Other Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Social Skills Groups For School-Age Children With Autism, Samantha Aybar

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The present capstone project and experience aimed to develop and implement a 12-week program of social skills peer groups for school-aged children with autism at an outpatient pediatric therapy clinic. The program consisted of weekly peer group sessions targeting a range of social skill topics, such as emotional regulation, conversation skills, and collaborative play. The small group format provided an opportunity for participants to practice skills, learn from others, and obtain feedback on their performance within a supportive environment. A family-centered approach was utilized through providing parent resources, at-home activities, and a parent workshop to better support children’s social skill …

Peer-Led Building Resilience And Enhancing Social-Emotional Skills Program, Danielle K. Enrico

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The purpose of the Capstone experience was to develop and implement a five-week peer-led building resilience and social-emotional skills training program at a public high school. This program addressed high school students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding resources, social-emotional skills, and resilience. A questionnaire was administered pre and post-program to measure effectiveness. The results indicated an increase in scores, demonstrating a clearer understanding in all three areas.

Using A Social Support Group To Educate And Empower Immigrant Latina Women, Diana N. Rendon

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The purpose of this capstone project was to promote mental health education and access to vulnerable South Florida Latina Women. The original intent was to establish a program providing families with mental health education, including information about common mental illnesses, signs and symptoms, community resources, and the impacts on occupations. This capstone experience was conducted with the Magnolias Women's Support Group at Caridad Center, located in Palm Beach County, Florida. The focus areas of this capstone were advocacy, policy and program development, and administration. Furthermore, this capstone project was intended to promote health literacy for underserved populations, especially immigrant women.

Dextromethorphan-Quinidine Is Helpful For Pseudobulbar Affect Disorder In Stroke Patients, Michael Francis, Mira Hamame, Md, Mariam Nasrallah, Md, Alison Nesbitt, Do, James Peter Meza, Md, Phd

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

An informed consent article using

Hammond FM, Alexander DN, Cutler AJ, et al. PRISM II: an open-label study to assess effectiveness of dextromethorphan/quinidine for pseudobulbar affect in patients with dementia, stroke or traumatic brain injury. BMC Neurology. 2016;16:89. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-016-0609-0

for a patient with pseudobulbar affect following stroke

Troubling Service User Involvement In Health Professional Education: Toward Epistemic Justice, Stephanie Leblanc-Omstead

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

It has become increasingly popular in health professional education to solicit the contributions and involvement of people who have firsthand or ‘lived’ experiences of using mental health services – a practice hereafter referred to as service user involvement (SUI). SUI is founded on the premise that service users ought to be involved in the development and evaluation of services and systems they experience, which includes the education of future health professionals. Despite the momentum this practice has gained in a range of international contexts, SUI is often conceptualized, organized, and implemented uncritically, and with tremendous inconsistency across health professional education …

Understanding The Impact Of Covid-19 On Physical And Mental Fatigue In Youth With Cerebral Palsy, Nathan Wc Yang Mr.

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This explorative study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns, and social distancing on mental and physical fatigue and life role participation of youth with CP. Quantitative data included results from the Fatigue Impact and Severity Self-Assessment (FISSA), Child & Adolescent Scale of Participation (CASP) and the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY).

An Exploratory Study Of Individuals’ Transition To Adoptive Parenthood, Emily Brandt, Karen Park, Susan Macdermott, Becki Cohill

Summer 2021 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The purpose of this study was to explore individuals’ transition to adoptive parenthood through an occupational therapy lens. More specifically, this study aimed to investigate how individuals’ performance patterns and daily occupations change through this transition. Ultimately, the purpose of this study was to gain insight into this population’s lived experience to inform occupational therapy services in order to meet the specific needs of the adoptive parent population.

A mix-method study was created using both surveys and semi-structured interviews. The survey contained both open and closed ended questions, as well as Likert Scale questions. There were forty survey participants and …

Mindfulness-Based Practices For The Impaired Performance Athlete, Mackenzie L. Campbell

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Mindfulness-based programs are becoming commonly considered for the improvement of athlete's mental and physical state. However, their usage in improving performance in impaired athletes is limited and not fully understood. The purpose of this thesis was to review the standing literature on the topic of the application of mindfulness to improving athletic performance in wellbeing-impaired athletes. Seventy-three articles were included as references for this paper describing functional mechanisms, clinical significance and anecdotal evidence that points to the effectiveness of mindfulness in sport for the treatment of pain, injury recovery, prevention of injury, and chronic illness. Ultimately, this review supports the …

Bharatanatyam, An Effective Psychotherapeutic Intervention In Dance/Movement Therapy, Maanasa Marghashayam Bharath

Dance/Movement Therapy Theses

Dance/movement therapy is a psychotherapeutic modality that acknowledges the human body as a window to the human mind and spirit. Through creative and dynamic interventions, it fosters a healthy unification of the mind and body to enhance an individual's holistic health. This research focuses on the traditional dance form of India, Bharatanatyam, and its influence on the body and mind of the practitioner. Journeying through the history of the dance form to its relevance in the field of dance/movement therapy, the thesis explores how Bharatanatyam can be useful as an alternate method, in a therapeutic session to facilitate navigation through …

Effects Of Social Technology On Older Adults In A Residential Living Facility, Katherine Bennett, Mia L. Gonzalez, Sydney L. Harper, Madison N. Logan, Kaeli M. Jeffers, Alexandrea C. Springer, Jeanne Sowers

Student Journal of Occupational Therapy

Personal connection and social interaction are vital components of health throughout the lifespan. Loneliness and social isolation among the older adult population impacts both physical and mental health negatively. Analysis of published research demonstrates the importance of considering the use of different social technology platforms to foster opportunities for social support among family and friends. Researchers noted an increased relevance of the need for social technology in residential living facilities with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing. The study aims to investigate the impact of social technology, via Sherish℠ Connect on older adults’ reported levels of loneliness …

Exercise And Chronic Pain, Maren Wright Voss, Mateja R. Savoie-Roskos, Casey Coombs, Gabriela Murza, Cindy Nelson, Elise Withers

All Current Publications

Chronic pain is perhaps the most pervasive medical issue in the United States. The long-term impacts of chronic pain often cause individuals to reduce or eliminate physical activity. Chronic pain can impact physical, mental, and emotional well-being, which can limit daily activity and quality of life. The purpose of this fact sheet is to address the common barriers to being physically active with chronic pain and provide suggestions for safe ways to be physically active even when chronic pain is present.

Making Room: Addressing The Counter-Therapeutic Nature Of Psychiatric Hospitalization Through Containment- Based Group Expressive Therapy, Max Sandor Copans

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The process of hospitalization and the environment of a typical psychiatric hospital is often counter-therapeutic. To challenge this problem, clinicians may introduce the concept of psychological containment. To elaborate, being hospitalized anywhere can be disorienting, frightening and even traumatic. This problem is only further exacerbated in psychiatric hospitals where patients may be disorganized, manic, or struggling with psychosis. Furthermore, psychological containment is essentially the ability for psychiatric patients to prevent their intense emotions from effecting others negatively, and to act with resiliency when other patients are unable to contain their own disruptive behaviors. This paper utilizes both an initial literature …

Exploring The Usefulness Of Mindfulness Practices Through Zoom Meetings In Reducing Anxiety And/Or Stress Of Adults With Learning And Developmental Disabilities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Thatiane Abra

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explored which mindfulness meditations or mindfulness practices could be beneficial in the online sessions, the extent to which adults with learning and developmental disabilities could learn the practices remotely, and how stress and anxiety disorders could be reduced through online mindfulness interventions. Furthermore, it was also necessary to address the online sessions as the only mental health treatment possibility during the Coronavirus pandemic for the clients observed and the benefits and limitations of these interventions. Additionally, the importance of structure and routine for this population, the multi-modal structure of the interventions, and how attunement plays an important role …

Dance/Movement Therapy In Response To Continuous Race-Based Trauma, Aliesha Bryan

Dance/Movement Therapy Theses

Trauma is concomitant with a lack of safety; as such, where there is a threat to safety, there is likely to be trauma. Afrodescendants living in the United States, through an ongoing lack of human regard, are often powerless to ensure their safety, and are regularly subjected to continuous, race-based trauma. Racism is deeply embedded in the nation’s institutions as well as in every relationship, and this deeply pervasive and penetrating ideology influences strongly how individuals of any race interact with others. Race-based aggression, from micro- to macro-, has a profound and continuously traumatizing effect on Afrodescendants, with similarly profound …

An Occupational Therapy Approach To Developing Empowerment: Supporting The Recovery Of Women Affected By Substance Abuse In A Residential Treatment Facility, Margaret Schneider-Adams, Molly Schneider-Adams

OTD Capstone Projects

An Occupational Therapy Approach to Developing Empowerment: Supporting the Recovery of Women Affected by Substance Abuse in a Residential Treatment Facility Capstone project poster and presentation in fulfillment of Doctorate of Occupational Therapy Program at Belmont University.