Fall 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

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  Three-Dimensional Printing in Occupational Therapy: An Instructional Video Series

  Toye Adefioye, Steven M. Gerardi, and Christopher Ebner

  The three-dimensional printing instructional video series was created for occupational therapy practitioners on how to use 3D printers to print assistive devices.

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  Bridging the Gap from New Graduate to Practicing Occupational Therapist: An Educational Resource in Orthopedics

  Rachel Carlson, Helen Carey, Kaylee Munch, and Lisa Choe

  OT is pivotal in the rehabilitation and recovery of individuals with orthopedic conditions (Nelson, 2010). However, as a new graduate occupational therapist, there is limited support as they make the transition to clinical practice (Turpin et al., 2021). New graduates receive support through professional mentorship and peer support but are often focused on the safe practice of basic skills rather than on best practices (Opoku et al., 2021). New graduates would feel more confident in clinical judgment and decision-making with additional support from mentors and accessible up-to-date resources (Adam et al., 2013). Purpose: Develop an accessible resource for new occupational therapists entering the orthopedic setting.

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  Establishing A Transformative Social Emotional Learning Evaluation Plan to Support All Students within a Targeted School District

  Tia Coleman, Angela Blackwell, and Tiffany Lee

  Social and emotional learning (SEL) refers to the process through which individuals acquire social and emotional competencies (Geesa et al., 2022). This capstone project aimed to enhance education by developing a transformative SEL evaluation plan in a school district. The school district presented a commitment to fostering SEL but recognized the need for more targeted and transformative actions. This initiative arises from the acknowledgment that the existing SEL program did not meet the district's specific needs of inclusivity and equity, potentially impacting overall student performance, participation, and well-being. To address this gap, the district incorporated insights from occupational therapy practice to emphasize the significance of purposeful activities in promoting student well-being. This collaborative endeavor involved key stakeholders, students, teachers, and staff across different educational levels to address concerns and expectations related to the SEL program collectively. The overarching goal was to realign SEL practices with the district's objectives, fostering inclusivity and equity and creating an educational environment that is responsive, effective, and tailored to the unique needs of its student population.

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  Program Development of Incorporating Mindfulness-Based Practices within Pediatric Occupational Therapy

  Sarah Cottone, Zeida Gutierrez, and Katie O'Hara

  This capstone project will address the limited literature and provide treatment results on the effective use of mindfulness exercises in pediatric occupational therapy for improved self-regulation. Purpose: This program aims to educate the pediatric clinic on the benefits of mindfulness and to develop mindfulness-based exercises to implement within pediatric occupational therapy sessions for self-regulation treatments. The purpose of the mindfulness exercises was to show efficient, effective, and noninvasive approaches to regulate a child’s emotions and sensory system.

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  Advocating for the Role of Occupational Therapy in the Burn Population

  Jordan Faircloth and Keisa Boykin

  In 2018, around 450,000 individuals in the United States (U.S.) suffered from severe burn injuries (ABA, 2018). The largest burn center in the U.S. is the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital, located in Augusta, Georgia. This location is where the capstone experience was completed. Individuals who suffer from severe burns are at risk for developing contractures. Scar contractures can impact an individual during ADL participation, limiting their independence and causing a disruption in daily routine, habits, and roles (Oosterwijk et al., 2017). Five main components of scar management focus on compression gear, sun protection, appropriate positioning/splinting to prevent contractures, moisturization, and a lot of exercise and stretching (Hall et al., 2016). It takes two years for a scar to fully mature and no longer requires scar management (Kaur et al., 2023). “One of the most important rehabilitation interventions that can reduce the negative effects and consequences of severe burns is exercise programs” (Miri et al., 2022) Purpose: This capstone project aims to advocate for the role of occupational therapy (OT) within the burn population and educate patients, caregivers, and interdisciplinary members on the importance of OT in burn management. This capstone explored the role and importance of OT within the burn population while advocating and educating on the importance of scar management to increase the quality of life (QoL) and activities of daily living (ADLs) participation.

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  Building Resilience to Treat Trauma and Improve Social Participation with Youth in Foster Care

  Rachel Greene, Keisa Boykin, and Dana Madalon

  Childhood trauma is classified by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that caused the trauma. An ACE is a traumatic event that an individual has observed from birth to 18 years old (Atchison & Suarez, 2021). ACEs include but are not limited to physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and neglect. ACEs also include household dysfunctions such as domestic violence, divorce, incarceration of family, substance abuse, food scarcity, poverty, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Building resilience promotes healthy coping skills, the ability to trust and engage with support systems, and the prevention of retraumatization (Bethell et al., 2017). Trauma and resiliency are invertedly related, as resilience increases, the impacts of trauma decrease. Youth in foster care who engage in resiliency programs will build resiliency programs will build resiliency together to increase outcomes, create support systems, and improve social participation. Purpose: An occupational therapy group program for youth can work to build resiliency in a client-centered manner to prevent retraumatization and increase occupational performance.

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  Applying Occupation-Centered Coaching for Caregivers of Children with Disabilities

  Ali S. Gregory; Mary A. Smith PhD, OTR/L; and Mary E. Godman OTD, MS

  Statement of the problem: Caregivers of children with disabilities (CWD) experience stress, mental health conditions, sleep disruption, and fatigue leading to decreased occupational engagement and family community participation.

  Purpose Statement: This project applied Occupation-Centered Coaching with a family-centered approach to promote caregiver empowerment, advocacy for mental health services, and family community participation.

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  Implementing Trauma-Informed Care Across All Occupational Therapy Settings

  Scout Hutchinson, Kristin Domville, and Pam Kasyan-Howe

  A quantitative research design was utilized to analyze the effectiveness of an educational seminar on trauma- informed disseminated to occupational therapy practitioners, determining their previous knowledge on trauma-informed care. The research conducted has provided a more comprehensive understanding of this population and where services are needed. There is still much work to be done with this topic and the cultural shift towards providing trauma sensitive resources to occupational therapy practitioners. The future of trauma-informed care being incorporated into occupational therapy practice settings is up to the motivation and heart of future occupational therapists in hopes to strengthen the resources offered to those battling psychological trauma everyday. Our hope now and forever is to leave individuals better than we found them, with the promise to continue research and application.

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  Analysis of Non-Kinship Foster Parent Training Needs and Their Support of Foster Youth: An Occupational Therapy Perspective

  Mackenzie King, Pam Kasyan-Howe, Kristin Domville, and Amy Paul-Ward

  This poster discusses the training needs of non-kinship foster parents and how they support the youth in their care. A quantitative survey was used to find relationships between experience fostering and foster parent preparedness or desire for additional training. The survey also included a section for participants to write down their training needs; themes from this question are found on the poster. The poster further discusses future recommendations and implications for OT practice in working with this population.

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  Advocating and Educating the Role of Occupational Therapy for Adaptive Swim Lessons Among Children with Autism

  Charlotte Leonard, Zeida Gutierrez, and Jon Edenfield

  Drowning is the number one cause of death for children ages 1-4 and the second leading cause of death for children ages 5-14 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2022). Children with autism are 160x more likely to drown than their neurotypical peers (Autism Society of Florida, n.d.). Many parents and caregivers put protective layers in place such as locks, gates, and fencing. However, children with autism are known to wander from safe spaces. According to the Autism Society of Florida (n.d.) children with autism are naturally drawn to water due to its ability to ease sensory needs. Brenner et al. (2009) state that swim lessons can reduce drownings by 88%. Purpose: The purpose of this capstone project was to promote and educate individuals on adaptive swim programs from the perspective of occupational therapy. This was accomplished by creating a comprehensive resource to address enrollment, layered protection, and financial burdens.

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  Accessing Outdoor Recreation for Persons with Physical Disabilities (PWPD)

  Molly Lindquist, Mary Smith, and Emily Brent

  To contribute to a website that would be a one-stop location for PWPD who wish to engage in sports and outdoor recreational activities.

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  Health Club: The Pursuit for a Diverse Healthcare Team

  Michelle Ariana Morales, Angela Labrie Blackwell, and Erik Perez

  Currently, the ethnic and racial demographics of occupational therapy students do not reflect the US’ diverse populations due to a general lack of awareness about occupational therapy (OT) amongst diverse high school students (HSS). Many factors serve as common barriers amongst diverse, minority communities, limiting students’ exposure to and knowledge about health professions, such as OT. To address these barriers, Health Club is a six-week, high school afterschool program designed to raise awareness about healthcare professions where ethnically and racially diverse populations are commonly underrepresented. Health Club uses lessons consisting of fundamental healthcare knowledge to provide HSS with opportunities to develop and implement knowledge and skills through equipment use and activities. In the short term, the program will provide students with different learning experiences to gain knowledge about health professions, develop fundamental skills, and support interests in health professions. In the medium term, the program will encourage students of diverse backgrounds to pursue health careers such as OT. In the long term, students will become healthcare practitioners and contribute to a diverse healthcare team.

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  Examining the Efficacy of Yoga Nidra on Sleep Quality with Persons with Parkinson’s Disease (PwPD)

  Kimberly Morrow, Karen Aranha, and Angela Blackwell

  A pilot mixed methods study utilizing quantitative and qualitative phenomenological study methods to understand the overall the benefits of using Yoga Nidra on sleep quality and sleep management, and more precisely the dosage of Yoga Nidra.

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  The Role of Occupational Therapy and the Use of Physical Agent Modalities and Occupational Therapy Interventions to Decrease Pain Associated with Endometriosis to Provide Increased Occupational Performance in Leisure Activities

  Ciara Autumn Pearce and Keisa Boykin

  Endometriosis is a condition that can affect women of reproductive age (Kalaitzopoulos et al., 2021). This condition causes endometrial-type tissue to grow outside of the uterus (Kalaitzopoulos et al., 2021). Women diagnosed with endometriosis often have difficulty participating in their daily responsibilities and leisure activities. In a study completed by Lozano-Lozano et al., 2021, 22.6% of women reported limitations in at least one activity of daily living and instrumental activity of daily living. Other limitations include incontinence, meal preparation, leisure activities, and household chores (Mundo-López et al., 2020). Symptoms of endometriosis often include chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression, sexual dissatisfaction, and poor sleep quality (Mundo-López et al., 2020). Occupational therapists, help their patients become independent with activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, health management, rest and sleep, education, work, play, leisure, and social participation (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2020). Purpose: The purpose of this capstone project is to provide education to healthcare professionals and their clients on the role that occupational therapy can play in the treatment of endometriosis. The use of modalities can be a complementary treatment option for clients in daily pain, awaiting surgery, and/or who have exhausted other treatment options.

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  An Occupational Therapy Assessment Guide for People with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

  Cynthia Sakian and Steven M. Gerardi

  This poster presents development of an occupational therapy assessment guide tailored for individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder. Motivated by the lack of standardized assessment protocols in the field, the initiative seeks to mitigate inconsistencies among occupational therapy practitioners and propel advancements in treatment. Key objectives include a comprehensive review of pertinent literature on occupational therapy and posttraumatic stress disorder, identification of functional impairments associated with the disorder, and the formulation of an assessment framework. Rooted in the Model of Human Occupation, the guide underscores the significance of volition, habituation, performance capacity, and environmental influences, accommodating individual preferences and disruptions while evaluating the multifaceted abilities affected by posttraumatic stress disorder. Methodologically, rigorous literature reviews and expert validation enhance the guide's utility. The resultant guide holds promise in promoting assessment consistency, facilitating problem identification, guiding intervention selection, and fostering research endeavors in occupational therapy. Ultimately, it aims to contribute to the development of more effective therapeutic approaches for individuals managing posttraumatic stress disorder.

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  A Occupational Therapy Guidebook for Teachers on Sensory Processing and Sensory Integration

  Kaitlyn Stanley, Keisa Boykin, and Heidi Woolley

  Children with sensory processing (SP) challenges find simple classroom tasks overwhelming and can present with deficits in behavior management, emotional regulation, and occupations due to the inability to self-regulate the sensory input from their environment. In addition, deficits in SP may impact a child's ability to maintain engagement and participation in the learning process. If these SP needs are not met through the school, the child lacks the adequate tools to be successful in learning, which is considered occupational injustice (AOTA, 2020). By providing teachers with the adequate educational tools to understand sensory processing and sensory integration (SP-SI), identify and access SP needs, and implement recommended strategies/accommodations; they will be able to effectively meet the SP needs of their students. The projected outcome for this project is to increase occupational performance, occupational participation, and the well-being of students with SP deficits, by creating an educational tool to increase their teachers' knowledge on the topic of SP-SI. Purpose: To create an educational guidebook for teachers on SP-SI, that will provide them with the knowledge to assess and assist students who have SP challenges.

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  Healthy Seniors: Supporting Chronic Condition Management Through Educational and Motivational Materials.

  Megan Wiggs and Helen Carey

  Within the United States, the older adult population is rising and facing a growing number of chronic conditions (Mirza et al., 2020). Chronic conditions are associated with an increase in hospitalizations, functional decline, and healthcare spending. Largely, chronic conditions are managed under primary care physicians and treatment is not put into place until an exacerbation and hospitalization occurs (Mirza et al., 2020). Thus, a cruel cycle is created in which an individual undergoes functional decline, worsening of the condition, and decreasing quality of life and well-being. The older adult population wishes to age in place and manage their health; however, are not provided materials and resources to do so until an exacerbation occurs (Elliot, 2019). Although online resources exist through patient portals, older adults lack the confidence to access and apply them (Theisen et al., 2021). Purpose: To develop evidence-based educational materials for older adults to use to maintain independence and improve quality of life. Additionally, work to incorporate motivational factors for residents to self-manage their help.

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  An Activity Program for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

  Rebecca Wright and Keisa Boykin

  According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are characterized by onset in the developmental period and include both intellectual and adaptive functioning deficits in conceptual, social, or practical domains that limit functioning in one or more areas of daily life (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Occupational therapists provide interventions for individuals with IDD however there are gaps surrounding occupation-based leisure and recreation activities (Kalijaca, et al 2019). Purpose: The purpose of this project is to create an activity program for individuals with IDD to increase participation and performance in leisure and recreation activities.