Occupational Therapy Commons^™

The Benefits Of An Educational Resource For Swim Instructors To Promote Inclusive Swimming, Ailien Nguyenly, Susan Macdermott, Karen Park, Becki Cohill

Spring 2021 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The purpose of this capstone project was to develop a training program for swim instructors to better interact with individuals with disabilities before, during, and after swim lessons. However, due to the current pandemic, an online educational resource was created instead.

The educational resource utilized an occupational therapy approach to meet swim instructors' identified needs to work with individuals with disabilities. The e-book was intended to lay a foundation of basic knowledge of conditions, resources, tools, adaptations and provide support to shape swim lessons around individual needs.

A qualitative research study was conducted to assess the effectiveness and usefulness of …

Culture And Occupational Therapy, Kaitlyn Domingo, Becki Cohill, Susan Macdermott, Karen Park

Spring 2021 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The purpose of this capstone project was to develop a cultural intelligence program for occupational therapy practitioners (OTP[s]). However, due to the results of the project’s research component, this capstone shifted to addressing a potential need for a global shift in the occupational therapy (OT) process and diversifying the content and dissemination of cultural training courses.

A mixed-methods survey was conducted to assess 45 OTPs’ confidence levels with delivering culturally intelligent care, their means of overcoming cultural barriers in clinical practice, and to collect anecdotes on the process of becoming a culturally intelligent practitioner.

Four primary research themes are developed …

Defining A Role For Occupational Therapy In The Transition From The Military To Academia: A Scoping Review, Elizabeth Cifuentes, Steven M. Gerardi

Spring 2021 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

There is a paucity of literature on the role of OT for veterans in transition to school, and the literature that is available has not been systematically reviewed. This makes it difficult for OT practitioners to address the needs of veterans in transition from military service to school.

This scoping review was conducted to answer the question, “What is currently being done to address the transition of veterans from military service to academia and are within the scope of practice of occupational therapy?” An in-depth search of the literature was completed, and it was confirmed that there is no literature …

Culminating Capstone Project: Development Of An Experiential Learning Framework For Graduate Occupational Therapy Students, Daniel S. Pereira

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The following capstone project was completed within an educational setting, consisting of education and program development focus areas. The objective was to construct a framework outlining standards and protocols required to implement an experiential learning program. The experiential learning framework would be adaptable to ensure efficacy among various intervention courses. Entry-level doctor of occupational therapy students at Nova Southeastern University were surveyed and identified a desire for experiential learning. Experiential learning for occupational therapy students improved evaluation skills, critical thinking, and inductive and deductive reasoning (Coker, 2009; Doucet & Seale, 2012). Furthermore, experiential learning for occupational therapy students improved student …

Creating Bridges Of Interprofessional Education: Opportunities For Collaborating Across Multiple Disciplines And Campuses, Norman Cadiz Belleza, Jim Mathews, Leiselle Pilgrim, Kaitlyn Cremer, Maureen Johnson, Elisabeth Mcgee, Evan Pucillo, Kathy Wheat, Vibhor Agrawal

Education Collection

Introduction and Purpose: The purpose of this special interest report is to discuss strategies used by to integrate simulation activities across multiple campuses and programs to foster inter- and intra-professional education. Inter-professional (IP) simulations were done between multiple campuses of a large scale, multi-state, health science university. These simulations utilized Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD), Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), and Master of Science Speech/Language Pathology (MS-SLP) students and faculty. IP simulations involved DPT students and faculty from the health sciences university in one state and physical therapist assistant (PTA) students and faculty from a different university in that same …

Self-Efficacy Of Professionalism: Online Modules To Improve Implementation On Level Ii Fieldwork, Leigh Leonard, Otd, Ms, Otr/L

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

Professionalism is a fundamental component of occupational therapy. The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) has many official documents that reference professionalism including the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics, Standards for Continuing Competence, Standards of Practice for Occupational Therapy, and the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process, 4th ed. There are high professional expectations of occupational therapy students, however, the definition of professional behaviors varies among fieldwork educators, faculty, and occupational therapy students. The literature revealed four themes of professionalism that were consistent across all stakeholders. Online education has increasingly become the norm for many programs and there is strong …

Program Evaluation Exploring Effectiveness Of Experiential Learning Activities On Transition To Practice In An Occupational Therapy Educational Program, Kari M. Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods program evaluation sought to determine the current curriculum’s overall effectiveness in relation to student readiness for fieldwork. The use of teaching practices in this occupational therapy curriculum was evaluated to determine if they support a successful transition to professional practice. Qualitative data was collected through semistructured interviews to ascertain student satisfaction with the educational program, student readiness for fieldwork, and the student perception of the educational program’s mission. Semistructured interviews were also used to gain insight from fieldwork educators regarding student readiness for practice and the effect of the program mission on student performance. Quantitative data was …

Autoethnographies Of Reading As An Occupation, Catherine Candler, Randa Mikeska, Kendall Lacy, Nancy Elliott, Audrey Huddleston

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: The conceptualization of reading as an occupation is an emerging area, and guides for occupational focus in reading intervention are incompletely formed. We explored our own experiences with reading and awareness of reading as a personal occupation for perspectives to inform our practice.

Methods: We used autoethnography to capture our five separate experiences. These experiences were analyzed collectively for themes using the lens of occupation as framed by the model of occupational adaptation.

Results: Across our experiences, occupational patterns, products, and meaning were identified. Themes in patterns of reading highlighted the challenges of the academic setting …

Social Participation In College Students With Chronic Pain, Karen Mccarthy, Megan Chamberlain, Megan Chinn, Jennifer Pineda, Camille Santiago, Jamie Spitzer, Patricia Tran

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: College students with invisible disabilities, including chronic pain, often experience difficulty engaging in social occupations, both on and off campus, because of stigma, misconceptions, or social exclusion. Previous research has examined the use of academic accommodations to address these concerns or focused on the physical barriers to participation, failing to address the psychosocial and holistic impact of pain. Chronic pain can affect a variety of occupations, including social participation, which is a significant occupation for college students. This research explores the lived experience of chronic pain for college students and the impact of pain on social participation from …

Effectiveness Of Collaborative Handwriting Curriculum: Handwriting Without Tears And Orton-Gillingham, In Kindergarten Classroom Setting., Merry G. Harper

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Background: Formal handwriting instruction, using evidence-based, developmentally appropriate handwriting programming, in school based occupational therapy is necessary to support the role of a student. Handwriting is an occupation of children in the school environment. Without formal handwriting instruction in place there is evidence to support occupational therapy intervention providing a handwriting program can improve handwriting success.

Purpose: The purpose of this research study is to determine the clinical efficacy of a hybrid approach to handwriting instruction pairing the Handwriting Without Tears and Orton-Gillingham instructional programming for prewriting and handwriting skills in the kindergarten population. The research question addressed is: Will …

Do Learning And Study Strategies Predict Success In Hybrid-Online Physical And Occupational Therapist Education?, Evan M. Pucillo, Ellen Lowrie Black

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: An understanding of the learning strategies most accurately predictive of success has become increasingly important as health professional education programs scale the utilization of online learning in the wake of COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive relationship between The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) and cumulative professional GPA (cpGPA) in hybrid-online physical (PT) and occupational therapist (OT) education. Methods: A convenience sample collected N=149 entry-level PT and OT students from three campuses across Florida, Texas, and California. A total N(%) of 89(59.7%) PT and 60(40.3%) OT students were included for analysis [48(32.2%) male; …

Understanding Parent Beliefs And Attitudes Regarding Healthy Relationships And Sexuality Education: Bridging The Inclusivity Gap, Marie C. Zarrilli

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Children, adolescents, and young adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) are often excluded from receiving Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), even though they are at increased vulnerability for sexual abuse and exploitation. Although some curricula are emerging that are adapted for individuals with IDD, rigorous effectiveness studies are sparse. The purpose of this capstone project was to empirically explore the beliefs, attitudes, and comfort level of parents with sexuality education program types and content regarding their own parent/child communication and the need for training and resources. This capstone project used a quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive survey design. The survey consisted of …

Get The Wiggles Out: Sensory Paths A Motor-Based Intervention To Decrease Out-Of-Seat Events In Preschool Children With Special Needs., Teresa Ludwig

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Sensory Paths are sensory motor-based interventions that will provide opportunities for teachers to incorporate structured movement into the natural classroom routine, such as before circle time, to help the children in their classes be ready for learning by increasing attention and decreasing out of seat events.

This single subject A-B-A design project, rooted in the Ecology of Human Performance framework, explored providing structured sensory motor-based opportunities prior to circle time throughout the classroom day to decrease interfering behaviors in the classroom, such as out of seat behaviors and improve attention during circle time.

The results indicate that the Sensory Paths …

Parental Educational And Engagement Through Positioning And Play, Gaile E. Seay

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Background: This project is to increase the confidence of parents/caregivers via education about their infants that may not otherwise be provided by other health care professionals. This project also provides early intervention to the infants in efforts to facilitate their maximum development through proper positioning for sleeping and play. Purpose: The purpose of this project was a parental education class for parents/primary caregivers of babies ages 0-6 months. They were educated about their child’s development, and how to engage their baby through play and positioning for optimal cognitive, communication, and social-emotional development. This class and project sought to enhance parents’ …

An Interprofessional Learning Experience With Occupational Therapy Assistant And Physical Therapist Assistant Students Through A Simulated Educational Environment, Brooke Gentry

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study is to explore if occupational therapy assistant students demonstrate increased perceived confidence and communication skills. This was completed through interprofessional interactions during a simulated lab-based case with physical therapist assistant students. The perceived confidence and communication are measured through a pre and post survey using the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS). Each student completed the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS) pretest prior to the event. The students underwent an educational lecture, lab demonstrations, and training for the performance of the practical application. The students participated in a simulated patient experience of …

Examining Cognitive, Social And Teaching Presence In A Virtual Professional Continuing Education Workshop, Christina Bretz

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Background: Due to COVID 19, there has been an increase in opportunities for online learning due to the reduction of in-person trainings. As occupational therapist practitioners, we have a responsibility to complete our professional continuing education and maintain our skills proficiently, whether those trainings are in-person or virtually. Therefore, the effectiveness and quality of professional training should not decrease when the delivery system is switched from in person to online.

Purpose: This study addressed professional continuing education for occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, and Pre-K thru 5th grade teachers in a virtual environment. The primary purpose of this study was …

Occupational Therapist’S Role In Addressing Transition Support Through Life Skills, Rupa Parikh

Student Capstone Papers

The transition period from high school to postsecondary education has been shown to be a difficult time for youth, especially those with disabilities. The use of occupational therapists in transition services can positively affect a student's ability to attend postsecondary education. Guidance and support are necessary to teach these individuals life skills needed for future success in the transition to postsecondary education. This capstone project aims to assess the needs of students at the Winston school to identify occupational limitations in the area of life skills. Through identification of problem areas, a detailed program was created and implemented to meet …

The Impact Of The Sensory Form On Confidence And Competence In Occupational Therapy Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study, Elisabeth Michail, Caroline J. Mills, Kristy Coxon

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The Sensory Form is a new assessment and intervention planning tool utilized with occupational therapy students to teach and guide their professional reasoning amidst limited evidence. This study aimed to determine the impact of the use of The Sensory Form on student competence and confidence in assessment and intervention planning for children with atypical sensory processing (ASP). A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 84 third-year undergraduate occupational therapy students from a large multi-campus university in New South Wales, Australia. Tutorial classes were allocated to The Sensory Form or usual teaching conditions. Participants completed pre-class and post-class self-reported confidence rating scales …

Kinesthetic Learners During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Occupational Therapy Students’ Perspective On E-Learning, Michael Stamm, Kailey Francetic, Regina Reilly, Angela Tharp, Nicole Thompson, Ryleigh Weidenhamer

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The purpose of the study was to understand the perspective of kinesthetic learners in an online learning environment. A Microsoft Forms survey was created and distributed to the sample population using the university electronic mailing list. If self-identified as kinesthetic learners, subjects were asked to participate in a semi-structured focus group. Twenty-six subjects responded to the survey, with 73% (n=19) identifying as kinesthetic learners. Quantitative results showed subjects felt most confident in content comprehension but less confident in clinical application. Qualitative data collection led to emergence of the following four themes—advantages, disadvantages, accommodations to e-learning, and external factors. …

Teaching Clinical Skills Online: Techniques, Student Feedback, And Lesson Learned, Kathleen Eglseder, Amanda Littleton

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The use of online education has long been used in occupational therapy for both post professional and continuing education. In entry level programs, however, strict online education is not common due to the intensive clinical skills that the students must obtain. These are typically taught in lab format with consistent practice and faculty feedback. Due to the COVID 19 epidemic, many universities were forced to make a rapid transition to online learning with little preparatory time. While it is believed that many courses were conducive to this change in format, instructors of clinical skills courses were forced to identify creative …

Use Of A Webinar To Assess Fieldwork Educator Readiness To Provide Occupational Therapy Services And Supervise Students Through Telehealth, Jennifer A. Calabrese, Jeanne M. Coviello, Anna Y. Grasso, Kelly A. Otchet, Erica A. Pugh, Mary Beth Thomas, Bridget Trivinia

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, many school-based occupational therapy practitioners experienced intensified job demands including a rapid shift to telehealth service delivery. Additionally, academic fieldwork coordinators sought to find effective methods of delivering fieldwork education and supporting those involved, including the occupational therapy fieldwork educators and students, as they navigated the new context imposed by the pandemic. A study was completed using a synchronous webinar format and post-webinar survey to explore school-based occupational therapy practitioners’ perceptions of readiness to provide occupational therapy services through telehealth, the perception of preparedness of potential, current, and …

Evaluation Of An On-Campus Program Bridging The Theory-Practice Gap In Occupational Therapy Education: Student Perspective, Homa Zahedi, Sarah-Jayne Rowe

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The transfer of learning from an academic setting to fieldwork and vice versa is not straightforward and occupational therapy students often report this as challenging. In acknowledgement of this, the fieldwork placement learning structure within the Bachelor and Master occupational therapy entry-level programs at a higher education institute was redesigned to enhance links between taught content at university and fieldwork placement. The aim of this study was to explore occupational therapy students’ perspectives of this new educational initiative. The students attended university for a set number of days over the course of their first and second fieldwork placements. The sessions …

Occupation-Focused Learning And Personal Development Through Service-Learning, Sarah Quinn, Katie Cremin

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Experiential learning is not without its challenges. Following a pilot examination of student feedback on practical and learning difficulties they encountered, students’ experiences of their occupation-focused, service-learning module was systematically explored using a case study design. Concurrent mixed methods were employed to collect data with emphasis on qualitative data gathered through weekly, guided reflective journals and online forums. Students were also surveyed pre and post module to validate data on their experiences regarding their concerns, perceived learning, and evaluation of the module. Four themes were identified. These related to students’ increased understanding of the use and value of occupation; their …

Using Metacognitive Training With Kinesiology Students, Christina Davlin-Pater, Leah S. Dunn, Roy Bower, William Cipolli, Sara Biddle

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

As future healthcare practitioners, kinesiology students must become expert learners who choose strategies resulting in deep and durable learning. Metacognitive instruction goes beyond the use of study skills as it focuses on student reflection and evaluation of their learning success, and ultimately establishes effective learning skills, a requirement for professional practice. To examine if an intervention in a kinesiology course affected metacognitive awareness and use of metacognitive strategies, a quasi-experimental research design utilized a convenience sample of 89 upper division undergraduate occupational therapy students and master’s level athletic training students enrolled in kinesiology courses. Using an online survey including the …

The Development Of Theory- And Evidence-Based Educational Workshops For Occupational Therapists, Sungha Kim, Rebecca E. Gewurtz, Ilana Bayer, Nadine Larivière, Lori Letts

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The Do-Live-Well (DLW) framework is a health promotion approach developed by Canadian occupational therapists (OTs). As the DLW framework is relatively new, it has not been widely adopted by OTs. In order to facilitate OTs to incorporate the DLW concepts in their practice, there should be more learning opportunities, and online and in-person workshops have been chosen to be a specific interest of this study. The purpose of this project was to develop theory- and evidence-based in-person and online educational workshops for OTs as a pre-implementation study to increase the knowledge of the DLW framework among OTs. In order to …

Interprofessional Reflective Journals: Content Themes And Self-Regulated Learning, Joan M. Tunningley

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Self-reflection has been linked with clinical reasoning, academic, and clinical outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine self-reflective journal entries from thirty students for interprofessional core competencies and for self-regulated learning components. The text data was analyzed using an in-depth three cycle coding process, thoroughly described in the methods. The findings were structured into two themes confirming interprofessional content learning: collaboration, team, and communication; and respect and roles. One additional theme emerged, transformation and relatedness, which indicated self-regulated learning components as well as supporting transformative learning. This qualitative case-study contributed to the research of occupational therapy students’ self-reflection …

Interprofessional Education And Collaborative Competency Development: A Realist Evaluation, Rabina Raveendrakumar, Salihah Faroze, David Rojas, Sylvia Langlois

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Collaboration among healthcare professionals has been widely cited as critical in ensuring optimal and efficient client care. To foster the development of this interprofessional competency in healthcare graduates, the University of Toronto created an Interprofessional Education (IPE) curriculum. However, the means by which the IPE curriculum developed interprofessional collaborative competencies in occupational therapy (OT) graduates had not been explored. The study identified the mechanisms and outcomes of University of Toronto’s IPE curriculum that contributed to OT graduates’ collaborative competency development. This study also identified the contexts in which this development occurred, and why such patterns were observed. This study employed …

Establishing Inter-Rater Reliability Of The Occupation-Centered Intervention Assessment For Student Observation Of Rehabilitation Interventions, Vanessa D. Jewell, Joy Burkley, Taylor Wienkes, Ted K. Kaufman

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The Occupation-Centered Intervention Assessment (OCIA) is a tool designed to capture and rank occupational therapy interventions through an occupational lens to improve occupational therapy students’ professional reasoning skills. The purpose of this study was to determine the inter-rater reliability of the OCIA for occupational therapy interventions provided to adults with physical rehabilitation needs as observed by occupational therapy students. Utilizing a methodological research approach, 111 students completed training for application of the OCIA and independently scored five standardized videos of occupational therapy interventions. Results indicated an overall agreement of α=0.856 using Krippendorff’s alpha. Student raters demonstrated good agreement for rating …

Tacit To Explicit Knowledge Transfer In A University Health Care Program: Use Of Student-Professor And Professor-Professor Collaboration, Geela Spira, Allen S. Keener

Pedagogicon Conference Proceedings

Student feedback indicated difficulty applying Occupational Therapy values such as “participation in meaningful occupations” into clinical interventions. Two instructors of a components-based course and a theory course collaborated to link practical OT interventions to conceptual OT models. Use of a model for transfer of tacit knowledge was utilized. Each instructor kept a reflective diary. An iterative process for a semester attempted to transfer learned explicit knowledge into an integrated intuitive ‘art of the therapy’ which incorporated Occupational Science core concepts. Worksheets were developed to make the pathway more explicit. By semester’s end, students completed a comprehensive plan for client care.

Is Compressed And Limited Synchronous Delivery Of Anatomy Content In A Hybrid Delivery Format Effective In Transitional Ot Student Learning?, Reivian Berrios Barillas, Kathy J. Lemley

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Hybrid occupational therapy (OT) students transitioning from certified OT assistants (COTAs) to OTs can successfully learn graduate-level anatomy in a compressed format with limited synchronous instruction time. The effectiveness of a human anatomy course with limited synchronous instruction time for transitional hybrid occupational therapy students was investigated. A retrospective, non-randomized study was used. A university graduate level human anatomy course for transitional OT students used prosected (previously dissected) cadavers. Students (n=46, 32 instruction hours over 16 weeks) final anatomy course grades for three cohorts were measured retrospectively. There was a 98% first-time pass rate and 100% second time …