Improving selective attention for all students with inclusive coordinative Bal-A-Vis-X movement breaks

Brief coordinative movement breaks increase student attention and should be implemented by school-based occupational therapists to support the occupational potential of all students. Inattention is one of the most common reasons for student referrals to special education. Decreased physical activity is a contributing factor, yet movement opportunities are declining in schools. Despite these trends and the call from AOTA to support health promotion and prevention for all, 1:1 occupational therapy focusing on students identified with handwriting deficits continue to be prevalent in school-based practice. To remain a relevant service and keep pace with changing trends in special education and best practice, occupational therapists must broaden their scope to address inattention. This study explored Bal-A-Vis-X as an inclusive coordinative exercise intervention and found that 10-minutes of Bal-A-Vis-X twice per week for eight weeks improved attention in sixth grade students from d2 Test of Attention pre-test to post-tests. Immediate post-test improvements were statistically significant for processing speed (TN, t(27) = -7.27, p<.001), focused attention (TN-E, t(27) = -9.85, p<.001), concentration performance (CP, t(27) = -7.90, p<.001), and accuracy (E%, t(27) = 1.72, p=0.048). Delayed post-test improvements were also statistically significant for processing speed (TN, t(21) = -10.37, p<.001), focused attention (TN-E, t(21) = -12.59, p<.001), concentration performance (CP, t(21) = -11.28, p<.001), and accuracy (E%, t(21) = 2.62, p=0.008).

Keywords: attention, Bal-A-Vis-X, children and adolescents, coordinative movement breaks, health promotion