Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Strategies For Hybrid Teaching, Julia Bilotta

OTD Capstone Projects

This project aimed to work alongside the occupational therapy department at Belmont University to research, develop, and disseminate strategies for hybrid teaching. As the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic required universities to rapidly switch to online teaching, the need for strategies to complete this effectively arose. Moving months ahead to present day, Belmont University has adapted a hybrid model for teaching, which includes both online and in-person learning. With that being said, the department of occupational therapy expressed the need for lab experiences and clinical skill competencies that follow the ACOTE standards, that can be delivered through a virtual …

Promoting Interprofessional Collaboration Through Education In The Inpatient Rehabilitation Setting, Emma Murphy

OTD Capstone Projects

As part of a 14-week occupational therapy doctoral capstone project, the author partnered with Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital to research and address interprofessional collaboration in the inpatient rehabilitation setting. The project sought to attain a comprehensive assessment of the current interdisciplinary collaboration environment at VSRH, improve communication between the therapy and nursing departments, provide rehabilitation education for nurses on staff-identified topics, and promote interprofessional collaboration as a whole.

Breaking Down Barriers: Utilizing Virtual Resources To Promote Occupational Balance Among Vulnerable Populations In The Midst Of A Global Pandemic, Roya Rezadoost

OTD Capstone Projects

The focus of this project was to utilize virtual media, resources, and technological advancements to create resource guidelines that facilitate the preservation of occupational balance and overall quality of life among under-served and marginalized populations during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Increasing Access To Play: Establishing A Switch-Adapted Toy Library At Christ Presbyterian Church, Megan Moody

OTD Capstone Projects

The focus of this project was to advocate for the occupational potential of children with disabilities and promote increased access to play. This was completed through the establishment of a community-based lending library of switch-adapted toys, as well as through the creation of corresponding educational materials detailing play-based strategies for promoting development.

Exploring The World Of On Time Pediatric Power Mobility, Lauren Hanna

OTD Capstone Projects

Children with delayed or impaired self-initiated mobility are deprived of critical developmental learning experiences. All children deserve access to ON TIME mobility. The Explorer Mini is the first power mobility device in the world to provide ON TIME mobility to children 12-36 months.

Ontime Self-Initiated Mobility, Katherine Sanders

OTD Capstone Projects

The project took place at Vanderbilt's Pediatric Rehabilitation, specifically in their pediatric seating and mobility clinic. The focus of the project was the Explorer Mini which is the first exploratory device for infants 12-36 months old. The research team created an literature-based introductory protocol on how to introduce the device to the child. My section specifically focused on the preparatory stage which is the very first stage and when the child explores the device before being put in it. I also created numerous handouts for the seating and mobility clinic along with reference cards for how to use the Explorer …

Accessibility And Inclusivity At The Frist Art Museum, Andrea M. Boyer

OTD Capstone Projects

A doctoral capstone project to provide a comprehensive look at accessibility of the Frist Art Museum and its programming. Outcomes included a review of the literature, pre-visit materials (e.g., social narratives, visual schedule), a survey on accessibility experiences in the museum, a comparison of resources offered at other local institutions, and comprehensive observations and recommendations to increase accessibility of physical facilities, digital media, and assistive technology.

Addressing Challenges In Solid Food Transitioning In Infants, Stephanie Gonyea

OTD Capstone Projects

I collaborated with Elements, LLC to address challenges associated with solid food transitioning in infants. I collaborated with local pediatricians to advocate for the role of occupational therapy in supporting caregivers who are struggling to transition their infant to solid food, and marketed Elements as a resource for remediating any challenges families face. In advocating for Element's services, I provided doctors offices with a deliverable marketing their services.

Holistic Home Modification: Developing A Client-Centered Approach To Home Assessments And Quality Of Life Measures, Maggie Little

OTD Capstone Projects

This project is an appraisal of home assessments and quality of life measures in order to find the best fit for pediatric populations and their caregivers.

Demonstrating The Role Of Occupational Therapy In Hospice Care Through Fall Prevention Intervention Program Development, Lauren Schar

OTD Capstone Projects

Demonstrating the Role of Occupational Therapy in Hospice Care through Fall Prevention Intervention Program Development

Support, Advocacy, And Education For Individuals With Mental Illness, Mackenzie Mellinger

OTD Capstone Projects

The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Davidson County provides support, advocacy, and education to those with mental illness and their loved ones. This semester long project includes (but is not limited to) advocacy through the use of instagram/social media, attending legislative events, creating marketing materials appropriate for the population, and looking at mental health through an occupational therapy lens.

Power Skills Curriculum Development For Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities At Friends Life Community, April Coleson

OTD Capstone Projects

Development of life skills curriculum for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities from an occupational therapy perspective

Home Assessment Modifications For Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Sensory Processing Disorder, Danielle Stelbasky

OTD Capstone Projects

Based off of the identified needs of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, the goals of this project were to investigate and implement modifications in homes due to specific challenges these individuals face. Coinciding with Tucker's House Agency mission and vision, and incorporating the PEO model as a guideline, Tucker's House staff and EC student created projects to enhance occupational performance in individuals with ASD by reducing environmental barriers in their home.

Cultivating Vocational And Independent Living Skills Through Meaningful Occupations, Sawyer Dullaghan

OTD Capstone Projects

A 12-week curriculum was developed for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to teach life skills, employment skills and foster independent living. These skills are taught in a simulated environment including rooms such as: the bedroom, the living room, and the office.

The Right To Explore: On Time Pediatric Power Mobility, Elizabeth Stuckey

OTD Capstone Projects

The following project was completed in partial fulfillment of OTD 6680, for the degree of Doctorate of Occupational Therapy from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. This project focused on the importance of pediatric power mobility. After identifying the needs of the agency, goals and outcomes were developed in order to best serve the agency. Various outcomes were achieved through this project including a review of the literature, development of a protocol, participation in a power mobility related research study, creation of various educational materials, and engagement in other educational opportunities.

Home Assessments And Modifications: Researching Safety Features, Grant Opportunities, And Durable Medical Equipment Available For Tucker’S House Agency, Autumn Triggs

OTD Capstone Projects

Doctoral capstone project completed with Tucker's House, a nonprofit organization that completes home assessments and modifications for families with children with disabilities to improve accessibility and independence for the children at home. The project included: completing home assessments and providing client-centered recommendations and researching grant opportunities for Tucker's House as well as the families benefitting from the services, current durable medical equipment options, and safety features that should be included in the home assessments, recommendations, and modifications.

Predictors Of Barriers To Participation In Clinical Research In Adults Living In The Southeastern United States, Jennifer Scanlon

DNP Scholarly Projects

Research is the necessary foundation for health care advancement and understanding. Significant challenges exist, however, with recruiting and engaging underrepresented populations in clinical research. The purpose of the scholarly project was to determine how stakeholder race, trust, and level of education influence participation barriers in clinical research. The project utilized secondary, cross sectional survey data that were collected between 2014 and 2016 through the former Mid-South Clinical Data Research Network (CDRN), currently known as the STAR-CRN. Descriptive statistics and spearman rank correlations were performed between level of education, level of trust, and each attitude statement for each racial category. A …

Public Stigma And Self-Stigma Of Depression In College Students, Peyton Lee

DNP Scholarly Projects

A large body of literature portrays the long-term, increased presence of mental illness stigma in college students, a vulnerable population at high risk of victimization. However, literature lacks sufficient research differentiating between the separate forms of mental illness stigma as well as consistent research examining stigma specific to the mental illness of depression in college students. A cross-sectional, web-based survey design was utilized to collect quantitative data from 432 students at a private, four-year university in the southeastern United States. The primary investigator both described the presence of and relationship between levels of perceived public stigma, personal public stigma, and …

Advocacy For Occupational Therapy Within A Local Jail, Caitlin Clark

OTD Capstone Projects

This capstone project looks at advocating for the occupational therapy profession within the Nashville Davidson County Sheriff's Office and ways to implement quality interventions and group therapy into the jails. It also looked at current re-entry programs at the DCSO and ways to improve current programming.

Bringing An Occupational Therapy Perspective To Linden Waldorf School, Morgan Craig

OTD Capstone Projects

Through this project, an occupational therapy doctoral student brought an occupational therapy perspective to Linden Waldorf School and provided the school with direct observations, educational presentations, and various educational materials on the topics of fine motor development, sensory processing, and behavior management in order to help empower Waldorf faculty and staff to best meet the needs of their students.

Increasing Participation In Children And Adults With Disabilities At Christ Presbyterian Church, Taylor Boggus

OTD Capstone Projects

In partnering with Christ Presbyterian Church’s Special Needs Ministry for my doctoral capstone project, my aim was to increase participation in the community for children and adults with disabilities. I first created a family needs questionnaire to enable the special needs ministry to identify the needs of the families they serve. I created a resource guide for the ministry to disseminate to their families that includes local resources that serve children and adults with disabilities, including information about the services each resource provides and their contact information. Finally, I created a job skills curriculum to be used in the ministry’s …

Lymphatouch™ As A Preparatory Method For Chemo-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy And Radiation-Induced Fibrosis: A Case Study, Abigail Harris

OTD Capstone Projects

Quality Improvement: Aims to explore the ability to expand the services offered at the Nashville Breast Center and potentially provide improved health-related quality of life for patients in the survivorship stage of breast cancer. Case Study: To assess the LymphaTouch ™ device for use in treating Chemo-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy and Radiation-Induced Fibrosis.

Evaluating Fitness-To-Drive Among Individuals With Sensory Deficits: A Retrospective Chart Review, Caroline Clark

OTD Capstone Projects

Objective: To explore the diagnostic validity of clinical assessments for sensation in determining fitness-to-drive recommendations in active drivers with sensory deficits.

Methods: Retrospective chart review was conducted using a purposive sampling approach of patients’ medical records from the Vanderbilt Driver Evaluation and Rehabilitation Program in Nashville, Tennessee. Medical records for patients assessed from 12/01/2017 through 12/31/2019, ages 18 or older, with lower extremity sensory deficit(s) identified in the referring and/or treatment diagnoses, medical history, and/or the occupational therapy evaluation problem list were eligible for review. A total of 288 patient medical records were reviewed, but only 40 patient medical …

Nurses For Newborns – Incorporating An Occupational Therapy Perspective In Its Work With Women And Families In The Perinatal Period, Lynsey Beros

OTD Capstone Projects

The author partnered with a nonprofit organization, Nurses for Newborns, to incorporate an occupational therapy perspective in its work with women and families in the perinatal period as part of the OTD capstone project.

Supporting Older Adults Through Aging In Place And Capable Programs, Laura Compton

OTD Capstone Projects

This experiential component or doctoral capstone project involved a partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis. Through this agency, projects were completed based on identified needs of the Aging in Place and CAPABLE programs. The Aging in Place (AIP) program provides critical home repairs to low-income adults aged 60 years and older. The CAPABLE program provides the same critical home repairs along with a select number of visits from a registered nurse and an occupational therapist to help the older adults age in place safely.

Implementation Of The Pediatric Evaluation Of Disability Inventory (Pedi-Cat) With Equine Assisted Activity And Therapy Participants, Tori Hendricks

OTD Capstone Projects

This pilot study aimed to determine whether the implementation of the PEDI-CAT assessment could be used to measure functional outcomes in equine assisted activities and therapies. 92 parents/caregivers of riders completed the assessment for the first time, while 12 parents/caregivers of riders completed it for the second time. When comparing pre and post assessments of riders, the 11/12 riders had a raw score increase. This change suggests that the PEDI-CAT assessment can in fact measure factors that affect overall quality of life, such as improvement in communication, motor skills, ADLs, and socialization in equine assisted activities and therapies.

Development And Implementation Of Employment And Housing Power Week Curriculum For Next Steps, Kelli Mcclintock

OTD Capstone Projects

Room In the Inn is a homeless resource center located in downtown Nashville, TN. There is a need for additional programming to the existing Employment and Housing Power Week curriculums in order to facilitate more participants towards employment and permanent housing. There is also a need for a universal, intake questionnaire that can be used by all staff members with their respective groups in order to identify the needs and wants of participants.

Increasing Employment Success: Helping Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities At Friends Life Improve Job Readiness Skills, Madeleine Ruff

OTD Capstone Projects

This poster discusses a class developed for adults with developmental disabilities that focuses on job readiness skills and successful employment within the community. The class focuses on three different sections including job exploration, preparing to get a job and maintaining employment. Each section includes resources such as worksheets, visuals & activities that are appropriate for varying cognitive levels of the friends to facilitate participation in each section. At the end of the class, the adults at Friends Life will have identified job interests, developed personal resume/vision statements and learned about appropriate behaviors to display at both interviews and employment site.

Pediatric Feeding Therapy At It's Finest: A Comprehensive Approach, Shelby Anderson

OTD Capstone Projects

The focus of this Experiential Component Project was to improve the processes and outcomes of a pediatric feeding therapy program at Sprocket Therapy Solutions, an outpatient pediatric therapy clinic located in Nashville, TN.

Advancing The Scientific Understanding Of Spiritual Care For Trauma In Combat Veterans And First Responders, Megan Broecker

OTD Capstone Projects

REBOOT Recovery is an organization that serves military service members, first responders, and their families through a 12-week faith-based trauma healing course. REBOOT is data driven and is continuously researching the short term and long term effects of the program on its participants. The purpose of this capstone project was to support REBOOT's past and current research studies and to develop content for all types of trauma incurred by the general population.