Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

Accessiblehomepro As An Educational Intervention: Preparing Occupational Therapy Students To Perform Home Safety Assessments, Laryn O'Donnell

Theses and Dissertations

The growing aging population of the United States urges occupational therapy practitioners to address the population's home safety needs. However, current occupational therapists need more resources and education to conduct comprehensive home safety evaluations. This study employed a pretest-posttest mixed methods design using occupational therapy students (n=17) to investigate the potential of AccessibleHomePRO as an educational intervention to enhance OT student knowledge of home safety assessments, perceived knowledge, which is known as the belief in your level of knowledge, and self-efficacy, which refers to the confidence in completing a task. AccessibleHomePRO (AHP) is a novel multifaceted assessment that leverages artificial …

Improving Self-Report In Quality Of Life Reporting For Individuals With Dementia, Elizabeth Grace Grade Redford

Theses and Dissertations

People with dementia (PWD) are one of the fastest growing clinical populations for speech-language pathologists. Self-reported quality of life (QoL) assessments are critical patient-reported outcome measures that align with person-centered care principles. However, proxy- report is most often used due to assumptions that PWD cannot provide reliable self-report. Visual analogue scales (VAS) have been successfully used with people with expressive and cognitive deficits to measure subjective constructs, such as QoL, mood, and pain. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the feasibility and reliability of a VAS QoL assessment tool.

Twenty healthy older adults were assessed using the QoL-AD …

Interrater Reliability Of The Accesstools Assessment With Novice Raters, Qussai Mohammed Obiedat

Theses and Dissertations

Public buildings accessibility is of societal importance for all individuals, especially people with disabilities (PWD). Despite of all the efforts that have been made on the societal and community levels, PWD are still limited from participating in the community due to inaccessible environments. One of the major limitations in the current practices regarding public buildings’ accessibility is the lack of a commonly accepted, comprehensive, and metrically sound tool to objectively measure the accessibility of public buildings. Such a measure is needed. AccessTools is a newly developed assessment tool to identify, document, and objectively measure the complete accessibility of different building …

Effects Of Seat And Axle Position On Pain, Pathology, And Independence In Pediatric Manual Wheelchair Users With Spinal Cord Injury, Hannah Frank

Theses and Dissertations

Manual wheelchair (MWC) users with spinal cord injury (SCI) rely heavily on their upperextremities to complete daily occupations. Due to repetitive shoulder use during wheelchair mobility and propulsion, MWC users are at greater risk of shoulder pain and shoulder pathology, and thus decreased independence, and lower quality of life. The relative fit of the wheelchair and its parameters are critical and can further impact the user’s propulsion biomechanics. Parameters such as seat angle and axle position may put the user in detrimental shoulder positions for longer periods of time, impacting health outcomes even more. Although the effects of wheelchair setup …

Central Sensitization, Muscle Function, And Knee Kinematics In Females With Patellofemoral Pain, Kemery Jean Sigmund

Theses and Dissertations

Context: Females with patellofemoral pain (PFP) are at higher risk, have higher rates, and experience worse long-term outcomes than males. Structural and functional changes have been observed in pain networks and neuromuscular systems in individuals with PFP. Central sensitization describes dysfunctional pain modulation which could lead to altered neuromuscular control. Evidence examining relationships between central sensitization and muscle function in PFP is lacking.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine whether females with PFP exhibit signs of central sensitization compared to pain-free females. Then, after grouping each individual based on her quantitative sensory test results into a centrally …

Ultrasonography As Biofeedback To Increase Muscle Activation During The Mendelsohn Maneuver In Healthy Adults, Ching-Hsuan Peng

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of applying real-time ultrasound as visual feedback in addition to verbal instruction/tactile feedback to facility the accuracy of learning the Mendelsohn maneuver. The Mendelsohn maneuver is one of the commonly used swallowing exercises targeting hyolaryngeal elevation and prolonging upper esophageal sphincter opening during swallow. It was hypothesized that the additional visual cueing provided by ultrasound would significantly increase sEMG activity which may be associated with increased duration and extent of hyolaryngeal elevation during the Mendelsohn maneuver as compared to the effect of verbal instruction/tactile feedback alone. A total of twenty-four …

School-Based Augmentative And Alternative Communication Collaboration During Covid-19, Nicole Kocanda

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The first purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics and procedures of successful AAC teams in schools. The second purpose was to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the functioning of teams. Methods: Well-functioning teams completed an online survey about their team. Results: Results indicated there was no particular profile of what constituted a well-functioning team in this study. Results also indicated a significant change in meeting modality because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Participants discussed several procedures and characteristics of their well-functioning AAC team. AAC teams may consider implementing discussed procedures to improve their overall functioning.

Establishing Content And Face Validity Of An Assessment To Evaluate The Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, And Knowledge Of Pre-Professional Students Related To Assistive Technology For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Cynthia Amy Ruedinger

Theses and Dissertations

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of the study was to create an online assessment in order to better understand the knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy that pre-professional students have in the fields of assistive technology and ASD and establish content and face validity for this assessment.METHOD. 12 content experts, both professors and practitioners, within the fields of occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech language pathology, and special education, as well as experts in autism spectrum disorder and assistive technology, participated in the content validation process. A total of 16 students within these disciplines completed the assessment with pilot data gathered and provided feedback on …

Upper Extremity Kinematics And Pain Outcomes During Activities Of Daily Living In Pediatric Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Olivia Yanez Wilwert

Theses and Dissertations

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is a group of heritable connective tissue disorders, consisting of thirteen different subtypes. Among the thirteen, Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) is the most common. Individuals with this condition present with frequent joint instability that results in ongoing subluxations and dislocations. Secondary diagnoses of this condition include chronic pain, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The diagnostic process of hEDS is convoluted by the lack of a genetic identifier (Malfait et al., 2017). Individuals with hEDS are often not diagnosed until later in adulthood, leaving their adolescent life full …

Biomechanical Analysis Of Stroke Patterns And Functional Outcomes In Pediatric Manual Wheelchair Users, Paige Louise Aschenbrener

Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 88,0000 manual wheelchair (MWC) users are under the age of 21 in the United States (Kaye, LaPlante, & Kang, 2000). More than half of pediatric MWC users with spinal cord injury (SCI) report shoulder pain later in life and are at higher risk for developing upper extremity (UE) overuse injuries (Vogel & Zebracki, 2015). During MWC propulsion, a stroke pattern is the path the hand follows with respect to the pushrim (Boninger et al., 2002). Current clinical guidelines for adults recommend sole use of the semicircular stroke pattern as best practices because a MWC user is able to spend …

Comparing Sensory Accessibility Needs In Deaf And Low Vision Populations: An Explorative Study, Anna Bruckbauer

Theses and Dissertations

Objective. The objective of the study is to compare hypothesized similar sensory accessibility needs of Lighting, Acoustics, Openness, Color/Contrast, and Services/communication for the hard of hearing and low vision population. Background. The Americans with Disability Act – Architectural Barriers Act Design Guidelines (ADA-ABA, 2004, 2015) provides guidelines to increase accessibility of public buildings for individuals covered by the ADA (1990). However, these guidelines often fall short of providing functional and practical guidelines to be accessible for all. Extant building rating tools fail to attend to the overlap of functional needs for the hard of hearing and/or low vision populations. Thus, …

Dialect Use, Language Abilities, And Emergent Literacy Skills Of Prekindergarten Children Who Speak African American English, Erika Rose Baldwin

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the complex relationship between spoken language and emergent literacy skills for children who speak African American English (AAE). Therefore, this study examined children’s language proficiency, dialect use, and emergent literacy skills at the beginning of Head Start preschool and throughout the entire academic year.

Methods. This study analyzed scores from a database of 120 preschool children who spoke AAE. Data included narrative retells of the wordless picture book Frog Where Are You? that were transcribed utilizing Systematic Analysis of Language Transcript (SALT) Software. Narrative retells were then …

A Comparison Of Two Devices For Isometric Lingual Strengthening In Healthy Adults, Daniel Laurensio Gutierrez

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare tongue pressure measurements recorded by an established device, the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI) and a new device, the TongueometerTM.

Eight healthy adults ages 18 to 59 were subjects. Independent variables included device type (IOPI & TongueometerTM) and bulb placement in oral cavity (anterior & posterior). The dependent variable was tongue pressure in kPa. Each subject attempted three trials of maximum tongue pressure at both the anterior and posterior bulb placement location for both devices. The order of device and bulb placement position was counterbalanced to reduce potential carryover effects. Subjects were …

The Effect Of Attention To Self-Regulation Of Speech Sound Productions On Speech Fluency In Oral Reading, Chana Basya Halpern

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: This study ultimately sought to test whether a condition of heightened attention to speech sound production during connected speech serves to trigger increased disfluencies. Disfluencies, or disruptions in the flow of speech, are highly variable in form and location, both within and across individuals and situations. Research to identify conditions that can predictably trigger disfluencies has the potential to provide insight into their elusive nature. A review of related literature covered the cognitive-linguistic theories related to speech fluency and stuttering. This review of previous literature also served as the foundation for why it was proposed that disfluencies would be …

Effects Of Patient Characteristics On Outpatient Rehabilitation Outcomes In Patients With Lumbar Impairments, Jenna Powers

Theses and Dissertations

Lumbar spine impairments affect an individual’s ability to perform activities of daily living, making it pertinent to understand the importance of rehabilitation and variables influencing clinical outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine variables (demographics, health conditions, and biopsychosocial) that contribute to larger functional status (FS) improvement for patients with lumbar spine impairments seeking outpatient rehabilitation therapy. This study was a secondary data analysis of data collected by FOTO Inc. (Knoxville, TN, USA). A sample of 221,168 participants with lumbar spine impairments were analyzed. Correlations were performed to examine the strength of the linear relationship between variables of …

Pre-Operative Versus Post-Operative Kinematic Assessment And Functional Outcomes Of The Thoracohumeral Joint In Adults With Rotator Cuff Tears, Margaret French

Theses and Dissertations

PRE- OPERATIVE VERSES POST-OPERATIVE KINEMATIC ASSESSMENT OF THE THORACOHUMERAL JOINT IN ADULTS WITH ROTATOR CUFF TEARS

by

Margaret E. French

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2018

Under the Supervision of Brooke A. Slavens, PhD

This project investigated upper extremity (UE) motion and functional outcomes before and after full-thickness supraspinatus rotator cuff (RC) repair through kinematic analyses of three Activities of Daily Living (ADL) tasks. RC repair is a standard procedure known to alleviate pain, weakness, and stiffness, with improvements of decreased pain and increased range of motion (ROM). Eight (8) subjects (63.6 ± 6.3) with a supraspinatus RC tear participated in …

Comparison Of Analysis Techniques For Assessing Oro-Pharyngeal Swallow From Videofluoroscopy, Prasanna Venkataraman

Theses and Dissertations

MBSImP® is an ordinal rating scale designed to evaluate 17 swallowing events from Videofluoroscopic Swallowing Study. Use of an ordinal scale to judge swallowing impairment involves subjectivity and could affect the reliability of judgements. There is a need to validate the ordinal levels of ratings in MBSImP® with objective data, in order to improve confidence of clinical judgements. The hypothesis was that discrete objective data could be obtained for each level of rating in MBSImP® that are statistically different from the data of the subsequent rating level, which would objectively support the concept of the MBSImP® tool. Two hundred 5ml …

Speech-Language Pathologists' Practices And Attitudes Toward App Use In Therapy, Tessa Alexandra Benedon

Theses and Dissertations

Numerous national surveys have established that Americans of all ages are using mobile technologies (e.g. cell phones, smartphones, and tablets) more than ever before (Pew Research Center, 2018; American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016a; American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016b; Reid-Chassiakos et al., 2016; Tsetsi & Rains, 2016; Kabali et al., 2015). In the same vein, Morris, Jones, and Sweatman (2016) found that Americans with visual, hearing, motor, learning, and speech disabilities area also engaging with apps on smartphone and tablet technologies for vocational, educational, and social purposes. Developers of the iOS and Android operating systems have prioritized user-friendly design and accessibility …

Wording Matters: The Impact Of Disability Identification In Post-Secondary Education, Jacqueline Marie Love

Theses and Dissertations

Background. The prevalence of students with disabilities (SWD) in postsecondary education has increased over the last 30 years. Moreover, the literature suggests that prevalence statistics may be gross underestimations since large percentages of students have not disclosed their disability to the university they attend. This could have significant negative outcomes. When students do not disclose, the university is less able to accommodate their individual academic needs, resulting in poor academic achievement and even failure to obtaining a degree. Inaccurate identification of SWD also impacts the accuracy of demographic information used to interpret educational research, inform educational policy and can erode …

Using Photovoice To Understand The Meaning Of Social Participation As It Impacts Transitions For Student Veterans, Caitlin Gene Dobson

Theses and Dissertations

Student veterans encounter a variety of social pressures that civilian students do not, making the transition from military life to student civilian challenging. The issue of military personnel transitioning to roles as student veterans is one that is relevant to occupational therapy, as the profession promotes social participation as a meaningful occupation. It has been found that veterans find social relationships to be a critical challenge in the process of transitioning to the university and the civilian world (Plach & Haertlein Sells, 2013).

Additionally, this issue is important to occupational therapy as a factor in promoting mental health. Mental health …

What Should Be Included In A Measure Of Communicative Participation? Perspectives Of Speech-Language Pathologists, Natalie Kelly Graceffa

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A MEASURE OF COMMUNICATIVE PARTICIPATION? PERSPECTIVES OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS

by Natalie Graceffa

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2017 Under the Supervision of Professor Dr. Shelley Lund

As the field has developed, speech-language pathologists (SLP) need to validate their therapies and prove, beyond clinical judgment, that their therapy is necessary and ethical. SLPs and other healthcare professionals must prove they are achieving positive outcomes with their treatment, and that the outcomes they set are appropriate for their patients and clients. To bring this validity to the treatment of health, the International Classification for Functioning, Disability, and …

What Influences School-Based Occupational Therapists’ Decision-Making? A Qualitative Study, Cynthia Helen Clough

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Occupational therapists in school-based practice make daily service delivery decisions about when, where, and how to provide interventions to children with disabilities. The services provided by these occupational therapists have the potential to support or limit a child’s access to general education curriculum and environments which, in turn, impacts vocational, financial, social, and community life outcomes. Service delivery decisions about pulling children out of classrooms, pushing services into classrooms, and / or providing consultation are made based on the ways therapists define and differentiate their role from that of other school personnel, how they interpret Individual Education Plans for …

Examining The Lived Experience Of Caregivers Learning A Home Program From A Pediatric Occupational Therapist, Michelle Finet

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of family caregivers as they learned a home program from an occupational therapist for their child. Gaining information from the caregiver on experiences with patient education may enable therapists to develop an understanding of the needs of caregivers during the educational process that occurs when a therapist is giving the caregiver a home program. Meeting the learning needs of the caregivers may possibly reduce the amount of overall therapy needed by the child. This phenomenological approach sought to answer the following research questions: (a) what are the lived experiences …

Video Modeling To Increase Interaction For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder In A Museum Setting Using An Application On A Tablet, Bethany Miota Miota

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to perform an exploratory study to determine if the ScanDo! app intervention is an assistive technology that increases interaction for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a museum setting. The ScanDo! app intervention presented a video demonstration that modeled the interaction for each learning station by scanning the QR code attached to the station. Using a naturally occurring baseline single-subject design with ABA and reversed ABA phases, two children with ASD and their parents visited the grocery store exhibit at a children’s museum. Observers of the trials and questionnaires completed by parents before …

A Feasibility Study Of Using Headspace For Mindfulness Among Individuals Undergoing Surgical Repair Of The Rotator Cuff, Hanna Rae Paul

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been found to help reduce psychological distress and pain in chronic musculoskeletal conditions. However, very limited evidence exists determining the impact of mindfulness on psychological distress and pain in acute musculoskeletal conditions including rotator cuff tears. Among individuals undergoing surgical repair of a rotator cuff tear, it is not clear how mindfulness may be combined with usual care, given the requirement of intense training as part of frequently used MBI protocols. The purpose of the present study was to determine if it was feasible to combine Headspace, a mobile application for mindfulness training that can be …

Ipad Application For Pain Assessment In Youths With Developmental Disabilities And Complex Communication Needs, Alyssa Rose Guard

Theses and Dissertations

Aims: Development of a new pain assessment for youths with communication challenges. The Guard-Putzer Pain Assessment Domains (gPAD) for the iPad was designed and tested as a more universally accessible way for youths, ages 7-to-12 years, with a developmental disability (DD) to express their private pain experiences through self-report. Methods: A two-phase process developed the design for an app, created an interactive prototype, and tested its face validity and user interface. This work included a review of current assessments and pain apps as well as completed a survey to obtain descriptive data on clinical practicality of the gPAD. Fifteen occupational …

Survey Of Assessing Pain In Clinical Practice And Applicability Of A New Assessment, Michelle Rose Konz

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

SURVEY OF ASSESSING PAIN IN CLINICAL PRACTICE AND APPLICABILITY OF A

NEW ASSESSMENT

by

Michelle Konz

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Professor Joyce Engel, PhD

Aims The purpose of this study is to identify pain assessments that are being used to measure an individual’s pain experience and to discover how occupational therapists are currently assessing pain in youths who have complex communication needs with a developmental disability (DD). Methods Phase 1: A literature review was conducted through the use of electronic databases to research 17 different methods of pain assessment to create descriptive charts to …

Translating Modified Ashworth Scale Into Functional Measures And Quantitative Kinematic Values: A Pilot Study, Patrick Frigge

Theses and Dissertations

TRANSLATING MODIFIED ASHWORTH SCALE INTO FUNCTIONAL MEASURES AND QUANTITATIVE KINEMATIC VALUES: A PILOT STUDY

by

Patrick D. Frigge

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Professor Ying-Chih Wang, PhD

Introduction: Spasticity is a motor disorder characterized by a velocity-dependent increase in tonic stretch reflexes. The gold standard for assessing spasticity in stroke patients is the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), but the scale is highly subjective to the clinician’s opinion and previous experience and lacks psychometric fidelity. Numerous studies have criticized the scale’s subjectivity and lack of rater reliability. Development of a quantitative spasticity device in routine clinical care …

Using A Database Of Typical Speakers To Describe The Expository Language Skills Of Children With Language Impairment, Joanna Carol Zwerlein

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose. This study examined the expository language skills of older students with language impairment (LI) in relation to a large database of typically developing (TD) students. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether comparing language samples to the database allowed users to distinguish between adolescents with LI and those with typical language, and develop individual profiles of relative strengths and weaknesses in children with LI.

Methods. School speech-language pathologists elicited expository language samples from high school students with LI (N = 9; mean age = 16;8 [years;months]) by asking them to explain how to play their favorite game …

Perspectives Of Stuttering Treatment: Parents, Children, And Adolescents, Heather Darlene Salvo

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Perspectives of Stuttering Treatment:

Parents, Children, and Adolescents

By Heather D. Salvo

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee August 2016

Under the Supervision of Carol H. Seery

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Purpose. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether age affects the perspectives of children (ages 8-12), adolescents (ages 13-17), and parents related to stuttering treatment experiences and outcomes. A secondary purpose of this study was to investigate whether the perspectives of children and adolescents regarding stuttering treatment experiences and outcome preferences differed from the perspective of their parents.

Participants. Participants required internet access and minors …