Educating Occupational Therapy Students on the Role, Scope, and Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services in End-of-Life Care

Authors

Zaria Favorite, University of St. Augustine for Health SciencesFollow
Angela Labrie Blackwell, University of St. Augustine for Health SciencesFollow
Shannon KauppilaFollow

Files

Description

Patients at the end-of-life (EoL) experience a decline in body functions and performance skills along with challenges in maintaining occupational roles, routines, habits, and performance patterns (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2020). Despite their decline, patient want to continue to participate in their chosen occupations, which are unfulfilled due to the role, scope, and delivery of OT services in EoL care being misunderstood by OT students and practitioners, healthcare professionals, patients, families, and caregivers (Hammill et al., 2019; Knecht-Sabres et al., 2019; Mueller et al., 2021). There is a need for increased education and training so OT students can better understand their role in EoL care.

To address this problem, an EoL care simulation was developed to educate OT students on the role, scope, and delivery of OT services within this population. The purpose of this simulation was to provide OT students with hands-on experience in evaluating and treating individuals at the EoL and educating and training their caregivers. This capstone project aspires to improve OT students' understanding of the role of OT in EoL care and overall improve OT practice in EoL care. Ultimately, this project can broaden OT practice and the scope of EoL care to comprehensively meet the needs of terminally ill patients and their families.

Publication Date

Spring 4-24-2025

Publisher

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences

Keywords

Occupational therapy, Occupational therapy students, End-of-life, End-of-life care

Medical Subject Headings

Occupational therapy, Occupational therapy students, Occupational needs, End-of-life, End-of-life care

Disciplines

Occupational Therapy

Comments

Poster presented at the in-person OTD Capstone Symposium, held at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences on April 24, 2025

Recommended Citation

Favorite, Z., Blackwell, A. L., & Kauppila, S. (2025, April 24). Educating Occupational Therapy Students on the Role, Scope, and Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services in End-of-Life Care. Poster presented at the Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium, University of St Augustine for Health Sciences. Retrieved from https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2025/17

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.