You are working with a small group of Spina Bifida teenagers (aged between 16 and 19) in Smogtun, a small town in South Australia. Three of the twelve teenagers are avid basketball and Australian rules fans and in the course of your work with them have expressed a longing to be able to participate in these activities, even on a ‘fun’ basis. As per the work of Volfson et al. (2020) you decide to find out from the group just how many would like to participate in some form of physical activity, what barriers they face in doing so, what they know about physical activity. You also decide that you need to assess the attitude of the local council, the facilities suitable for your group, and any Access and equity funds that they have available for any necessary modifications. Accordingly design a project to ethically conduct this research (an ethics committee would regard the group as extremely vulnerable and any conflict with your role as their OT might need to be addressed). The steps in your design are to decide on one or more research questions, conduct a small literature review on exercise and spina bifida patients, and then develop a research proposal. With this group it is also essential to consider risks and address them.
Reference:
Volfson, Z., McPherson, A. C., Tomasone, J. R, Faulkner, G. E, & Arbour-Nicitopoulos, K. P. (2020). Examining factors of physical activity participation in youth with spina bifida using the Theoretical Domains Framework. Disability and Health Journal, 13(4), 100922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2020.100922