Occupational Therapy Commons^™

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. …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

Life Skills Guide For Supported Recovery For Individuals With Mental Health Conditions & Their Support Systems, Natalie Metzger

OTD Capstone Projects

The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Davidson County provides educational courses, support groups, and advocacy for individuals with mental health conditions and their support systems. This semester long project included advocacy for occupational therapy’s role in the mental health community, involvement in legislative events, and creation of a comprehensive recovery life skills guide for individuals who have been discharged from psychiatric hospitals. Specifically, this guide assisted them in directed recovery within the home and increased their participation in foundational skills.