Domestic abuse has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Are you prepared to work with the people whose lives it has changed?

Domestic Abuse Across the Lifespan: The Role of Occupational Therapy reframes the problem of domestic violence, taking it out of the home and into the practice of occupational therapy. It identifies the effects of all types of domestic abuse (spousal, child, elder, etc.) as well as frameworks to address dysfunction that has occurred secondary to the abuse.

This book shows that the effects of domestic abuse are indeed in the realm of occupational therapy practice, and that just as occupational therapists would consider other environmental concerns (i.e. kitchen and bathroom safety), they must also consider abuse and its effects.

Domestic Abuse Across the Lifespan: The Role of Occupational Therapy provides you with:

• definitions and illustrative examples of each type of domestic violence
• risk factors for becoming a victim or an abuser
• an examination of the occupational therapist's role with victims of abuse
• reasons why women may decide to refuse intervention
• a discussion of the connection between victim advocacy and occupational therapy
• a case study detailing the clinical findings and treatment of a six-month-old infant with shaken baby syndrome who received in-patient occupational therapy
• a case study of a child witness of domestic abuse and the use of the Occupational Therapy Psychosocial Assessment of Learning (OT PAL) in measuring the psychosocial aspects of his performance in a nontraditional classroom setting a checklist for occupational therapists who encounter elder abuse and a case study that illustrates its use . . . and much more!
  
  The number of people whose lives are scarred by domestic abuse is vast and growing every day. Occupational therapists working in many different settings will encounter children, adults, elders, and individuals with disabilities who have experienced intimate violence and abuse. Domestic Abuse Across the Lifespan: The Role of Occupational Therapy is the tool to help you help them.