Medical Education Commons^™

Oral Wellness: Using Occupational Therapy To Enhance Oral Hygiene Delivery In Long-Term Care, Lauryn J. Banovitz, Liberty Bellah, Rosemarie Lion

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Based on current literature, oral health in long-term care (LTC) facilities is frequently of low priority and does not follow evidence-based best practices. Poor oral health reduces the quality of life of older adult residents and patients and can lead to systemic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, and pneumonia, the leading cause of death in LTC. Occupational therapists can play an instrumental role as oral care consultants, and educators, and can act as resource guides to raise the standards of oral care in LTC facilities.

This capstone project explored ways in which occupational therapy, a profession traditionally designated for …

Interprofessional Collaboration Between Occupational Therapists And Nurses In An Acute Care Setting: An Exploratory Study, Bethany Loy, Holly Micheff, Kelly Nguyen, Vincent O'Brien

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Background. Collaboration between occupational therapists and nurses is key to a positive prognosis for their patients. Currently, there is a gap in the research on professional relationships between occupational therapists and registered nurses in acute care settings.

Purpose. To examine interprofessional collaboration between registered nurses and occupational therapy in an acute care setting.

Methods. A phenomenological, qualitative design with use of semi-structured interviews was used. Interviewees were four occupational therapists and four registered nurses who currently work in acute care settings in Northern California and were recruited through a snowball, convenience and purposive sampling. Themes and subthemes that emerged from …