Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Environment Of Interprofessional Education In Graduate Education: Exploring Professional Programs Of Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant, And Physical Therapy, Allison R. Kaczmarek

Theses and Dissertations

Interprofessional education (IPE) is an educational approach of increasing popularity in professional schools for the preparation of a collaborative ready healthcare workforce. The accrediting bodies of professional education programs in occupational therapy (OT), physician assistant (PA), and physical therapy (PT) have incorporated standards for outcomes addressing IPE. Although they have endorsed the Health Professions Accreditors Collaborative (HPAC) consensus document on quality IPE, we do not have a contemporary snapshot of the IPE environments in the curriculum of their accredited programs. This dissertation, a collection of three distinct inquiries, has two aims: first, to provide a description of IPE as it …

The Impact Of Occupational Therapy Acute Care Services On Readmission Rates For Patients In Medicare’S Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, Jessica M. Edelstein

Theses and Dissertations

The United States (US) health care system is faced with the daunting challenge to make healthcare payments commensurate with quality of care provided. To assess quality, metrics for reimbursement have been established by Medicare. One such quality metric is hospital readmissions (readmissions). Readmissions are associated with poor patient outcomes and costly. Associated poor patient outcomes include higher risk for mortality, deconditioning, nutritional issues and cognitive impairments. As a result, readmissions cost Medicare $26 billion annually. Current strategies for reducing readmissions in the US are fragmented and hospital-specific. While specific strategies may vary, hospitals that have low readmissions rates tend to …

What Influences School-Based Occupational Therapists’ Decision-Making? A Qualitative Study, Cynthia Helen Clough

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Occupational therapists in school-based practice make daily service delivery decisions about when, where, and how to provide interventions to children with disabilities. The services provided by these occupational therapists have the potential to support or limit a child’s access to general education curriculum and environments which, in turn, impacts vocational, financial, social, and community life outcomes. Service delivery decisions about pulling children out of classrooms, pushing services into classrooms, and / or providing consultation are made based on the ways therapists define and differentiate their role from that of other school personnel, how they interpret Individual Education Plans for …

Examining The Lived Experience Of Caregivers Learning A Home Program From A Pediatric Occupational Therapist, Michelle Finet

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of family caregivers as they learned a home program from an occupational therapist for their child. Gaining information from the caregiver on experiences with patient education may enable therapists to develop an understanding of the needs of caregivers during the educational process that occurs when a therapist is giving the caregiver a home program. Meeting the learning needs of the caregivers may possibly reduce the amount of overall therapy needed by the child. This phenomenological approach sought to answer the following research questions: (a) what are the lived experiences …

Survey Of Assessing Pain In Clinical Practice And Applicability Of A New Assessment, Michelle Rose Konz

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

SURVEY OF ASSESSING PAIN IN CLINICAL PRACTICE AND APPLICABILITY OF A

NEW ASSESSMENT

by

Michelle Konz

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Professor Joyce Engel, PhD

Aims The purpose of this study is to identify pain assessments that are being used to measure an individual’s pain experience and to discover how occupational therapists are currently assessing pain in youths who have complex communication needs with a developmental disability (DD). Methods Phase 1: A literature review was conducted through the use of electronic databases to research 17 different methods of pain assessment to create descriptive charts to …

Translating Modified Ashworth Scale Into Functional Measures And Quantitative Kinematic Values: A Pilot Study, Patrick Frigge

Theses and Dissertations

TRANSLATING MODIFIED ASHWORTH SCALE INTO FUNCTIONAL MEASURES AND QUANTITATIVE KINEMATIC VALUES: A PILOT STUDY

by

Patrick D. Frigge

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Professor Ying-Chih Wang, PhD

Introduction: Spasticity is a motor disorder characterized by a velocity-dependent increase in tonic stretch reflexes. The gold standard for assessing spasticity in stroke patients is the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), but the scale is highly subjective to the clinician’s opinion and previous experience and lacks psychometric fidelity. Numerous studies have criticized the scale’s subjectivity and lack of rater reliability. Development of a quantitative spasticity device in routine clinical care …

Development And Testing Of An Occupational Therapy Intervention To Promote Medication Adherence, Jaclyn K. Schwartz

Theses and Dissertations

Many persons with chronic health conditions fail to take their medications as prescribed, resulting in declines in health and function. Unfortunately, current interventions for medication nonadherence are not very effective. Medication adherence is a daily activity, which many occupational therapists believe would be responsive to occupational therapy intervention. Unfortunately, few resources support occupational therapists in this role. The purpose of this dissertation is to create the foundational work for occupational therapy medication adherence interventions. In this dissertation, I accomplish five objectives. First, I identify the role of occupational therapy practitioners in the medication adherence field. Second, I create a manualized …

Workplace Discrimination And Visual Impairment: An Analysis Of Eeoc Charges And Resolutions, Jane Mcneil

Theses and Dissertations

Workplace discrimination for individuals with visual impairments in the U.S. is an ongoing issue dating before the founding of the EEOC and the enactment of the ADA. Despite laws enacted to protect against unequal treatment in the workplace, the EEOC continues to receive submissions of formal discrimination charges from individuals with visual impairments.

The workplace is experiencing changes with increasing amounts of older adults, women, minorities, and the use of technology and the Internet. By examining characteristics of the discrimination charges and the resulting outcomes, the knowledge gained can describe the current situation and the historical progression of workplace discrimination …

Factors Associated With College Students' Excessive Alcohol Consumption Within The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: An Epidemiological Analysis, Beom-Young Cho

Theses and Dissertations

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to estimate the relative influence of predictor variables on excessive alcohol consumption among college students for providing effective prevention and intervention. Also, this study suggests the roles of occupational therapy in Health promotion and Well-being. METHOD: The data from 7,166 college students (3,176 males, 3,990 females) aged between 18 - 25 years from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) conducted by the US Department of Health and Human Services was used. Two criterion variables, binge drinking and heavy drinking, were used as indicators of excessive alcohol consumption. There were …

Examining The Lived Experience Of Student Veterans Using Photovoice Methodology, Nikhil Tomar

Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this study was to understand the lived experience of student veterans using photovoice methodology. After returning from service veterans struggle most with school (Plach & Haertlein Sells, 2013). Student veterans experience difficulty in time management, and transitioning to student life (Radford, 2009). They spend more time working at jobs and caring for dependents than non-veteran students, but spend equivalent time studying. They perceive less engagement with faculty and campus support than their peers (NSSE, 2010). For many veterans, education is a primary occupation but there is dearth of data about their lived experience and factors that …

Quality And Coordination Of Care For Persons With Brain Injury In The Community: Developing A Survey, Brian Philip Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Because of increasing demand on primary care physicians and a complex, fragmented, healthcare "system", people now must coordinate their own healthcare and services. In response, care coordination has become a clinical specialty, typically done by nurses or social workers. People with disabilities (PWD) also must coordinate their care, including health and disability-support services, knowing who to call, advocating for themselves, and scheduling appointments, among other things. Such demands can be particularly problematic after brain injury, which may impair abilities to prioritize, coordinate, manage, and schedule activities. Coordinating services requires participation of the PWD, and supportive significant others (SSO). At …