and progression of diseases/disorders as well as the effect of intervention. The studies are conducted with at least one collaborator from another discipline (e.g., medicine, nursing, computers, social work, human resources, education), and colleagues around the world, which enriches the research and is bound to lead to novel, unexpected results.
The evaluation tools include self-report questionnaires and a computerized system that supplies objective data of the handwriting process, which manifests a complex human activity. The scales that were developed are designed to evaluate, for example, learning disabilities and comorbid diagnoses (e.g., ADHD, Developmental Coordination Disorders DCD- "clumsiness") handwriting difficulties, organization in time, and leisure and play abilities.
Furthermore, a novel, non-language-dependent software (ComPET) was developed, which supplies objective measures while the person writes on an electronic tablet (digitizer). This is an ongoing process. Sophisticated data analysis techniques are being continuously developed and their sensitivity is being studied with various populations. Studies already completed have shown that the ComPET is sensitive to age-related developmental changes, to performance decline in aging and to performance deficits in various populations, e.g., children with Dysgraphia, DCD, ADHD, and adults with Muscular Sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer's disease, Depression and Parkinson's. My future goal is to develop a theoretical model to gain better insight into the interactions between varied body functions (e.g., cognitive, motor, sensory), activity performance and participation abilities of people faced with functional deficits in everyday life.
Contact Information:
CV - Prof. Sara Rosenblum
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: 972-4-8240474
Fax: 972-4-8249753
Address: University of Haifa, 199 Abba Hushi st., CP 3498838, Eshkol Bulding, Room 903.
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Department of Occupational Therapy