title: Comparison of performance in materials-based occupation, imagery-based occupation, and rote exercise in nursing home residents.
abstract: Materials-based occupation, imagery-based occupation, and rote exercise have been examined individually by several researchers. The present study compares all three approaches with one another (i.e., kicking a balloon, imagining kicking a balloon, and a control rote exercise) in nursing home residents. The dependent variable was the number of exercise repetitions. The subjects were 12 women and 3 men between 56 and 93 years of age residing in two nursing homes. All subjects experienced the three approaches but in different orders. One-way analysis of variance for related measures indicated a significant difference among conditions (p = .004). The Tukey procedure (Stevens, 1986) determined that the materials-based occupation condition elicited significantly more repetitions than the other two conditions. The difference between the imagery-based occupation and rote exercise was not statistically significant. These findings support our profession's historical emphasis on the use of physical materials to enhance performance.
authors.affiliation: Mercy Memorial Medical Center, St. Joseph, Michigan 49085.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bush
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000379:methods*