Marcia Finlayson, PhD, OT(C), OTR/L
Associate Professor |  | | Phone | (312) 996-4603 | | Fax | (312) 413-0256 | | Email | marciaf@uic.edu | | Office | AHS 327 | Bio
Expertise (key words): Multiple sclerosis, Aging with disability, Needs assessment, Patterns of health service utilization, Community-based interventions
Teaching responsibilities:
- OT 510: Research Methods in Occupational Therapy
- OT 556: Theory and Methods of Needs Assessment in Aging and Disability
- OT 557: Acting on Needs Assessment Findings
Scholarly interests: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system. It leads to a wide range of symptoms and activity and participation restrictions that can have a profound impact on the quality of life of the person with the disease, as well as his or her family members and friends. The focus of Dr. Finlayson’s research is developing, implementing and evaluating self-management interventions that enable people affected by MS to lead healthy, meaningful lives, and to exert choice and control over their participation in daily activities at home and in the community. This work involves the application of a wide variety of research approaches including needs assessment, qualitative and quantitative descriptive designs, randomized control trials, pragmatic program evaluations and development and evaluation of outcome measures. Over the last several years, Dr. Finlayson’s team has addressed issues of aging in MS, fatigue management, falls prevention and management, and caregiver support.
Research Publications:
- Finlayson, M., Peterson, E., & Cho, C. (2006). Risk factors for falling among people aged 45 to 90 years with multiple sclerosis. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 87, 1274-1279.
- Mathiowetz, V., Matuska, K., Finlayson, M., Luo, P., & Chen, H.Y. (2007). One-year follow-up to a randomized controlled trial of an energy conservation course for persons with multiple sclerosis. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 30 (4), 305-313.
- Finlayson, M., Garcia, J., & Preissner, K. (2008). Development of an education program for caregivers of people aging with multiple sclerosis. OT International, 15 (1), 4-17.
- Finlayson, M. (2009). Multiple sclerosis and aging: Complexities, concerns and considerations for care. Aging Health, 5 (1), 89-102.
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- Finlayson, M., Peterson, E., Fujimoto, K., & Plow, M. (in press). Rasch validation of the Falls Prevention Strategies Survey. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Current Projects:
- Effectiveness of a Teleconference Fatigue Management Program for People with Multiple Sclerosis – Funded by the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research. This randomized control trial is testing a teleconference-delivered fatigue management program to reduce fatigue impact, increase self-efficacy for managing fatigue, and improve quality of life for 160 people with MS in Illinois.
- Addressing Concerns About Falling Among Older Adults with Multiple Sclerosis - Funded by the Retirement Research Foundation. Through this study we interviewed 354 people with MS aged 55+ to determine their fall risk factors, developed a falls prevention program based on these risks, and are currently testing the program. The Co-Principal Investigator on this project is Elizabeth Peterson.
- Editor – Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy - The CJOT is one of the major international scientific journals in the field of occupational therapy. It is produced by the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. As Editor, I manage all aspects of the peer-review and article selection for the journal, develop and implement policies and procedures for these processes, and support authors and reviewers.
Potential Opportunities for Doctoral Students:
- Redesigning current interventions for people with MS or their caregivers for delivery in an alternative format (e.g., on-line, teleconference), or modifying them for use with a different population,
- Developing train-the-trainer programs for the interventions that have already been tested by my team,
- Addressing the educational needs of other groups or individuals who may be influenced by multiple sclerosis (e.g., employers, children, co-workers). ,
- Addressing the educational needs of other groups or individuals who may be interacting with and influencing the need for, access to, or use of health-related services of people with MS (e.g., employers, children).
- Developing needs assessment modules that can be used to train staff in community organizations.
- Examining the current ways that MS Care providers are addressing the issue of falls or fatigue management with their clients.
- Developing on-line resources to support authors and reviewers of CJOT.
Curriculum Vitae |
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