Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

Strategies For Enhancing Racially Diverse Student Satisfaction In Graduate-Level Occupational Therapy Programs, Kolbí L. Holmes, Christina Kane

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

A survey investigated satisfaction levels of racially diverse, graduate-level OT students at NSU and strategies for enhancing student satisfaction to ultimately meet the OT profession’s diversity goals. Overall, racially diverse students were satisfied with their OT program experience and identified diverse faculty and scholarship opportunities as desired resources needed for continuation in OT programs.

Assessment Of Postural, Locomotor, And Physical Fitness Status In Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Alana J. Turner

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Postural control and locomotion deficits can be observed during the early years of childhood development and throughout life. For those with disabilities, these deficits can advance past the development years and into adolescence and adulthood while affecting the quality of life and daily activity. Finding interactive rehabilitative activities to delay or limit these deficits is essential for people with disabilities to improve their quality of life, inclusion, and overall movement. Adapted physical activity/sports like badminton and virtual reality could promote improvements in postural and locomotor status for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities like cerebral palsy (CP), intellectual …

Distinguishing The Role Of Occupational Therapy In The Breast Cancer Care Continuum, Hannah S. Townsend

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The aggregate number of women who have either concluded BC treatment or are undergoing BC treatment totaled approximately 3.8 million women in January 2022 (BreastCancer.org, 2022). Incredible advances have been made in the pharmacological, technological, and surgical treatments of cancer along with a better understanding of the pathophysiology of cancer, but the statistics demonstrate a growing population of individuals with cancer and individuals surviving cancer (Bluethmann, 2016). The coinciding aging of the baby boomer generation results in a population of cancer survivors that demands more supply of services than were previously needed (Bluethmann, 2016). The present size of the population …

Exploration In Mental Performance For Division 1 Sec College Football Student Athletes, Alex Burgdorf

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The stigma surrounding mental health in sports has made intervention difficult. “There is a need for various actors to provide more effective strategies to overcome the stigma that surrounds mental illness, increase mental health literacy in the athlete/coach community, and address athlete-specific barriers to seeking treatment for mental illness” (Castadelli-Maia et.al 2019). The athletes in the football program at the University of Tennessee face more pressure today than ever in history. They have their class schedule, practice and training every day, and meetings with their position coaches. Now, with the introduction of name, image, and likeness (NIL) allowing players to …

Gaining Experience In Academic Setting Of Entry-Level Doctoral Program, Conner Hansen

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

Worked with faculty advisors to develop activities and assignments within the OTD 8271: Interventions 1: Psychosocial and Community course for students to guide their interactions with children volunteers from A Kid’s Place (AKP). The pre-existing relationship with AKP allowed for the incorporation of hands-on activities to increase the excellence of education, confidence in clinical skills, and quality of practitioners entering the field.

Clinical Skills And A Quick Reference Guide For Critical Care, Kayla Mccarty

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Multifactorial Fall Prevention Program Development And Implementation Within An Assisted Living Facility, Makenzie King

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Effectiveness Of Support Groups For Stroke Patients, Wendy H. Rosario

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Occupational Therapy's Role In Home Health, Irving Noche

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

My capstone experience was completed at CORE Health Company in Riverside, California under a privately owned home health care (HHC) staffing company. CORE Health provide in-home Occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) services for the adult and the older adult (ages 65 and over) population. Clients under private insurance, Medicare, hospice, or workers compensation can qualify to receive services. CORE Health proudly serves the Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. My site mentor for this capstone experience was Afshin Juybari, founder CEO of CORE Health and faculty mentor is Christina Kane, Ed. D., MS, OTR/L. I explored the Accreditation Council …

Reducing Caregiver Burden In Spinal Cord Injuries And Disorders (Sci/D), Heather Berto

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The following capstone project focused on the exploration of clinical and community-based resources that help reduce caregiver burden in the adult spinal cord injuries and disease (SCI/D) population. In order to best serve the chosen population, this capstone project aimed to help adults with SCI/D and their caregivers have access to resources that assist with handling adjustment, learning independent living skills, and navigating their relationship with one another, while ultimately taking into consideration their specific mental health needs.

Iadls In Acute Care, Taylor Brownlie

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Reducing The Fear Of Falling Through A Novel Fall Prevention Education Group, Eloise K. Palm

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

For older adults with fall risk or a history of falling, would novel fall prevention education reduce the fear of falling and enhance confidence in self to improve engagement in desired occupations? This capstone project was centered around answering that question. The setting this took place in is an inpatient rehabilitation hospital with the older adult patient population. Specifically, this includes stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, cardiac, orthopedic, and generally deconditioned patients. The proposed focus area being program development.

A focus on program development was demonstrated through assessing a patient’s fear of falling (FOF) at evaluation via the …

Implementation Of Basic Life Skills And The Effectiveness Of A Cooking Group, Meghan Cote

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The culminating project for this doctoral capstone experience (DCE) assessed the need to implement a cooking group within the inpatient rehab setting at Lakeland Regional Hospital for adults reintegrating into the community. The focus area identified for this DCE is program development. The component of program development consists of a cooking group with a pre and post-survey for active participants to complete. The purpose of the survey will determine each participant's viewpoints on their current capabilities before and after participating in one cooking group, along with their views of the outcome of the cooking group as a means of beneficial …

Resources For Parents Of Children With Feeding Issues, Miranda Gutierrez

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

Occupational therapy provides a client-centered approach to enhance engagement in valued life occupations. Activities of daily living, specifically eating and swallowing, fulfills basic physiological needs and creates a social relationship between a parent and/or caregiver and their child. Stress associated with caring for children with feeding difficulties can physically and emotionally strain the family. There is a greater need for opportunities to learn more about managing feeding and eating issues in children, especially with varying presentations across multiple conditions seen in the pediatric setting. The outcome of this capstone final culminating project included online evidence-based resources and general advice from …

An Occupational Therapy Guidebook For Individuals With Substance Use Disorder, Cassidy B. Ardoin-Barnett, Steven M. Gerardi

Summer 2022 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) experience barriers and challenges that impact their daily occupational performance, engagement, well-being, and quality of life. In addition to disrupting and distorting an individual’s unique occupational outcomes, SUDs can limit, replace, and dictate an individual’s daily meaningful activities, habits, routines, and skills that support healthy occupational engagement. Occupational therapy (OT) practitioners have a unique and valuable role in SUDs treatment as they are equipped to identify these barriers and implement strategies for supportive skill development or restoration. Based on the literature review conducted, OT practitioners do not have an OT practice guideline, protocol, or …

Developing Educational Resources For Hand Therapy Clinicians, Gabrielle M. Dannunzio

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

My capstone project involved the development of a toolkit to implement evidence-based practice (EBP) for practitioners working in the outpatient hand therapy setting, while gaining experience working in this setting. This project was completed with the focus areas of education and clinical practice skills. The population served was occupational therapy practitioners who are working in the hand therapy setting and are seeking resources to maintain their EBP. The goals that were achieved included developing resources for clinicians specific to certain diagnoses and treatments to make EBP more accessible, and improving clinical practice skills for future certification in hand therapy.

Wellness And Longevity Program For Adults And Older Adults, Oliver D. Fay

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

There are many areas of practice to choose from in the field of Occupational therapy (OT). OT has an incredibly diverse career path, with new opportunities being created every day. I completed my doctoral capstone experience at Iridium Enterprises with Dr. Aaron Green, who has a wealth of experience in business and entrepreneurship. My ACOTE focus areas were administration and program development. I wanted to learn how a business was properly developed and managed from the ground up.

Through this experience, I learned how to methodically approach market research and how to narrow in on a business idea. Our goal …

Clinical Practice Skills In Executive Function Within Acute Care, Jasmine Lake

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Postpartum And Pediatric Education Program For Mothers, Lacie T. Ellithorpe

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

My capstone experience included the focus area(s) of Clinical Practice Skills and Education. The aim of this capstone project was to create an ergonomic education program to address new motherhood and their occupations of health management and maintenance, sleep and rest, breastfeeding and other baby care, community mobility, and leisure. My Capstone Mentor was Dr. Kari Rasmussen, OTD, OTR/L. Becoming a new mother is considered a major life event, due to significant role changes that impact a mother’s everyday occupations. The population I served was new and expectant mothers in order to provide ergonomic education as they relate to the …

Icu Liberation Bundle: A Multidisciplinary Approach, Julie Anne Snyder Amoroso

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: Patients with increased ventilator days see dramatic increases in their chances of developing healthcare-related conditions (HAC). Extended ICU stays increase the potential for problematic issues in patients' physical, mental and spiritual health with short-and-long-term consequences.

PICOT: The PICOT question that guided this project was looking at adult ventilated patients in a medical ICU (P) and what is the effect of initiating interdisciplinary ABCDEF-ICU liberation bundle rounding as (I) compared to no ICU liberation bundle rounding (C) has on the length of ventilator days (O) over eight weeks (T).

Evidence: Evidence from quality studies and backing from the …

Community Based Rehabilitation Programs For Resettled Muslim Women Refugees, Lori Maria Walton Phd, Dpt, Mscpt, Mph(S), Renee Hakim, Phd, Pt, Ncs, Veena Raigangar, Phd(C), Mscpt, M.Ed., Jennifer Schwartz, Dpt, Ncs, Sjm Ummul Ambia, Mscpt, Najah Zaaeed, Drph, Lmsw, Bassima Schbley

Journal of Health Ethics

According to the 2021 report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 82.4 million people were forcibly displaced because of violence, wars, or persecution and over 26.4 million are currently living with refugee status. Displacement and resettlement trauma are associated with chronic disease onset and poor cognitive, physical, and mental health outcomes for refugee populations. To mitigate some of the deleterious effects of resettlement trauma, we propose a community-based rehabilitation program (CBRP) framework that is culturally sensitive, trauma-informed and focused on the vulnerabilities of women. The purpose of this novel CBRP framework is to address health inequities among a …

Role Of Physical Therapists In The Management Of Individuals At Risk For Or Diagnosed With Venous Thromboembolism: Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline 2022, Ellen Hillegass, Kathleen M. Lukaszewicz, Michael Puthoff

Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications

No matter the practice setting, physical therapists work with patients who are at risk for or who have a history of venous thromboembolism (VTE). In 2016, the first clinical practice guideline (CPG) addressing the physical therapist management of VTE was published with support by the American Physical Therapy Association’s Academy of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physical Therapy and Academy of Acute Care, with a primary focus on lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT). This CPG is an update of the 2016 CPG and contains the most current evidence available for the management of patients with lower extremity DVT and new key …

Association Between Visuomotor Skills And The Effects Of Stroboscopic Vision On Depth Jump Performance, Riley Welch

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The reactive strength index (RSI) is a popularized method of evaluating depth jump performance. Performance in anticipation of ground impact is influenced by the proprioceptive, vestibular, and visuomotor systems through multisensory integration. The contribution of vision to depth jump performance has been studied through use of stroboscopic goggles, but no study has evaluated which visuomotor skills may be a predictor for DJ performance. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the association between visuomotor skills and the effects of stroboscopic vision on DJ performance. Participants consisted of 9 female and 13 male college aged adults. DJ performance was evaluated …

Examining Job Satisfaction Of Female Faculty Employed At Educational Institutions That Are Accredited By The Council For Accreditation Of Counseling (Cacrep), Nancy Dorline Riddick

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation study examined the job satisfaction of female faculty employed at educational institutions that the Council accredits for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Voluntary participants in this study were acquired from numerous universities in the North Atlantic, North Central, Rocky Mountain, Southern Regions, and Western Regions.

Eighty-three surveys were completed. The packet included three instruments: The Demographic Questionnaire (created by Riddick, 2021), The Faculty Job Satisfaction Scale (FJSS) (as modified by Oberman, 2011, Riddick and Hansmann, 2021), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 2013).

The Influence Of Recreation Engagement On Adolescent Health-Risk Behaviors, Krista Thomas

All Dissertations

The number of adolescents who engage in suicidality is staggering. Adolescence is a unique developmental period where engagement in health-risk behaviors is prominent. Factors influencing engagement in suicidality are vast and occur both internally and externally in the adolescent. Substance use during adolescence has shown an association with increased suicidality. Similarly, bullying, both cyberbullying and in-person bullying, have contributed to adolescent suicidality. Alternatively, recreation engagement has yielded benefits in both psychosocial and physical health for adolescents. However, limited research has identified that engaging in recreation can minimize suicidality. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore how substance use, …

From Nepantla To Aztlan: Testimonios Of Faculty Mothers Of Color With Disabilities, Maria Bridges

Theses and Dissertations

From Nepantla to Aztlan: This dissertation sheds light on the supports and barriers that tenured/tenure-track Faculty Mothers of Color with Disabilities experience/d in their careers as students and faculty. Drawing from Indigenous methodologies (Relationality, Decoloniality, and Autoethnography), Liberation Psychology (Decolonial Designs, Conscientização, and Psicología social de la liberación), and Critical Theories (Latina Critical Theory, Pedagogies of the Home, Autohistoria-teoría and Disability Critical Theory), the researcher uses testimonios/pláticas as a method of inquiry to uncover the experiences of eight Nepantleras, Faculty Mothers of Color with Disabilities. The researcher initially hypothesized that she would find supports and barriers that fell into 4 …

Association Of Disease Outcomes With Physical Activity In Multiple Sclerosis: A Cross-Sectional Study, Trinh L T Huynh, Stephanie L Silveira, Brenda Jeng, Robert W Motl

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose/Objective Research: This study examined combinations of disease outcomes (i.e., walking, cognition, and symptoms) as correlates of physical activity subgroups (insufficiently active vs. sufficiently active) in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS).

RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN: This study included 213 participants who completed walking and cognitive function tests and self-report measures of symptoms and physical activity. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant function analysis identified combinations of MS outcomes associated with physical activity.

RESULTS: The sample had a mean age of 49.6 years (

CONCLUSION/IMPLICATIONS: The findings identified walking endurance and limitations, processing speed, depression, and fatigue as primary correlates of physical activity …

A Clinical Test To Assess Isometric Cervical Strength In Chronic Whiplash Associated Disorder (Wad): A Reliability Study, Jeff Habberfield, Geoff Schneider, Kathryn Schneider, Sozina Katuli, Lee Olson

Faculty Publications

Background: Cervical spine muscle weakness is well demonstrated in individuals with chronic neck pain. There is a lack of literature evaluating clinically applicable means of assessing isometric cervical strength in chronic whiplash associated disorder (WAD). This study assessed the reliability of self-resisted isometric cervical strength testing using a handheld dynamometer. The relationship between strength and neck pain-related disability and kinesiophobia was also investigated.

Methods: Twenty subjects with chronic WAD performed maximum-efort isometric cervical fexion, extension, side fexion, and rotation against a hand held dynamometer. The dynamometer was held by the subject, who provided self-resistance. Subjects completed two sessions of testing …

Enhancing Physician Perspectives Of Skilled Occupational Therapy Services For Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis, Valerie S. Trinidad

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

This Capstone Project, with a focus in research, sought to identify a relationship between self-reported functional performance and participation restriction as described by satisfaction with one’s execution or participation in a described occupation. A correlational study design was employed under the mentorship of Dr. Thomas Decker, EdD, OTD, OTR/L who oversaw all IRB processes, documentation, study development and deployment, as well as co-authored and provided mentorship for creation of a publishable manuscript of this project. The established Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and the newer Keele Assessment of Participation (KAP) were the two outcome measures of focus for surveying …

Mediation Analysis Of The Effect Of Visuospatial Memory On Motor Skill Learning In Older Adults, Andrew Hooyman, Jennapher Lingo Vangilder, Sydney Y. Schaefer

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

There is high inter-individual variability in motor skill learning among older adults. Identifying the nature of these individual differences remains challenging due to interactions between participant characteristics (e.g., age, cognition) and task-related factors (e.g., nature of task, level of skill pre-training), making it difficult to determine plausibly causal relationships. This study addresses these competing explanations by using mediation analysis to examine plausible causal inference between visuospatial memory and one-month retention of both gross and fine motor components of a functional upper-extremity task following training. Results suggest that better visuospatial memory results in more retention of fine but not gross motor …