Digital Commons Network^™

Barriers To Implementation Of Post-Concussion Grade Exercise Tests, Tyler Beauregard

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to assess the potential barriers to sports physical therapy and athletic training clinicians implementing graded exertional tests, specifically for their patients following concussion.

Accuracy Of Ottawa Ankle Rules In Adolescent Foot And Ankle Injuries, Kalie Siereveld, Olivia Teague, Laura L. Harris

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effectiveness of Ottawa Ankle Rules (OAR) for informing physician referrals secondary to ankle and foot injuries within adolescents.

Quality Improvement Of A Post-Concussion Recovery Protocol, Halle Strege, Kaitlyn Burnham, Laura L. Harris

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effectiveness of a post-concussion recovery protocol in an adolescent athletic population.

An Investigation Of Aed Access In One Secondary School, Michelle Skaggs, Laura L. Harris

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the accessibility and time required to retrieve and apply Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) against established standards.

Athletic Trainer Confidence In The Management Of Abdominal Injuries And Gi Conditions, Emily C. Roberts, Janet E. Simon

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

OBJECTIVE

Inadequate evidence, position statements, clinical practice and post-surgical guidelines challenge athletic trainers’ capabilities to provide care for abdominal injuries and GI conditions.^1-4 The primary objective of this study is to assess athletic trainers’ confidence in the management and treatment of abdominal injuries and GI conditions compared to musculoskeletal injuries.

The Effect Of Task Demands On Decision Making In Dynamic, Sport-Like Virtual Environments, Jeromy Alt, Paula L. Silva, Tehran Davis, Adam W. Kiefer, Ryan Macpherson

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

OBJECTIVE

To determine if level of temporal pressure to arrive at a desired location explains decisions about passability of closing gaps between opponents encountered and how decisions change with task experience.

The Effect Of Ankle Foot Orthotics On Collegiate Athletes’ Sprint Biomechanics, Elizabeth A. Starns, Paige Tucker

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

OBJECTIVE

Carbon composite dynamic response ankle foot orthotics (CCDRAFOs) are lightweight ankle braces originally made to help pathologically involved legs walk more efficiently¹. Since CCDRAFOs are traditionally not used on able-bodied individuals, there is limited information on the effects of CCDRAFOs on sprint performance of able-bodied athletes. However, the technology behind CCDRAFOs effectiveness has been suggested to have ergogenic aid properties^2-5. This study’s purpose was to evaluate the effects of CCDRAFOs on collegiate athletes’ lower extremity biomechanics, specifically ankle and knee joint angles.

Neurocognitive Performance Differences Between Athletes Who Are Deaf Or Hard-Of-Hearing And Athletes Who Are Hearing, Matthew P. Brancaleone, Jaclyn Caccese, James Onate

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

OBJECTIVE

There are over 71,000 college students in the United States who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (D/HoH), with many participating in athletics. Athletes who are D/HoH have similar concussion rates to athletes who are hearing at the collegiate level. Differences in neurocognitive baseline performance between athletes who are D/HoH and athletes who are hearing may exist due to misunderstanding of written English instructions or differences in sensory processing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare neurocognitive performance between athletes who are hearing and athletes who are D/HoH.

Using Standardized Patients As A Tool To Explore Student Critical Thinking, Sara Stiltner, Andrea Cripps

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

OBJECTIVE

Standardized patients (SP) are a tool utilized regularly in athletic training to promote student confidence and independent thinking. SP are widely used in nursing, physical therapy, and in over 80% of medical education programs.¹ The use of SP to supplement student learning and career preparation, in the undergraduate setting has been a validated in increasing student confidence.³ SP’s are a tool that utilize an actor trained to portray a patient who has a specific medical condition or illness and the actor is trained to respond to the students in a consistent manner.^1,2 SP’s allow students the …

Improving Access To Mainehealth Care At Home, Amanda Kunkel, Mhcah Intake Department, Mhcah Scheduling Department, Mhcah Clinical Leadership Team

Operations Transformation

It is known that there are capacity limitations at MaineHealth Care at Home caused by a decrease in staffing. This leads to limited availability of home health services to patients in the community and can also contribute to increased length of stay for patients in acute care hospitals. MaineHealth Care at Home needs a way to measure current capacity to accept referrals and improved systems for communicating with referral sources.

Brains Over Bronze, Natalia L. Williams

Whittier Scholars Program

While we as a society have made great strides in rewarding and praising athletes for the shows of great physical display, there is a lack of support or awareness of the mental health aspects of competition, especially at the college and professional level. This project illuminates the dire need for mental health resources and training. Athletes undergo a number of pressures and challenges in their work life as well as their personal development. Through literature review, this symposium aims to offer insight on the experiences of college and professional athletes, then providing mental health and psychological skills training resources that …

Emotion Regulation Strategies And Perceived Emotional Intelligence: The Effect Of Age., Iwanna Sepiadou

Adultspan Journal

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceived emotional intelligence and the reported use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. We also investigated the possible effects of age on the aforementioned variables. The total sample consisted of 379 people (158 men, 220 women, 1 unreported). Across participants, 273 were young (20-39 years old) and 106 were middle-aged (40-65 years old). We found statistically significant positive correlations between the dimensions of perceived emotional intelligence and the reported use of cognitive reappraisal and negative primarily correlations between the dimensions of perceived emotional intelligence and the reported use of …

Interprofessional Education Through Home Modification, Cathey P. Norton, Kelly R. Gore

Faculty Scholarship Symposium

Creating safe and accessible environments for all people, including physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities is an important part of training students in occupational therapy, physical therapy, and interior design. Approximately 125 students from these disciplines worked together during a unique interprofessional experience, to perform everyday tasks with a simulated disability, then collaborated as interprofessional teams to make recommendations for home environment modifications to improve safety and accessibility for individuals with physical challenges. This was a unique opportunity for all the students to learn about other disciplines and the expertise that each brings to the table to help our clients.

Prevalence Of Cardiovascular Conditions After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Comparison Between The Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems And The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey, Shanti Pinto, Bhaskar Thakur, Raj Kumar, Amanda Rabinowitz, Ross Zafonte, William C Walker, Kan Ding, Simon Driver, Umesh Venkatesan, Gilbert Moralez, Kathleen Bell

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to compare the prevalence of self-reported cardiovascular conditions among individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) to a propensity-matched control cohort.

METHODS AND RESULTS: A cross-sectional study described self-reported cardiovascular conditions (hypertension, congestive heart failure [CHF], myocardial infarction [MI], and stroke) from participants who completed interviews between January 2015 and March 2020 in 2 harmonized large cohort studies, the TBI Model Systems and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Mixed-effect logistic regression models were used to compare the prevalence of cardiovascular conditions after 1:1 propensity-score matching based on age, sex, …

Improved Motor Skills In Autistic Children After Three Weeks Of Neurologic Music Therapy Via Telehealth: A Pilot Study, Nicole M. Richard Williams, Corene Hurt-Thaut, Jessica Brian, Luc Tremblay, Marija Pranjic, Jessica Teich, Melissa Tan, Julia Kowaleski, Michael Thaut

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Many autistic children experience motor skill deficits which can impact other areas of functioning, and research on therapeutic interventions for motor skills in autism is in a preliminary stage. Music-based therapies have been used extensively to address motor skills in non-autistic populations. Though a handful of studies exist on the effects of music-based therapies for movement in autistic children, none have investigated the possibility of administering sessions via telehealth. This mixed-methods pilot study investigated whether nine Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT)^® sessions via telehealth would improve motor and attention skills in autistic children.

Methods: Five autistic children between five …

Physical Activity Levels In First-Year University Students, Jerealya Cogdell

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this study is to see if physical activity (PA) is affected for students since transitioning from high school to their first semester in college. The study was conducted by asking questions pertaining to PA via an online survey through the platform Qualtrics. It will be administered to students at Georgia Southern University. However, only the data from freshmen students that meet specific criteria will be accounted for in this study. The data will be analyzed using Chi-squared to determine how PA is affected due to this transition. The data will compare the results from high school senior …

Maximising Neuromuscular Performance In People With Pain And Injury: Moving Beyond Reps And Sets To Understand The Challenges And Embrace The Complexity, Myles Calder Murphy, Ebonie Kendra Rio, Casey Whife, Christopher Latella

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Rehabilitative practice is often criticised for being non-individualised, monotonous and not well aligned with foundational principles that drive continued physiological adaptation(s). However, our understanding of neuromuscular physiology is rapidly increasing and the way we programme rehabilitation is improving. This viewpoint highlights some of the potential considerations around why the adaptations achieved during rehabilitation programmes may be suboptimal. We provide basic, clinician-focused discussion about potential confounding physiological factors, and put forward several exercise-based programming recommendations and novel approaches to consider in contemporary rehabilitative practice. Specifically, we outline several potential mechanisms contributing to poor muscle activation and function that might be present …

Expressive Therapies And Resiliency – Resistance In Mental Health: A Literature Review, Gabrielle Lopez

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This review evaluates the current literature on psychological resistance amongst human service professionals experiencing burnout and the effect of Expressive Arts interventions on resiliency. Concepts include identifying the main symptoms, risk factors, causes, and treatments for burnout in education faculty, medical staff, and clinicians. Qualitative, quantitative, and meta-analysis studies are included to identify the most prevalent intervention frameworks for reducing stress including Arts-Based and Mindfulness-compassion based techniques. The effectiveness of Arts-based tools on strengthening identity, self-esteem, emotional regulation, and meaning-making in combating burnout is presented. Based on analysis of the literature, the author proposes a three-step intervention framework for utilizing …

A Scoping Review Of Drama-Based Interventions With Migrant Populations For Health Outcomes, Cassandra Doria

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This scoping review investigates the breadth and nature of literature that currently exists on the topic of utilizing drama-based interventions with migrant populations for therapeutic goals. This author searched for empirical studies on the topic and charted data to understand the quality, number, and type of studies that have been done, and risk factors for epistemic injustice or misrepresentation of marginalized participants. A brief overview of methods, results, and discussions of articles revealed the most prevalent outcomes, limitations, and forms of data collection. Social connection and belonging, education, communication skills, empathy, identity reconstruction, meaning making, and adaptive adjustment to the …

The Hero’S Journey Through Therapy: A Literature Review, Rylee Blake

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The Hero’s Journey (Campbell, 1949) is a common narrative structure throughout ancient mythology and modern storytelling which describes the transformation of a hero through a journey of trials and represents the experience of psychological healing throughout various cultures. Because of the ancient and common nature of this structure and the psychological importance of personal narrative and storying even from an early age (Boyd, 2018; Klees, 2016), this thesis hypothesizes that a client’s experience throughout psychotherapy will follow the stages of the Hero’s Journey and that invoking this structure within the therapy room, particularly for drama therapists, will empower clients toward …

A Community Re-Integration Mental Health Occupational Therapy Program For Veterans At The Sioux Falls Veterans Affairs Hospital, Holly M. Forrester

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

The Veteran population continues to be disproportionately impacted by mental health disorders despite growing efforts to address this epidemic. Despite an increase in Veterans Affairs (VA) sponsored programs to mitigate the disparity, the interdisciplinary team tasked with implementing the novel programs remains undiversified. My capstone project aimed to provide a comprehensive community reintegration program to the Veterans in the inpatient behavioral health setting and advocate for the role of occupational therapy on the mental health interdisciplinary team. The literature and needs assessment indicated a need for the implementation of occupational therapy specific groups that aimed to increase functional independence and …

Physical Activity And Knee Health Outcomes After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, David Werner

Theses & Dissertations

Anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions (ACLR) have increased in incidence worldwide. After ACLR, individuals are at higher risk for developing early onset knee osteoarthritis. Individuals after ACLR also participate in less physical activity (PA), contributing to an increased risk for early onset knee osteoarthritis and poor overall health outcomes.

The two goals of this work were to 1) determine the relationship between PA and knee health outcomes 18 months after ACLR and 2) determine the feasibility and acceptability of a PA intervention early after ACLR that considered participant thoughts and feelings.

Findings for the first goal suggest that there is no …

Empowering Pregnancy And Postpartum: Supporting Motherhood Through Occupational Therapy Education, Alison Drexler

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

During pregnancy and postpartum, women are at increased risk for physical and psychological health concerns due to the changes and challenges that come with the transition. The purpose of this 14-week capstone was to develop and implement educational sessions using occupational therapy concepts and integrate them into a community parenting program to ease the transition during the perinatal period. It also aimed to advocate for the role of occupational therapy in pregnancy and postpartum. Methods included preparing and sharing supplemental educational materials, developing and implementing occupation-based sessions, creating a folder of resources, and developing a manuscript advocating for occupational therapy …

Facilitating Community Integration Following Inpatient Rehabilitation: The Importance Of Caregivers, Alysa N. Jensen

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

Community integration (CI) is a significant benchmark for successful rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The purpose of this capstone was to utilize occupational therapy assessments, interventions, and resources to support patients and their caregivers during the transition from the clinical setting to the community. Methods included assessment and intervention for patient function, cognition as it relates to burden of care, patient discharge statistics, development and implementation of caregiver resources, and semi-structured caregiver interviews. The outcomes of this project indicate that although TBI survivors are discharging home, they continue to require substantial caregiver support. Outcomes also indicate that there is …

Filling The Gap: Educating Caregivers And Patients Post Stroke In An Acute Care Setting, Gabrielle A. Blecke

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

Background: According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2022), every 40 seconds someone in the United States experiences a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), also known as stroke. A recent study suggests that 63% of these individuals will need informal caregiving from family, friends, or loved-ones throughout their rehabilitation process in order to safely transition home. Research suggests that patients and caregivers post stroke are not receiving enough education to prevent concerns such as caregiver burden, decreased caregiver wellness, and decreased patient outcomes, all which are within the scope of occupational therapy. Methods: Experiences at MyMichigan Midland Hospital drove …

Play, Splash, Ride: A Multidimensional Approach To Occupational Therapy Intervention For Sensory Processing Difficulties, Britney A. Bradwisch

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

Sensory processing disorder affects between five and 16.5 percent of the population and up to 90% of individuals with disabilities. Occupational therapists are equipped to treat sensory processing difficulties using occupation-based, sensory-based, and client-centered interventions. There is limited evidence on how occupational therapists can use multiple intervention environments including typical sensory gyms, aquatic therapy, and equine-assisted therapy to specifically target sensory processing. Therefore, the purpose of the capstone project was to explore the effectiveness of multiple occupational therapy interventions for children with sensory processing difficulties. The capstone project focused on advanced clinical practice while incorporating education and program development to …

Enhancing Resident Engagement: Optimizing Meaningful Occupations In Skilled Nursing Facilities, Drew J. Couch

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

Older adults residing in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) face a multitude of challenges in engaging in meaningful occupations. They are at risk of occupational deprivation due to the regulations of the facility, physical limitations, and restricted choices of activities (Keane et al., 2023). Though the occupational therapy profession acknowledges the impacts this has on older adults little has been done to combat these issues. The purpose of the 14-week capstone project was to promote meaningful occupational engagement for residents residing in an SNF. Additionally, this project advocated for occupational therapy’s distinct role in identifying and promoting meaningful occupations. Multiple goals …

A Peer-Mediated Art Program For Secondary Education Students: An Occupation Based Approach, Kjersten B. Sievers

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

The purpose of this 14-week capstone project was to explore the impact of a peer-mediated art program on the social and occupational experiences of students with disabilities. This program was designed and implemented to promote inclusion of students with disabilities by providing an opportunity to interact with typically developing peers within their school-context. The 7-week peer-mediated art program was embedded into a startup peer-program at a high school. A total of 10 participants (4 from special education) were recruited to complete the study. Students met for three 45-minute sessions and one 90-minute session each week as part of the program’s …

Occupational Therapy Intervention To Promote Recovery Of Individuals Impacted By Human Trafficking And Service Provider Well-Being, Carlyn J. Paxton

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

Individuals impacted by human trafficking experience prolonged traumatic experiences and a lack of personal autonomy. Literature indicates that after exiting trafficking situations, individuals face barriers re-integrating into the community. Additionally, workers and advocates who provide after-care services experience increased occupational hazards impacting the quality of care provided and personal well-being. This capstone project aims to increase student’s clinical skills for providing trauma informed occupational therapy to individuals exiting trafficking and to expand OT’s role in combating occupational hazards for providers through self-care-based occupations. Using a previously conducted needs assessment and a conceptual framework comprised of evidence-based models, this project includes …

Nature-Based Occupational Therapy As An Innovative Approach In Facilitating Children’S Development, Surekchha Siwakoti

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the benefits of a Nature-Based Therapy Program and evaluate the effectiveness of NBT interventions in improving children’s overall well-being. Quantitative data were collected using SSQ, SDQ, and the Post-Intervention Parent Questionnaire to assess the efficacy of the NBT program. The data sets were analyzed using SPSS and Paired Sample t-test, non-parametric Wilcoxon Test, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was conducted. The findings from the SSQ and SDQ indicated that NBT interventions were not significant in improving children’s overall mental, emotional, and social well-being. However, the data collected through post-intervention parent survey questions indicated high …