Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Families Healing Together: Exploring A Family Recovery Online Course, Samantha Estrada

The Qualitative Report

Family members who are trying to support their loved one are often overburdened with stress, and health issues. Research has shown that families who receive family psychosocial education and support can have a dramatic impact on recovery outcomes and their family’s overall well-being. Family psychoeducation is not common. Families Healing Together (FHT) is an online family mental health recovery program that was developed to address this critical gap in family mental health care services. Using an exploratory case study methodology to understand how the program’s philosophy and practice impacts the program’s participants as well as how the participants perceive the …

Lived Experience Of Adolescents With Chronic Pain: A Phenomenological Study, Ryan Christopher Suder

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experience of adolescents who live with chronic pain. All 10 participants were between the ages of 13 and 17 and have lived with chronic pain for at least 6 months. Data sources for the study were two interviews for each participant, participant drawn depictions of their chronic pain, and researcher journaling. The person-environment-occupation model was used to frame the research design. The study found four main themes among the data: pain identity, invisible disease, occupational loss, and uphill climb to regain life. Each theme described the essence of the …

Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - July 3, 2016, Lindsey Lyle

Watercooler Newsletter

This is the July 3, 2016 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine's newsletter - Watercooler.

Contents Include:

• USA Team Presents at Injury Prevention Conference
• Med School Café - Expert Advice for the Community
• Nine USA Medical Students Recognized as Interprofessional Fellows
• USA Welcomes Dr. Curtis Turner

Post-Operative Nausea And Vomiting, Casey Schmiesing

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is any nausea or vomiting that follows immediately after and up to 48 hours post surgery. PONV is common complaint from patients and has many serious consequences to the patient and hospital. There are several risk factors that make a patient more susceptible to experiencing PONV. Using a multimodal approach to work on all receptors involved with the vomiting reflex will help decrease the chances of the patient getting PONV. There are several implications for anesthesia providers to decrease PONV with their patients.

Aisha, Aisha, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Aisha, a Syrian native, lived in Latakia with her Palestinian husband and six children. Their children were not allowed to attend school because of their Palestinian heritage. During the war, mortars and missiles hit the city, and Aisha's brother lost three children. Aisha's uncle in Jordan helped to smuggle their family into Turkey after they decided to escape.

They sailed to Greece with a boat carrying about 350 people. The ship's drivers abandoned it during the journey. To save the children on board, Aisha's husband steered the sinking ship. Her husband was arrested in Greece, and Aisha, who was five …

Analyzing Spelling Errors By Linguistic Features Among Children With Learning Disabilities, Christine Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to spell fluently and accurately, phonology, orthography, and morphology must be integrated and stored into long term memory (Berninger & Richards, in press; Berninger, Nagy, Tanimoto, Thompson, Abbott, 2015). Children with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and OWL-LD have specific deficits in linguistic processing that impede the cross-mapping of these linguistic elements. This study analyzes the frequency and nature of spelling errors produced by children with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and OWL-LD during an academic writing task in order to determine if known deficits in linguistic processing affect the type and severity of spelling errors made by these children.

The present study analyzed …

A Caenorhabditis Elegans Model To Detect Developmental Teratogens With Adverse Reproductive And Metabolic Effects, Alexis Ann Killeen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is a current epidemic in the United States. Greater than one third of adults and nearly one fifth of children are classified as obese (Ogden, 2014). Increased awareness of this problem has triggered interest into the potentially causal agents in our environment. These agents, termed obesogens, are a type of teratogen hypothesized to work during embryonic development by programming offspring to store excess fat. A type of teratogen, obesogens are also typically reprotoxic, affecting germline development and embryonic viability. These noxious teratogens span a variety of different chemical classes including estrogen mimics, metals and metalloids, biocides, and even voluntary …

Visual Sexualities: Exploring An Integration Of Art And Sex Therapies, Jillien Kahn

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

This research explores the potential of integrating art and sex therapies. Three interviews were performed: two with certified art therapists one with a certified sex therapist, in order to understand how each of these professionals approaches issues of sexuality and creative expression within his or her practice. The resulting data was compared within and between each interviewee, resulting three overarching themes through which the challenges regarding this integration can be understood. It was found that there is great potential for an integration of the two therapies, provided clinicians have access to appropriate training, as well as a deeper understanding of …

Found Object/Readymade Art In The Treatment Of Trauma And Loss, Michal Bat Or, Orna Megides

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

Found object/readymade art is a familiar expressive medium in art therapy that has been insufficiently explored. The present article theoretically and clinically examines Found object/readymade art as a progressive therapeutic intervention in the treatment of trauma and loss. It aims to show how creating found object/readymade art enables the client to encounter and contain damaged/disconnected memories and provides a space for integrating and meaning-making in the face of rupture and loss. This is discussed through a review of found object/readymade art medium in the history of art and in art therapy and by phenomenological observation of its creating process. Specific …

Exploring Ranges, Tensions, And Potential Integrations: Editorial Notes For Jcat’S 3rd Edition, Einat Metzl

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

No abstract provided.

Samadi & Sabroo, Samadi, Sabroo, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Samadi was a member of the Kurdistan Freedom Party. He joined at the age of 17 andhas been a member for 22 years. This party sought an independent Kurdistan andfought with the invader countries. Samadi lived at the Oinofyat Refugee Camp inGreece at the time of this interview. His daughter was killed by ISIS in 2014 whiledefending Kurdistan. After her death, his family was threatened by the Salafi group.They left to save their lives. Samedi says that the Salafi group rapes and kills children in the name of religion. He says he is a fighter and he is not afraid …

A Mechanical Study Of Cancer Drug-Receptor Interactions, Specifically In G-Quadruplex Dna And Topoisomerase I Enzymes, Kelly Ann Mulholland

Theses and Dissertations

Computational methods are becoming essential in drug discovery as they provide information that traditional drug development methods lack. Using these methods to understand drug-receptor interactions in detail, researchers are able to efficiently design promising drug candidates. In this study, extra precision Glide docking, molecular dynamics simulations and MMGBSA binding energy calculations provided information about the binding behavior of small molecules to two specific targets for current cancer therapeutics: G-quadruplex DNA and Topoisomerase I enzyme. The first study focuses on the compound Telomestatin, which induces apoptosis of various cancer cells with a relatively low effect on somatic cells due to its …

Caesarean Section Surgical Techniques: All Equally Safe, Marleen Temmerman

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Since 1985, a caesarean section rate of 10–15% has been deemed optimum by the international health-care community.1 When caesarean section rates rise towards 10% across a population, maternal and newborn deaths decrease; when they are higher than 15%, there is no evidence of reduced mortality.1 Complications of caesarean sections can be substantial and sometimes permanent for both mothers and babies, and can result in disability or death, especially in settings with inadequate facilities or capacity to undertake safe surgery and treat surgical complications.

Creating Environments Through The Art Of Occupational Therapy, Lydia Royeen

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Dr. Lori Reynolds has an interest in therapeutic gardens and the creation of living spaces that promote well-being for older adults. Dr. Reynolds educates various stakeholders on the benefits of occupational therapy, including landscape architects and senior living administrators. Her advocacy to expand occupational therapy beyond its mainstream roles is infectious. She speaks passionately about her work in helping to create therapeutic gardens and how her role as an occupational therapist offers great perspective in this process. She appreciates the environmental impact on an individual’s health and well-being and practices from a person-environment-occupation theory.

She Said, She Said: A Conversation About Growing Education Research In Occupational Therapy, Barbara Hooper, Sylvia Rodger

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

No abstract provided.

Achieving Teaching, Scholarship, And Service Through Community Engagement, Carole K. Ivey, Jodi L. Teitelman, Kelli W. Gary, Dianne F. Simons, Jayne T. Shepherd, Albert E. Copolillo

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy faculty currently face enormous challenges in meeting teaching load expectations, while also under pressure to participate in scholarly projects and to make administrative and service contributions. Community engagement projects may provide opportunities for faculty to effectively and efficiently meet the goals in each of these areas while imparting benefits to students and community partners as well. Faculty at the Department of Occupational Therapy (OT) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) embraced this idea as consistent with the university’s mission and strategic plan, and recognized its benefits in assisting faculty to meet workload demands. Four community partnerships reflecting the range …

Eportfolio: The Scholarly Capstone For The Practice Doctoral Degree In Occupational Therapy, Jim Hinojosa, Tsu-Hsin Howe

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

A critical decision doctoral faculty must make is deciding what is the most appropriate capstone or terminal requirement for the practice doctorate degree that is consistent with the program’s curriculum. EPortfolios are a viable option for documenting doctoral students’ advanced knowledge and competence. After creating a professional development plan, the students record individual experiences and reflections framed by a self-selected metaphor, provide objective documentation of achievements, and verify advanced competence in a specific area in their ePortfolios. As the students construct their ePortfolios, they must engage in self-directed learning that is grounded in evidence-based and reflective practice, with a focus …

Peer Observation And Evaluation Tool (Poet): A Formative Peer Review Supporting Scholarly Teaching, Jeffrey L. Crabtree, Patricia J. Scott, Fengyi Kuo

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The Peer Observation and Evaluation Tool (POET) is a valid and reliable measure developed for formative peer evaluation of pharmacy faculty. The authors replicated a study conducted on the POET in pharmacy in order to report the instrument’s validity and reliability in occupational therapy and to explore its potential as a formative teaching evaluation for occupational therapy educators. To verify item importance, seven participants from the faculty in an occupational therapy department rated each item. To establish inter-rater reliability, the participants evaluated one videotaped 55 min lecture. The POET was reliable with ICC at 0.93. There were high levels of …

Student Perceptions Of Scholarly Writing, Shirley Peganoff O'Brien, Dory Marken, Kelsey Bennett Petrey

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Learning the process of scholarly writing, including the significance of peer review, is an essential element in the preparation of students for professional practice. This descriptive research study, using Scholarship of Teaching and Learning methodology, explores one approach to teaching scholarly writing in an occupational science/occupational therapy curriculum. The writing assignment was designed to offer multiple points for feedback and revision and instructional features to reinforce learning. A survey of students [n = 169] participating in this scholarly writing project was conducted yearly to gather their perceptions of learning. The results revealed four key elements: instructional strategies are needed …

Development Of A Clinical Performance Assessment Tool For An Occupational Therapy Teaching Clinic, Whitney Henderson

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Health professional education is experiencing increased accountability from higher education and professional accrediting bodies to produce professionals who are prepared to meet the demands of the complex, fast-paced, ever changing health-care environment. Using competency-based assessment methods to evaluate a student’s performance can assist to decrease the gap between education and practice and ease the critical transition from the classroom to the clinic. A variety of assessment methods that use a Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) framework to assess student performance and competency can be found throughout the health professions literature. Because of the lack of literature about the assessment of student …

Development And Psychometric Properties Of The Emotional Intelligence Admission Essay Scale, Sharon A. Gutman, Janet P. Falk-Kessler

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The purpose was to describe the development and psychometric properties of the Emotional Intelligence Admission Essay scale. The authors developed an admission essay question and rating scale designed to provide information about applicants’ emotional intelligence (EI). Content validity, convergent validity, interrater reliability, and internal consistency were established. The scale was also examined to determine if it could discriminate between students with and without professional behavior problems in the academic and fieldwork settings. Content validity was found to be high by a panel of three experts in EI (content validity index = 1.0). Convergent validity with the Assessing Emotions Scale was …

Digital Storytelling As Poetic Reflection In Occupational Therapy Education: An Empirical Study, Lisebet S. Skarpaas, Grete Jamissen, Cecilie Krüger, Vigdis Holmberg, Pip Hardy

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Stories are powerful aids to reflection. Thus, the use of stories may be a pathway to enhanced reflective practice and clinical reasoning skills. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether and how digital storytelling can contribute to occupational therapy (OT) students’ learning through reflections on experiences from placement education. A cohort of OT students (n = 57) participated in a 2-day workshop to create digital stories. Data were generated through a questionnaire with a response rate of 100% of students who completed the workshop (n = 34). Quantitative analysis methods were used to reveal a level of agreement …

Professional Portfolios Used By Canadian Occupational Therapists: How Can They Be Improved?, Brigitte Vachon, Annie Rochette, Aliki Thomas, Welove Foucar Desormeaux, Ai-Thuy Huynh

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Professional portfolios are widely used in continuing professional development (CPD), despite limited evidence of their effectiveness for improving practice and professional competence. Occupational therapy regulatory organizations in Canada have implemented professional portfolios as tools that support engagement in CPD. To advance research and practice on the use of portfolios, we conducted a critical analysis of their format, content, and embedded learning process. This paper aims to describe and compare the portfolios’ characteristics when they are used as a tool to facilitate engagement in CPD. A document review approach was used to analyze documents describing continuing competence programs and portfolios and …

Student Rating Of Skill Performance Opportunities In Faculty-Directed Research, Carrie A. Ciro, Mary Isaacson

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The purpose was to examine the feasibility of creating a faculty-driven research-based fieldwork (FW) I experience and to examine whether students engaged in a research-based FW I would report equivalent skill performance opportunities as students engaged in traditional FW I experiences. Twenty-four first-year occupational therapy students were given the option of choosing either a research-based FW I experience with a faculty member (n = 5) or a traditional FW I site (n = 19). The students self-reported their opportunities to perform ACOTE standards of practice related to professionalism, professional reasoning, use of sciences, and experiential learning using a Likert scale. …

Developing An Indigenous, Entry-Level Master’S Degree Program In A Country With An Emerging Ot Profession, Lesley A. Garcia, Julie D. Kugel, Heather Javaherian-Dysinger, Esther Huecker

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

In the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago the full range of physical, mental, psychological, and socially derived problems of occupational engagement exist. Occupational therapy is often a part of the health care team to address these challenges; however, the profession is at an emergent stage in the country. This paper describes a process used for the development of an indigenous entry-level master’s degree program in occupational therapy. The process was also supported and enhanced by the collaborative relationships among key stakeholders, including global partners. A qualitative design process was used to analyze the health care needs, barriers, and strategies that …

Broadening The Scope And Impact Of Occupational Therapy Education Research By Merging Two Research Agendas: A New Research Agenda Matrix, Barbara Hooper

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

No abstract provided.

The Copy And Paste Function And The Quality Of The Electronic Health Record (Ehr), Francesca John

Applied Research Projects

The copy and paste (c/p) function is utilized by many clinical and administrative staff in the healthcare organization. A survey comprising of 10 multiple choice questions was randomly administered to 60 employees at a skilled nursing facility to determine if the utilization of the copy and paste function leads to errors in the electronic health record (EHR) and ultimately reduced the quality of the record. After reviewing and analyzing the results it was found errors have been noticed in the record due to the c/p function, however, the respondents believed although these errors existed, the c/p function actually enhanced the …

Patient Perceptions Of The Caring Environment, Kathryn M. Miller

Doctoral Dissertations and Scholarly Projects

As health management information system technology at the point of care increases to ensure greater efficiency, effectiveness and patient safety, the impact of such technology needed to be explored for impact on the nurse-patient dyad, and patient perception of the caring environment. This evidence-based practice pilot project based on the Iowa Model of Evidence- Based Practice to Promote Quality Care utilized quasi-experimental methodology to measure implication of mobile computer workstations at the point of care and sought to answer if an evidence-based practice change of ergonomic use surrounding technology improved patient perceptions of the caring environment. Significance of the pilot …

Health Literacy Assessment And Chronic Disease: An Integrative Review, Dana S. Woody

Doctoral Dissertations and Scholarly Projects

Health literacy is a matter of grave concern in health care today. Defined as more than the ability to read and write, it involves obtaining, processing, and understanding health information. Yet it is a concept often misunderstood and overlooked in the environment of professional care. Specifically, low health literacy in the setting of chronic disease has proven to be a challenging and costly phenomena. Given the high prevalence of chronic disease, there is a pressing need for health care providers to acknowledge this subject matter in care delivery. This integrative review provides a synthesis of published evidence identifying and clarifying …