50 Studies Every Occupational Therapist Should Know is the first book of its kind in occupational therapy (OT). It is an excellent resource for healthcare students and practitioners seeking to gain a better understanding of the breadth and depth of the field and covers a wide range of topics within six key practice areas in OT: productive aging, health and wellness, work and industry, rehabilitation and disability, children and youth, and mental health. Each chapter discusses one influential study, reviews its key findings, limitations, related studies, and implications for practice, and concludes with a case study that applies the research to a clinical vignette. This is the only book that summarizes occupational therapy research in an accessible, user-friendly manner. Experienced clinicians will find it a useful reference for classic studies in the field, and an overview of influential research outside their area of specialization. Educators will appreciate its utility for teaching critical appraisal of research and highlighting the scope of occupational therapy practice. Students and new clinicians will find thought-provoking case studies directly applicable to scenarios they may encounter in their clinical work, demonstrating the role of research in evidence-based practice. It is a must-read for everyone interested in better understanding the evidence informing occupational therapy practice.
Dr. Beth Pyatak, PhD, OTR/L, CDCES, FAOTA (she/her) is an occupational scientist, occupational therapist, and certified diabetes care and education specialist. She is an Associate Professor in the Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Southern California, consistently ranked within the top three occupational therapy programs in the nation by US. News and World Report. As the director of the Lifestyle Redesign for Chronic Conditions research lab at USC, Dr. Pyatak has focused on understanding the lived experiences of individuals with diabetes and other chronic conditions, and developing innovative occupational therapy interventions to support their disease management and quality of life; this work has focused particularly on addressing the needs of medically underserved populations. Over the course of her academic career, Dr. Pyatak has published and presented extensively on her work related to chronic conditions, and has won numerous awards and honors for her scholarship and mentoring.
Dr. Pyatak was born and raised in California, and lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Arun; two children, Nyx and Milo; and three cats, Peter, Omar and Twist.
Dr. Elissa S. Lee, OTD, OTR (she/her) serves as Clinical Strategy Manager for SCAN Health Plan. Raised between Austin, Texas and Taipei, Taiwan, Dr. Lee received her B.A. in Psychology at University of California, Berkeley, and her M.A. and clinical doctorate at University of Southern California. For her doctoral work, she focused on chronic care management in medically underserved populations at the Lifestyle Redesign for Chronic Conditions research lab, and was named a Student Innovator by the Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science in 2018.
Dr. Lee (she/her) is a proud daughter of immigrants; she is also a caregiver, a sister, a grandchild, a cousin, a friend.
In her attempts to improve health equity, Dr. Lee also writes solutions-based healthcare journalism for the Southern California News Group, Center for Health Journalism, and AARP; consults on impact for Mental Health America, GSA Network, and Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation; and organizes community efforts, such as creating an inaugural mental health trainee scholarship for the AAPI community. Dr. Lee formerly worked for Too Small to Fail, a national initiative of the Clinton Foundation, promoting the importance of early brain and language development in early childhood.
