Sports Medicine Commons^™

Mental Health In College Athletes: An Ot Perspective, Olivia Sarik, Lakeisa Boykin, Susan Didino

Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Problem: There is often increased stigma surrounding college athletes in the spotlight, thus preventing them from seeking help with their mental health (Kaier et al., 2015). There are currently no known programs that offer resources specifically for college athletes (Sudano & Miles, 2016). It is important for occupational therapists to advocate for mental health resources for student-athletes to create healthy habits and routines within the athletic environment.

Purpose: The purpose of this capstone was to increase awareness of mental health resources that are available to student-athletes and coaching staff at Baldwin Wallace University to improve mental health in athletics and …

Barriers And Resources For Competitive Adaptive Rock Climbing, Amy Griswold, Susan Macdermott

Spring 2022 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The purpose of this project was to (1) identify barriers to participation in competitive adaptive rock climbing for adults with a physical disability and (2) create and distribute virtual educational resources to meet identified barriers. The need for this project was highlighted by athlete and coach self-report of limited ability to engage in competitive adaptive rock climbing, also known as paraclimbing.

The sample consisted of 108 adaptive athletes, adaptive rock-climbing coaches, staff members in rock climbing gyms, and volunteers at adaptive rock climbing events. Participants anonymously completed a ten-minute mixed methods virtual survey using Microsoft Forms.

Statistical analyses suggest recurrent …

An Online Educational Resource On Adaptive Sports For People With Spinal Cord Injuries, Rachel Morgan, Steven M. Gerardi

Fall 2021 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

A spinal cord injury (SCI) has a serious impact on an individual’s participation in everyday life activities, leading to a high risk of a sedentary life-style. There is a paucity of research pertaining to adaptive sport participation post-injury and the role of occupational therapy (OT). Additionally, there are limited resources available that inform people with SCI on the benefits of adapted sports or where to go to engage in them. As such, this paper describes the development of a doctoral capstone project to address this need. The purpose of this capstone project was to create an educational web page that …