Biomarking stress reduction outcomes of occupational therapy

The deadline for 2012 Doctoral College Studentships has now passed.

The Brighton Doctoral College is pleased to welcome applications from self-funded or externally sponsored students for programmes of research in this or a closely related area, beginning from September 2012. Applications are welcome from students wishing to study full time or part time, and applications are welcome from students in employment who have the support of their employers.

• Based in the Faculty of Health and Social Science
• Supervisors: Professor Gaynor Sadlo; Dr Peter Watts.

Application deadline

The university cannot guarantee that students can start at their requested date unless deadlines are met.

• UK/EU students: The deadline for the university to receive applications for an entry date of October is the 1 August, for January entry it is the 1 November and for May it is the 1 March.
• International students: The deadline for the university to receive applications for an entry date of October is the 1 June, for January entry it is the 1 September and for May it is the 1 January.

Apply now.

This innovative project merging occupational and sports sciences, seeks to attract an exceptional graduate student in occupational therapy or occupational science.  

Background: Qualitative research reveals that participation in meaningful activities within occupational therapy dampen the stress response (1,2), a beneficial outcome when chronic stress is the major cause of ill health in our society, through inducing hypertension (cardiovascular disease & stroke)(3), depressed immune function (more infectious diseases and auto-immune conditions)(3), obesity (4), cancer (5) and reduced mental health (6). Occupation is recommended as an intervention proven to have a positive effect on the mental wellbeing of older people (NICE Guidelines 2009). The skill development, active thinking and problem solving inherent in occupations also mitigate against dementia (7,8).. The specific biological mechanisms involved need to be explored and the potent diversional qualities of occupation need to be reappraised (9, 10,11).

Method: The research tests the efficacy of methodologies from sports science to assess occupational therapy outcomes.  During and following participation in their skill, we will test 20 professional craftspeople for possible changes in Sympathetic biomarkers - saliva swabs to measure cortisol; blood samples to assay neurotransmitters associated with mental states: serotonin, endorphin, adrenaline and nor-adrenaline (participants wear a small cannula, introduced before participating). These will be analysed and interpreted in the sports science laboratories using standard assay kits (ELISA) and automated plate reading software, and compared with international data produced on tests on other comparable activities such as exercise.  Pre/post-intervention stress-levels questionnaires and qualitative interviews will triangulate the data.

Impact: With stress, anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease, cancer and obesity  rates rising exponentially, costing health care millions of pounds in treatment time and medication, occupation offers a low cost treatment alternative (1) – this natural antidote to stress may prove (physiologically) to be a viable alternative to more expensive medicinal or cognitive therapies.  Occupational therapy might be reclassified as a psychological intervention opening up increased access to it for people in the community. This project gives due emphasis to the biological effects of creative activities, which applies to public health promotion, mental health settings, acute hospitals, community, residential homes and hospices.

References:

1. Wilcock AA 2006 An Occupational Perspective of Health. Slack
2. Wright JJ, Sadlo G, Stew G 2007  Further Explorations of Flow Process. Journal of Occupational Science.  14 (3) 136-144  
3. Kario K, McEwen BS, Pickering TG 2003 Or filter your current search  Disasters and the heart: a review of the effects of earthquake-induced stress on cardiovascular disease. Find all citations in this journal (default).Hypertension Research : Official Journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension26(5):355-67]
4.  Dallman M, Pecoraro, P, Akana S, la Fleur et al  2003 Chronic stress and obesity: A new view of “comfort food”  PNAS.
5. Thaker PH, Lutgendorf SK,  Sook AK 2007 The Neurendocrine Impact of Chronic Stress on Cancer Cell Cycle 6:4 430-433
6. Reiche V, Odebrecht S, Nunes V, Morimoto H Stress, depression, the immune system, and cancer  The Lancet  Oncology 9:4
7. Peavy GM, Jaconson MW, Salmon DP et al 2011 The influence of Chronic Stress on Dementia-related Diagnostic Change in Older Adults. Alzheimer Disease Association Disorders Oct 26.
8. Valenzuela M, Sachdev, P 2009  Can Cognitive Exercise Prevent the Onset of Dementia? Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials with Longitudinal Follow-up American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry:  17 (3) 179-187
9. Find all citations by this author (default).Yellowleas D & Hargadon A 2000 The pleasure principle: immersion, engagement, flow.  ACM New York 
10. Hartley N & Payne M (eds) 2008 The Creative Arts in Palliative Care. Jessica Kingsley
11. Biederman, I. & Vessel, E. A. 2006. Perceptual Pleasure and the Brain. Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.

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