To Örebro University

PURPOSE: Time management is essential to handle daily life in today's society. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Swedish version of the Let's Get Organised (LGO-S) intervention to improve time-management skills for adults with impaired time management due to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism or mental disorders compared to treatment as usual (TAU), which is individual occupational therapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a multi-centre, open, two-armed pragmatic randomised controlled trial. The setting was out-patient adult habilitation centres and psychiatric clinics. At baseline the study had 75 participants aged 19-61 years (mean 32.3 years) whereof 44 were women.

RESULTS: Both intervention groups showed statistically significant improvements in time-management skills, organisation and planning, emotional regulation, general self-efficacy and satisfaction with activities at post-intervention test. Most of these within-group improvements were sustained after 3 months. Changes in time-management skills between LGO-S and TAU intervention were not statistically significant at post-intervention or after 3-months. Programme completers in LGO-S had significantly better time management skills at the 3-month follow-up than non-completers.

CONCLUSIONS: This pragmatic RCT, conducted in a clinical environment including participants with complex difficulties, showed that both LGO-S and individual occupational therapy are clinically useful/applicable interventions that effectively improve time-management skills.

Introduction: Time management skills are crucial in daily life—at home, to maintain employment, and in parenting—posing a challenge for people with impaired executive functioning. To improve time management skills, individual occupational therapy is commonly offered. The occupational therapy group intervention Let’s Get Organized (LGO) includes ten weekly sessions with a focus on time management skills; it has shown promising results but needs to be further evaluated. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate the time management group intervention LGO for people with ADHD, autism, or mental disorders regarding effectiveness, sustainability over time, and parenting perspectives. Method: LGO was evaluated in four studies with different designs: a multi-center, two-armed, randomized controlled trial including 75 participants who were randomized to LGO or individual occupational therapy (Study I); a single-group one-year follow-up study including 38 participants (Study II); a study including data from the participants in Study I who were parents (n = 28, Study III); and a qualitative interview study with parents after intervention (n = 15, Study IV). To analyze the data, non-parametric tests, a mixed-effects model, correlation testing, and inductive qualitative content analysis were used. Results: Time management skills improved in both groups (LGO and individual occupational therapy) with no difference between them (Study I). Additionally, organization and planning skills and emotional regulation improved after intervention in both groups (Study I). The improved time management skills achieved after LGO were sustained one year after intervention (Study II). Parents improved significantly in parental self-efficacy after time management interventions with no difference betweenthe type of intervention (Study III). Parents experienced more active parenting and better predictability in the whole family after participating in LGO (Study IV). Conclusion: Time management interventions improve time management skills; the improvement is sustained over the long term and moreover has a positive impact on parenting.

PURPOSE: Time management skills are essential to maintain activities in daily life including work and family life. Parenting demands a high degree of attention, planning, problem solving and also time management. Managing time and organizing daily life can be a challenge for people with ADHD and consequently complicate parenting. Let’s Get Organized is an occupational therapy group intervention aiming at training skills in time management and planning and organization. The aim of this study was to describe parents’ experiences of time management and parenting after participating in the occupational therapy group intervention Let’s Get Organized.

DESIGN: The study had a descriptive qualitative design. Participants (n=15) with self-reported difficulties in time management skills due to ADHD were recruited from three psychiatric and habilitation outpatient services in Sweden.

METHOD: Interviews with a study-specific interview guide were performed after completed intervention. Data was analysed using qualitative inductive content analysis.

RESULTS: The findings describe the parents’ experiences in one overarching main category, Active parenting och better relations within and outside the family through daily time management. Three underlying generic categories were identified: Let’s Get Organized facilitates empowerment in daily life; The individual and family – both facilitators of and obstacles to implementation of time management strategies; and A changed parenting and family life.

CONCLUSION: Participants experienced a positive impact on time management skills after Let’s Get Organized which generated more active parenting and better predictability in the whole family. Let’s Get Organized can be a valuable occupational therapy intervention for parents with ADHD.

PURPOSE: Time management skills are essential for handling daily life in a modern society. People with ADHD, Autism spectrum disorder or mental disorders may have affected time management, which for example might lead to poor occupational balance, low self-efficacy and difficulites to maintain family and working life. Let’s Get Organized’(LGO) is a manual-based group intervention to improve time management skills. The aim of this trial was to evaluate the efficiency of the Swedish version of LGO (LGO-S) compared to treatment as usual (individual occupational therapy) to improve time management for adults with impaired time management skills due to neurodevelopmental or mental disorders.

DESIGN: Multi-center two-armed open parallel randomized controlled trail (RCT). Participants (n=88) from nine out-patient psychiatric or habilitation care units were randomized into 1) Let’s Get Organized (LGO-S) and 2) individual occupational therapy (treatment as usual).

METHOD: Both groups received intervention for 10 weeks. Data was collected pre-, post- and three months post intervention. Primary outcome measure was self-assessed time management skills. Secondary outcome measures were self assessed planning and organisational skills, regulation of emotions, satisfaction with daily occupations and self-efficacy.

RESULTS: Both LGO and Individual occupational therapy showed statistically significant improvements in time management skills after intervention (p<0.001 in both groups). The results were maintained at the three month follow-up. There were no statistically significant differences between groups. Analyzes of secondary outcomes are ongoing and will be presented at the conference.

CONCLUSION: Both LGO and individual occupational therapy had a positive effect on the participants’ time management skills. Conclusions about secondary outcomes and possible correlations will be presented at the conference.

Background: Parenting demands a high degree of attention, planning, and problem-solving, including time management, demands that can be challenging for parents with ADHD. Let's Get Organized (LGO) is an occupational therapy group intervention aiming at developing skills in time management, organisation and planning. There is a need to investigate if LGO may have an impact also on parenting.

Aim: To describe how parents with ADHD experienced the intervention, their time management strategies, parenting and family life after the occupational therapy group intervention LGO.

Method: Interviews were performed with 15 parents with ADHD, after completing LGO. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: The findings are described in one overarching main category, Active parenting and better relations within and outside the family through daily time management with three underlying generic categories: Let's Get Organized facilitates empowerment in daily life; The individual and family - both facilitators of and obstacles to implementation of time management strategies; and A changed parenting and family life.

Conclusions and significance: Participants experienced a positive impact on time management skills after LGO, which generated more active parenting and better predictability in the whole family. LGO can be a valuable intervention for parents with ADHD.

BACKGROUND: Time management skills are essential to maintain occupations in everyday life. People with neurodevelopmental or mental disorders often experience persistent difficulties with managing time and organizing daily life, consequently, there is a need to establish interventions with sustainable results.

AIM: The aim was to perform a one-year post-intervention follow-up after the intervention Let's Get Organized (LGO-S) for people with neurodevelopmental or mental disorders.

METHODS: The study is a one-year follow-up of a single group pre-test-post-test design. Thirty-eight persons with difficulties in time management due to neurodevelopmental or mental disorders participated. Instruments to collect data were Assessment of Time Management Skills; Weekly Calendar Planning Activity and the Satisfaction with Daily Occupations instrument. Wilcoxons's signed-rank test was used to compare data over time.

RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the participants' outcomes between post-intervention and one-year follow-up in time management skills and regulation of emotions, satisfaction with daily occupations, and global satisfaction. A significant improvement could be seen in the subscale organization and planning at the one-year follow-up compared to post-intervention.

CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in time management skills, organization, and planning, regulation of emotions, and satisfaction with daily occupations after the LGO-S can be maintained in the long term.