Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

Increasing Self-Perceived Competence In Performing Independent Living Skills Among Unhoused Youth And Young Adults, Stacie M. Gomez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Purpose: The aim of this project is to determine if the development and implementation of an independent living skills workshop would improve the perceived competence of unhoused youth in performing independent living skills.Methods: The Casey Life Skills Short Assessment was used as a pre-test and post-test. It was found that unhoused young adults generally scored low on finding affordable housing, budgeting, banking skills, education training, and feeling a sense of pride in their lives. A four-week independent living skills program was designed and implemented, which included workshops focused on identified needs. The data was analyzed using a Paired Samples t-Test …

Nonpharmacological Pain Management Of Adult Patients In The Burn Unit: An Interdisciplinary Toolkit Through The Occupational Therapy Lens, Taylor Harrison-Merrill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Interdisciplinary care is the standard for individuals admitted to a burn unit, yet there is a lack of uniform education among different professionals regarding pain management (Kuhlmann & Tallman, 2022). Occupational therapists offer a unique and holistic lens to pain management by using nonpharmacological interventions to reduce patients’ perception of pain (American Burn Association, 2017; Nielson et al., 2022). The purpose of this quality improvement doctoral capstone was to apply this occupational lens in an educational toolkit designed for the interdisciplinary team that addressed nonpharmacological pain management for adults in the burn unit; effectively closing the knowledge gap across disciplines …

Increasing Foster Parent Awareness Of An Occupation-Based Approach To Child Well-Being, Taylar Hirte

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Foster parents are an integral part of the child welfare system. They provide temporary care to children who otherwise cannot stay in their homes. They are required to be state or county licensed and each licensing agency has their own requirements including varying hours of training. The literature indicates foster parents do not receive enough training to feel prepared and confident to care for children with increased mental health, behavioral, school-related, cognitive, and peer relationship challenges that foster children often experience (AOTA, 2017; Lotty et al., 2020; Paul-Ward et al., 2014; Smith, 2022).The purpose of the present capstone project was …

Perceived Usefulness, Ease Of Use, And Satisfaction Of A Swaddle Bathing Educational Guide Among Parents/Guardians Of Nicu Premature Infants, Makenzie Leigh Hogbin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The current availability of high-quality and comprehensive educational resources made available to parents and guardians with infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is limited in terms of content and provision. Additionally, there exists a plethora of information regarding the impact of the sensory environment on premature and critically ill infants as well as interventions to mitigate these effects that are not efficiently conveyed to their families. Previous research asserts that consistency with the application of sensory interventions with these infants bodes well for positive outcomes, leading one to believe that caregivers may benefit from learning these strategies so …

Effectiveness Of A Workshop For Improving Awareness And Identification Of Racial Microaggressions Among Occupational Therapy Faculty And Students, Hannah Kalegzabher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As a professor or student in occupational therapy (OT), an important role is advocating for students and clients. Taking action is important to practice and promote justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) within the profession. This quality improvement project aimed to determine the effectiveness of a racial microaggression workshop for OT, OT assistant (OTA) students, and faculty to improve awareness and ability to identify racial microaggressions to support Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). Participants were recruited by convenience sampling through email to members of the Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD) and COTAD-Educators (COTAD-ED). The workshop was …

Assistance Dog Considerations: A Lecture For Occupational Therapy Students, Kayla Kinney

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Assistance dogs can mitigate the effects of an individual’s disability. Occupational therapists consider the whole being when providing interventions through the individual’s meaningful occupations to improve health, well-being, and quality of life. Occupational therapists can make referrals or become a valuable team member for clients who wish to explore assistance dogs as an assistive technology option to improve physical, mental, and psychosocial considerations for increased independence in their clients. Few occupational therapy practitioners are educated about the benefits and disadvantages of the partnership between assistance dog and handler. Therefore, they are unable to adequately recommend assistance dogs for their clients, …

Creating A Web Resource On Sense Of Belonging For Underrepresented Occupational Therapy Students In Graduate Programs, Owen Uyiosa Lawani

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Underrepresented students (URS) in graduate occupational therapy (OT) programs often struggle with a sense of not belonging due to a lack of representation in their cohort and curriculum. This has been evident among students who are from racial/ethnic backgrounds, first-generation college students (FGCS), and have had low-income experiences. Research has shown that a sense of belonging (SB) is important for URS' ability to cope with everyday stressors in higher education.This capstone project focused on developing a web-based resource addressing the perceived SB among URS in graduate OT programs. Data was collected from participants at the University of Nevada Las Vegas …

A Pilot Program To Inform High School Students About Allied Healthcare Professions, Nhu Mac

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The literature revealed the lack of diversity in the workforce, limited recruiting and retention methods, and lack of exposure to these professions as the contributions to the shortage and demand for the profession of occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech- language pathology (SLP). As a result, the fourteen-week program to inform high school students about OT, PT, and SLP roles in the community and public health was implemented at Desert Pines High School in Clark County School District (CCSD) to see if it would influence their perceived attitudes, knowledge, beliefs, and the likelihood of pursuing these careers. Using …

Increasing Occupational Therapy Practitioners’ And Students’ Perceived Self-Confidence And Knowledge In Pelvic Floor Disorders Specifically In Stress Urinary Incontinence, Sarah L. Pond

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This quality improvement project used a pre-and post-survey to explore the effectiveness of an online learning module and determine if the approach increased occupation therapy practitioners' and occupational therapy students' perceived self-confidence and knowledge in pelvic floor therapy.The course was a pre-recorded module launched on Teachable. Participants were recruited through an online flyer posted on social media and email. The online module was open for 27 days, with 130 respondents in the pre-assessment and 99 who completed the module and the post-assessment. The use of an open-ended question was used to obtain qualitative data regarding the online course. The online …

Independent Living Skills Training For Individuals With Serious Mental Illness Through Program Development And Grant Writing, Bianca Rideout

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Serious mental illnesses can affect an individual’s level of independence. Oftentimes, individuals with such mental illnesses require assistance from a family member or paid caregiver to live in the community successfully. Occupational therapists work with people across the lifespan to improve an individual’s independence and overall well-being through meaningful occupations. Activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) are both comprised of tasks that are often completed by a person on a regular basis. Occupational therapists habilitate and rehabilitate people to be able to complete ADLs and IADLs as independently as possible. Many ADLs and IADLs …

Exploration Of Occupational Therapy Program Development Through Nih Grant Writing, Larissa Silcox

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There is a gap in current literature which describes the effects of yoga-based exercise on the physical health, mental health, and well-being among adults with Down syndrome (Ds). In addition, there is limited research available which describes the impact these effects may have on participation in everyday occupations. Individuals with Ds are living longer lives and will require evidence-based occupational therapy (OT) interventions to ensure healthy growth, development across the lifespan, and ability to participate in meaningful occupations as they age. The current project explores the process of writing a National Institutes of Health R03 grant application that includes a …

Yoga As An Occupational Therapy Intervention For Inpatient Rehabilitation, Sydney Sladek

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this capstone project was to develop and determine if an adapted and individualized yoga-based program can support and have an impact on patients’ physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and improve patients’ perceptions of recovery at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Henderson. This was a project focused on quality improvement, focused on the ACOTE focus area of clinical program development in which the student developed and tested outcomes of an occupational therapy (OT) program in a clinical setting. The research design was a quality improvement design with pre and post-measures. Five patients participated in the program one …

Implementing The Use Of Lesson Plan Templates Within The Mentorship Program For Dignity Health Hand Therapists, Ronell Matthew Sueno

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Occupational therapists (OT) have a wide range of specialties following graduation, one of which is hand therapy. This specialty requires a certain level of knowledge and clinical reasoning, especially concerning hand anatomy and physiology. It is hard to transition into hand therapy as a new occupational therapist due to extensive knowledge, additional patient-care hours, specialty certifications require, and lack of opportunity. A smoother transition into the workforce can be achieved through mentorship programs that allow for meetings with mentors to ask questions and get clarification on different treatments and diagnoses. This quality improvement project focused on gaining perspectives of hand …

Exploring The Usefulness Of The Alert Program On Children With Developmental Delays Or Disabilities At Positively Kids, Ashley Cassandra Manabat Tolentino

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This quality improvement project explored the implementation of the Alert Program's (AP) first and second phases within the Foundation for Positively Kids social skills program, PK Social ETC. This study focused on three staff members' perception of the Alert Program's usefulness on their clients' self-regulation skills and occupational participation when engaged in their daily social skills group. The Alert Program was delivered through weekly education sessions for the staff, followed by two groups involving the children to provide visual demonstrations for the staff over eight weeks. Data was collected through a pre- and post-survey using a Qualtrics survey to capture …

A Kinesio Tape ® Protocol To Improve Postural Stability And Mouth Closure For Feeding And Eating In Children With Cerebral Palsy, Ariana Naomi Valdez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Kinesio tape ® (KT) has been used in the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy (CP) due to its ability to increase sensory input, normalize muscle tone, improve postural stability, and improve range of motion (ROM). KT can be applied and left on the skin for multiple days, allowing the tape to simulate the effects of manual therapy techniques outside of the outpatient setting. However, its use within occupational therapy (OT) to address the occupations of feeding and eating is limited, despite it being an effective treatment method when used in conjunction with traditional OT. Gaps in research limit occupational …

An Adolescent Concussion Management Toolkit For Occupational Therapists, Coby Yoshimura

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The aim of this project was to demonstrate the role occupational therapists may serve during concussion recovery, by integrating current research and findings into an instructional resource from an occupational therapy (OT) lens. An OT-based toolkit was created to prioritize the identification, assessment, and treatment of two realms of concussion management: functional cognition and vision. The development of a pre and post survey using a modified version of the Generalized Self-Efficacy (GSE) scale was used to determine occupational therapists’ perceived self-efficacy before and after reviewing the created OT-based toolkit. A related samples Wilcoxon signed rank-test was used to analyze pre …

Exploring Relationships And Intimacy With Adults With Intellectual And/Or Developmental Disabilities (I/Dd), Gabrielle Kennedy, Jazminne Orozco Arteaga, Thais Petrocelli

Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

This capstone project, Exploring Relationships and Intimacy with Adults with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (I/DD), was completed by a Doctor of Occupational Therapy candidate at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. The purpose of the project is to increase adults with I/DD's access to intimate partner relationships, sexual expression, and occupations related to intimacy by providing adaptive, community-centered, and meaningful resources.

The current occupational deprivation that the population experiences surrounding intimacy, sexual expression, and intimate partner relationships must be addressed to improve the population’s overall quality of life, health, and well-being. This project aims to inspire and …

The Importance Of Mood And Motivation Of An Individual In The Success Of Physical Therapy, Spencer Wagner

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Physical therapy is a health profession that helps people improve their movement and range of motion in certain body areas. Since the time it was founded, physical therapists have mainly focused on the physical health of the patient. While that is their job, they may not have been as successful because they neglected the mental health of the patient. The mindset of an individual, particularly their mood and motivation, can influence how they progress through physical therapy and how successful they are in regaining functionality in their affected body area. The purpose of this study is to determine how the …

Neonatal Therapists' Perceptions Of Using Integrated Collaborative Care In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Sarah J. Elkington

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Occupational therapists (OTs), physical therapists (PTs), and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who have advanced clinical knowledge in gestational and infant development can work in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) as neonatal therapists (NTs). NTs apply their developmental expertise, therapeutic use of self, and client-centered training to create individualized goals for infants and families amid a complex, critical care medical setting. Each discipline (OT, PT, and SLP) brings a unique professional perspective and their own empirical knowledge to the NICU. Researchers have made efforts to capture work trends of NTs as they relate to direct patient care; however, researchers have also recognized …

Kids And Canines: Pawsitively Impacting Occupational Therapy Outcomes, Jessica M. Simon

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentations

Within the scope of pediatric occupational therapy, Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a new and emerging area of practice that has shown to have a positive impact in its use with pediatric clients specifically. AAT is formally defined as, “a form of therapy that includes the presence of and/or interaction with an animal to facilitate progress toward some therapeutic goal” (Hardy & Weston, 2020, p. 197). Through the completion of this Capstone, the student aimed to develop in-depth clinical practice skills related to using AAT within pediatric occupational therapy, develop professional leadership skills, and contribute meaningful research regarding the benefits of …