Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Addressing Academic And Faculty Challenges: Empowering Success And Accessibility With An Occupational Therapy Perspective, Madisyn Anderson

Graduate Projects & Research

Introduction: The increasing presence of students with disabilities in higher education necessitates improved faculty support and awareness of on-campus support services and accommodations. Occupational therapists can play a vital role in promoting inclusion and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles by collaborating with faculty to enhance the academic experience and success of students with disabilities.

Purpose: The primary aim of this project was to evaluate and educate faculty on student support services at the University and share knowledge on Universal Design for Learning to enhance the existing literature on the significance of OT in higher education.

Approach: I completed an …

Advanced Mental And Behavioral Health: Community-Based Practice, Erin Crouch

Graduate Projects & Research

The purpose of this Masters project was to emphasize community psychosocial practice through collaboration with a local mental health organization by conducting a needs assessment, implementing a project at the community site, and evaluating the outcomes. Prior to collaboration with the organization, a literature review was conducted analyzing the role of occupational therapy working with individuals with serious mental illness. From this, it was found that occupational therapists can work with individuals with serious mental illness to engage in meaningful occupations, increase a sense of accomplishment, competence, and satisfaction, and participate in community living. Additionally, it is within occupational therapy's …

Enhancing Student Support In Higher Education: Occupation-Based Programming And The Vital Role Of Occupational Therapy, Emily M. Medcalf

Graduate Projects & Research

Introduction: With the higher education student populations facing greater prevalence of mental health conditions and greater presence of students with disabilities attending higher education, there is a greater demand than many higher education resources can meet. Therefore, there is a need to revise the current student support structure. This project advocated for the role of occupational therapy (OT) program development in higher education student disability services.

Purpose: The primary aim of this project was to develop, implement, and evaluate a virtual 4-week occupation-based pilot program. The initial pilot participants included students receiving accommodations from the Student Accessibility and Accommodations (SA&A) …

Occupation, Play, And Memory Making; Creating An Ot Guide For Pediatric End Of Life Care, Madalyn O'Reilly

Graduate Projects & Research

Introduction: Pediatric hospice care is often under researched and under-resourced for children and their families. In addition, children with medical complexities often have difficulties with receiving holistic comprehensive care.

Purpose: This project aims to create an end-of-life toolkit support staff at Crescent Cove providing care for children receiving services. This project will educate staff on ADLs, positioning, sensory-based interventions, and energy conservation, in addition to providing education on the role of occupational therapy at the end-of-life.

Approach: The student completed an extensive literature search for pediatric hospice care with an occupational therapy-based lens. The staff at Crescent Cove were then …