Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Servant Leadership Towards Cultural Competency And Critical Thinking: A Mixed Methods Study In Zambia, Jill Marie Brown

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

There is a paucity of occupational therapy literature related to the professional development process that occurs when students participate in immersive, international servant leadership experiences in developing countries. A scarcity of literature exists on how such culturally rich experiences can influence the development of the participating students’ dispositional critical thinking and cultural competency skill sets. This mixed methods study depicts how a 3-week servant leadership experience in Zambia, Africa, measured the acquisition of dispositional critical thinking and cultural competency skill sets in novice to experienced occupational therapy students. Moreover, this study infuses a constructivist grounded theory approach to uncover a …

Development Of A Caregiver Education Support Tool For Family Caregivers Of Older Adults With Dementia, Sarah Guariglia

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

For every person diagnosed with dementia, four family members are affected and burdened with providing care. Providing familial care is associated with greater psychological, social, and emotional burden on the caregiver. Caregivers are not provided with adequate education to support successful caregiving and aging in place. This capstone project developed and piloted a caregiver education support tool to simplify the process of finding caregiver education. Five caregivers participated in interviews to guide the development of the support tool, next completed the Likert questionnaire, and tested the caregiver education support tool. Four themes were identified: (1) burden, (2) loss, (3) unmet …

Creating Confident And Connected Families: A Program To Improve Parental Self-Efficacy In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Kelly Simpson

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) require life sustaining intervention for weeks to months after birth. This intervention is remarkably stressful for both the infant, who is ill-equipped to handle life outside the womb, and for the parents who are filled with fear and stress due to the illness of their son or daughter. The experience of hospitalization can lead to stress, shame, anxiety, and even post-traumatic stress disorder for families of NICU infants. Knowledge about the unique stressors, challenges, and needs for support of preterm infants has proven helpful to boost confidence and feelings of wellbeing within …

Assistive Technology Provision By Occupational Therapists : A Process And Tools For Managing Clients With Spinal Cord Injury, Ikechukwu Anthony Igbo

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Occupational therapy focuses on complex dynamic relationships between people, occupations and environments. For clients with spinal cord injuries (SCI), a way of improving the connection between these three aspects is by providing assistive technology (AT). A fundamental issue identified by consumers regarding AT provision was abandonment, which is caused by a mismatch between aspects of the person, the assistive product, and characteristics of the environment. One solution is engaging collaboratively with clients and recognizing individual needs, thereby allowing therapists to meet clients’ occupational expectations and provide clients with increased functional independence. During this capstone project, barriers to AT provision were …

Participatory Action Research To Improve Caregiver Education Based On Cognitive Performance Test Results For Persons With Alzheimer's Disease Or Mild Cognitive Impairments, Terrianne Jones

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The aim of this study was to make changes to how occupational therapists in a transitional care unit setting provide education about Cognitive Performance Test (CPT) scores to caregivers of those patients with dementia or suspected dementia. Caregiver education for this population is important, as the incidence of persons living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias is expected to grow dramatically in the coming two decades. This study used a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach to gather input from occupational therapists and caregivers of patients evaluated with the CPT. Interviews of caregivers indicated that they were unhappy with the education …

Evidence-Based Health Literacy Training Program For Occupational Therapy Professionals : Program Development And Evaluation, Cheryl Miller-Scott

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This capstone project is a training program development and evaluation project. The purpose of the project was to develop, pilot, and evaluate an

evidence-based health literacy training program for occupational therapy professionals. Occupational therapy strives to be a science-driven profession, which provides client-centered care. Health literacy is a client-centered factor for which occupational therapy professionals require additional training to best serve their clients in all settings and across the lifespan. A review of health literacy literature was used in this project to develop the training program and offers a science-driven approach to this client-centered factor for occupational therapists to better …

Measuring The Playfulness Of Children With Special Needs In Occupational Therapist Led, Caregiver-Included Community Playgroups, Sarah Fabrizi

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of community playgroups on the playfulness of children ages 15 months to 3 years with special needs. In addition to playfulness of the child, the sensitivity and responsiveness of the caregiver were examined. A quasi-experimental, pretest-and-posttest, repeated measures design was used to follow eight children and their caregivers receiving early intervention services and taking part in a community playgroup. The children and their caregivers were measured during a 4-week standard-of-care baseline, before and after an 8-week intervention period, and 4 week post-intervention. The Test of Playfulness (ToP) was utilized to …

Meaning And Occupational Engagement In A Day Program For Adults With Developmental Disabilities, Wanda Jean Mahoney

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

"September 2008" A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Occupational Therapy. Typescript Project Advisor : Elysa Roberts Occupational justice recognizes that all people have the right to occupational engagement because it is through occupational engagement that people experience well-being. Occupational injustice occurs when outside forces prevent people from engaging in occupation, require participation in activities that they find meaningless, or prevent people from making choices about their occupations. People with developmental disabilities in a day program are at risk for occupational injustice because they require environmental support in order to engage in …