Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

An Exploratory Study Of The Effects Of Aquatic Walking On Function And Muscle Activity In Knee Osteoarthritis: Part 2, John M. Coons, Brandon Grubbs, Conor Theiss, Vaughn W. Barry, Sandra Stevens

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

This paper presents Part 2 of a study that investigated the effects of an 8-week (3x/week) underwater treadmill (UT) walking intervention on knee osteoarthritis (KOA) outcomes in 6 adults with KOA (62.7 ± 14.2 years). The Knee Outcome Survey (KOS) for activities of daily living and muscle activity during a 10-m walk and a 20 cm step down were measured before and after the intervention. The following KOS measures improved after the UT walking program (p < 0.05; g > 0.8): stiffness, swelling, weakness, walking, going up stairs, going downstairs, kneeling on the front of the knee, squatting, and sitting with the …

The Halliwick Concept: Practical Applications, Susan J. Grosse

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

The Halliwick Concept has become a very popular method for use by professionals involved in instructional swimming and in therapeutic aquatics. Through a detailed look at the principles of Halliwick, this article expands on Halliwick theory by detailing applications of Halliwick to specific population groups. The practicality of implementing Halliwick methodology with and for individuals experiencing a variety of limiting challenges, both physical and cognitive/sensory, are discussed. Hints for success- oriented implementation are provided. For those unfamiliar with the Halliwick Method background resource material is included.

The Role Of Occupational Therapy In A Student Athlete’S Transition From High School To College, Justus Basinger, Keisa Boykin, Mary Shotwell

Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The purpose of the project is to identify the issues facing student-athletes as they transition from high school to college and to determine occupational therapists’ role in the transition for student-athletes. To allow for specialized help in the transition process from high school to college, this research project will provide greater detail about the areas in which student-athletes experience stressors.

Work Skills Programming Within Davidson County Residential Drug Court, Sarah Dinnes

OTD Capstone Projects

This capstone project was completed through partnership with Davidson County Residential Drug Court (DC4). DC4 is a long-term residential facility that provides on-site treatment and recovery resources for non-violent offenders. The focus of this project was the development of intervention materials that provides resources and tools to help build work readiness skills to better prepare these individuals for long-term employment and becoming productive members of society upon graduation of the program. The handbook includes education and opportunities to apply learned skills in the areas of employment, communication, financial management, and community transportation. To be sustainable for the agency, counselors will …

Calm Sr: Classroom Activities For Learning And Managing Self-Regulation, Corina Arroyo, Angela Labrie Blackwell, Mallorie Garcia

Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

CALM SR is a program developed for 3-4-year-olds to increase successful participation in desired occupations due to improved self-regulation skills. This program is designed for implementation in a preschool setting over the course of 9 weeks. This program incorporates activities that target sill acquisition across multiple domains. Activities are supplemented by literature, visual displays, modeling, and facilitation of the self-regulation process.

Post Covid-19 Condition: Understanding Implications For Ot Practice, Malachy Clancy, Phd, Otr/L, Bcpr

Department of Occupational Therapy Posters and Presentations

Learning Objectives

• Define and describe Post COVID-19 Condition (PCC)
• Apply recommended treatment interventions for individuals with PCC
• Understand models of care for individuals with PCC

The Lived Experience Of Older Adults Desiring To Age In Place, Sarah K. Dean

OTD Capstone Projects

The Lived Experience of Older Adults Desiring to Age in Place is a study conducted by Sarah Dean, a student in Belmont University's Doctorate Program in Occupational Therapy. Purpose: This project was created to determine the lived experience and perspective of older adults desiring to age in place. This project was intended to benefit all older adults attending FiftyForward in Middle TN and their families. Methodology: The student assisted second-year Belmont OTD students in distributing an initial survey to the FiftyForward participants. The student went back to FiftyForward centers, and conducted in-depth interviews with the older adult participants in …

Seltec Model Level I Fieldwork Shift In An Ota Program, Paige Henson

OTD Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone project was completed through a partnership with Nashville State Community College’s (NSCC) Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. To address clinician burnout from supervising students during level I fieldworks, NSCC is in the early stages of researching, planning, and implementing the SELTEC: Service and Experiential Learning Through Engagement in the Community Model for their Level I Fieldwork placements. The SELTEC model’s main objective is to provide quality and consistent level I fieldwork by using a faculty-led approach in partnership with community based organizations to decrease the burden on fieldwork sites and educators. This project aimed to create a manual …

Enhancing Learning Outcomes In An Intervention Based Orthopedic Course, Kathryn E. Kita

OTD Capstone Projects

This capstone project was completed through a collaboration with Belmont University’s School of Occupational Therapy in Nashville, Tennessee. The project focused on reviewing, creating, and implementing supplemental educational material to enhance learning outcomes in first year OTD students in the occupational performance I course (OPI). OPI is the first intervention-based course in the curriculum, focusing on the orthopedic and acute care settings. The educational material created includes five video demonstrations, three comprehensive case studies and videos of the evaluation and treatment sessions that coincide, four review sessions of important topics covered in lecture, and multiple fabricated orthotics. A pre and …

Does Race, Ethnicity, And Insurance Status Predict Functional Outcomes In Hospitalized Covid-19 Patients?, Malachy Clancy, Phd, Otr/L, Bcpr

Department of Occupational Therapy Posters and Presentations

Objectives

1. Understand factors associated with functional improvements in patients hospitalized with COVID-19
2. Describe the prevalence of functional disability in a cohort of hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19

Exploring Seating And Mobility Provision, Amaris Hornbuckle

OTD Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone was an exploration of the specialty practice area of seating and mobility through partnerships with Numotion and TriStar Skyline Medical Center. A variety of projects were completed including educational materials for a wheelchair clinic, a loaner wheelchair tracking spreadsheet, educational materials for a Belmont Occupational therapy course, a literature search on pediatric power mobility, and protocol spreadsheets for an FDA research study. Throughout this capstone, I learned the skills necessary for a wheelchair evaluation, developed interprofessional communication skills, and gained an understanding of the lived experience of end users.

Promoting Occupational Therapy Student Well-Being Through Scholarship, Hanna Mcclain

OTD Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone experience entitled “Promoting Occupational Therapy Student Well-Being through Scholarship” aimed to complete tasks within Belmont’s School of OT to promote occupational therapy student well-being. The outcomes and deliverables of the project include submitting a manuscript for publication, analyzing data with research team, manualizing the WBOP intervention, streamlining the WBOP intervention PowerPoints, submitting a grant application, teaching one of the WBOP intervention classes, and creating a new manuscript from the newly analyzed data.

Occupational Therapy In End-Of-Life Care, Shannon Sudrla

Student Capstone Papers

Patients at the end-of-life (EoL) experience functional decline in response to terminal illness and the active dying process, inhibiting participation and engagement in meaningful daily activities. Occupational therapy practitioners (OTP) are equipped to address patients’ occupational needs and desires despite their declining capacities; however, the absence of occupational therapy (OT) services in EoL care leaves patients’ occupational needs unmet, directly affecting their quality of life. The literature demonstrates the need for enhanced education and training among occupational therapy students (OTS) and practitioners to better prepare them to work with terminally ill patients who face progressive functional decline and imminent death. …

Predicting Walking Ability And Prosthetic Candidacy Following Lower Extremity Amputation; An Updated Systematic Review And Treatment Pathway, Scott Love, Carolyn Dias-Karch, Bianca Saragusti, Rebekah Langrek, Kayla Aponte, Rebecca Miro, Michael Jason Highsmith

Physical Therapy Collection

Background: There is not a clear compilation of existing literature that determines walking ability and prosthetic candidacy following lower extremity amputation (LEA). There is no multi-disciplinary instrument or patient centric decision-making protocol accepted that can predict walking ability and prosthetic candidacy nor support a treatment pathway. It is important to determine these factors to better assist clinicians in determining a patient’s MFCL K-level to assist with the delivery of proper prosthetic componentry. Medicare Functional Classification Level (MFCL) K-level is a 0 to 4-point scale of functional level for those with limb loss. The purpose of this systematic literature review …

Habits For Health: A Holistic Approach To Women's Well-Being, Katelyn Helms

OTD Capstone Projects

The New Beginnings Center is a nonprofit organization that offers a holistic approach to a healthy lifestyle including instruction regarding nutrition and exercise training. They offer a 12-week program for women of all backgrounds 18+ that empowers women through fitness and lifestyle changes. They have also recently started a program called Iron souls which offers the same education and empowerment for teenagers. The objective for this project was to provide the most updated review of literature regarding the interrelationship between hormones and health. This included how reproductive hormones influenced energy levels, losing weight, and building muscle. Additionally, the relationship between …

Postsecondary Education Curriculum For Adult Students With Idd At Lipscomb University's Ideal, Rebecca Gracey

OTD Capstone Projects

Igniting the Dream of Education and Access at Lipscomb (IDEAL) is a postsecondary education program for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Nashville, TN. Students enroll in both traditional university courses and IDEAL courses teaching employment and independent living skills. This project focused on developing curriculum for two upcoming courses as IDEAL grows from a two-year program to a four-year program. Resources were created to develop 12-week curriculums with a focus on independent living skills and employment soft skills to be implemented in the Fall 2023 semester. Each curriculum includes multiple teaching strategies to meet the learning …

Tech 4 Kids: Increasing Opportunities For Children With Disabilities To Explore Technical Theatre Arts, Kaitlyn Allemand, Angela Blackwell, Erik Pérez

Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

This poster presentation is about a four-week program for children with disabilities named Tech 4 Kids. The program focused on expanding opportunities for a creative outlet and improving participants' self-competence, creativity, well-being, and social-emotional skills through activities surrounding the stage, set, lighting, props, and costuming.

Supporting Black Mothers In Health Management Occupations During Prenatal Care: An Online Resource For Occupational Therapists, Aminee Alexander, Mary Smith, Diamond Rashad

Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Black women are disproportionately affected by high maternal morbidity and mortality rates, impacting their ability to perform their role as mothers. Research has shown that close to half of these maternal morbidity and mortality events are preventable, demonstrating that care that employs prevention strategies and supports self-management of conditions is beneficial to lowering the rate at which these events occur. Although maternal health (MH) is an emerging area of practice for the profession, occupational therapists (OTs) are well equipped to provide preventative care to expectant mothers and assist in providing care that can aid in lowering the maternal morbidity and …

Occupational Therapist Perception And Utilization Of Occupation-Based Evaluation And Assessment With Children And Youth With Asd., Zalome Restrepo, Pam Kasyan-Howe, Kristin Domville, Kristina Hartsook

Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Children with ASD participate less in ADLs & IADLs than typically developing children(Travers et al.,2022). The problem is a gap between the known occupation-based assessments and utilization of the assessments by occupational therapists treating children and youth with ASD (Manee et al., 2020; Luna, 2019). This gap results in decreased activity participation diversity for the child and decreased ability for the occupational therapists to evidence effectiveness of occupation-based services (Manee et al., 2020; Luna, 2019). The purpose of this quantitative type of capstone project is to analyze occupational therapists who treat children and youth with ASD to determine the utilization …

Sleep Disturbances And Children: An Occupation-Based Program For Parents And Caregivers Of Children With Spastic Cerebral Palsy, Katelyn Godoy, Pamela Kasyan-Howe, Kristin Domville, Marcia Hamilton

Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Parents of children with spastic cerebral palsy have barriers to improve their child's quality of life and well-being due to a lack of knowledge regarding the benefits of sleep and rest, as well as the potential causes of sleep disturbances and home-based solutions. The problem is that there is a lack of occupation-based programs for parents that address sleep regulation to improve sleep participation for children with spastic cerebral palsy, which results in difficulties with sleep initiation and maintenance of sleep (Hulst et al. 2020, Löwing et al., 2020, Petersen et al. 2020). The purpose of this program development type …

Maximal Isometric And Eccentric Strength Are Associated With Depth And Countermovement Jump Performance, Joonsun Park

Student Research Symposium

PURPOSE: To evaluate for statistical association between lower extremity, multi-joint maximal isometric and eccentric strength and vertical ground reaction force (GRF) measures derived from the performance of the depth jump (DJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ).

METHOD: Twenty-five college aged students performed three effort DJs from a height of 0.3 meters and three maximal effort CMJs. For both the DJ and CMJ trials, 15 measures of jump performance were estimated from time-series GRF data acquired using a tri-axial force platform. Participants then completed assessments of maximal isometric strength (MIS; dominant leg) and maximal eccentric strength (MES). MIS and MES were assessed …

Support For Saint Paul Police Federation’S Retirees, Kaitlin E. Johnson

OTD Capstone Projects

This capstone project was completed at the Saint Paul Police Federation in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Federation represents all sworn officers, excluding the chiefs at the Saint Paul Police Department, and Saint Paul emergency communications professionals at the Ramsey County Emergency Communications Center. This project was focused on increasing the support provided to the retiring and the retired police officers by improving accessibility to the information needed to make educated and informed decisions throughout the retirement process and then afterwards. The website was developed and published so that retirees and active members can easily access to this information, which is …

Philippine Physical Therapy Association Convention 2022 Plenary Session 3 Keynote Address, Cheryl Peralta

Philippine Journal of Physical Therapy

No abstract provided.

A Working Taxonomy For Describing The Sensory Differences Of Autism, Jason L He, Zachary J Williams, Ashley Harris, Helen Powell, Roseann C. Schaaf, Teresa Tavassoli, Nicolaas A J Puts

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

Background: Individuals on the autism spectrum have been long described to process sensory information differently than neurotypical individuals. While much effort has been leveraged towards characterizing and investigating the neurobiology underlying the sensory differences of autism, there has been a notable lack of consistency in the terms being used to describe the nature of those differences.

Main body: We argue that inconsistent and interchangeable terminology-use when describing the sensory differences of autism has become problematic beyond mere pedantry and inconvenience. We begin by highlighting popular terms that are currently being used to describe the sensory differences of autism (e.g. "sensitivity", …

Nashville Dolphins Volunteer Training Development, Caitlin Barnickel

OTD Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone project was completed through a partnership with Nashville Dolphins. The Nashville Dolphins offer free swim lessons and swim team programs for children and adults with disabilities. They serve over 300 participants each season and the programs are entirely run by volunteers. The focus of this project was to identify current needs and develop more volunteer training resources. These resources incorporate; sensory processing strategies, behavior management techniques, visual schedule information, communication strategies, description of specific water properties, skill development tips, equipment recommendations, and general tips for teaching children with disabilities. Volunteers were provided with a resource guide and …

Building Resilience Through Pregnancy Utilizing Tools From Occupational Therapy And Yoga, Rachel Brown

OTD Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone project was completed through a partnership with Nurture Nashville, a local yoga and movement studio focused on promoting wellness and connection for pregnant and postpartum people throughout their journey in motherhood. The primary focus of this project was developing resources to promote resilience during the perinatal period by utilizing tools from both occupational therapy and yoga practice. Outcomes included the synthesis of research into a resilience toolkit, the creation and implementation of a 5-week yoga and sharing circle curriculum, and the re-establishment of a community-centered studio event titled “Meet the Doulas.”

The Impact Of Social Emotional Learning In Pre-Kindergarten Classrooms, Kendall C. Jackson

OTD Capstone Projects

The Impact of Social emotional learning supports in early childhood education. First Steps Inc. is both an outpatient clinic and childcare facility for children with and without special needs and medical conditions. This capstone project attempts to bridge the gap between the therapy team and education team by creating therapeutic supports to help implement and teach social emotional learning in the classroom.

Nashville Dolphins Program Development, Laura Graves

OTD Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone project was completed through a partnership with Nashville Dolphins. The Nashville Dolphins offer free swim lessons and swim team programs for children and adults with disabilities. The organization serves over 300 swimmers each season and the programs are entirely run by volunteers. The focus of this project was to develop programming resources to enhance the services offered by the Nashville Dolphins. Deliverables provided to the organization include an 8-week swim curriculum, color level guides, stroke checklists, and an equipment activity guide.

Spatial Characteristics Of Reactive Stepping Among People Living With Chronic Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury, Matthew G Heffernan, Jae Woung Lee, Katherine Chan, Janelle Unger, Susan Marzolini, Timothy N Welsh, Kei Masani, Kristin E Musselman

Physical Therapy Publications

Objective: Compare the spatial characteristics of reactive stepping between individuals with chronic motor incomplete spinal cord injuries (iSCI) and able-bodied (AB) individuals.

Design: Cross sectional.

Setting: Lyndhurst Centre.

Participants: Twelve individuals with iSCI (3 males, 53.6 ± 15.2 years old) and 11 age- and sex-matched AB individuals (3 males, 54.8 ± 14.0 years old).

Interventions: The Lean-and-Release test was used to elicit reactive stepping. A horizontal cable, attached at waist height, was released when 8-12% body weight was supported in a forward lean position. Participants underwent up to 10 Lean-and-Release trials in a session. Kinematic and …

Week 13: Promoting Occupational Balance During Trauma Healing Journey Post-Program Participation, Rachel Hicks

OTD Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone project was completed in a partnership with REBOOT Recovery, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting trauma healing through participation in faith-based, peer-led courses. The purpose of this project was to provide program participants with additional content to promote improved occupational performance as they continue into the next phase of the healing journey after completing the original 12-week courses. The project was given the title “Week 13” within the organization to illustrate its role in guiding members’ next steps in trauma healing. Content areas included rebuilding healthy routines, reclaiming restful sleep, conflict resolution in personal relationships, education on …