Summer 2021 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

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  The Role of Occupational Therapy in Promoting Lifestyle Balance for Sex Trafficking Survivors

  Grace Woo, Becki Cohill, Susan MacDermott, and Karen Park

  As of 2016, there is an estimated 35.8 million people who are victims of human trafficking (Gorman & Hatkevich, 2016). There are overwhelming and lasting effects that human trafficking survivors and their families face such as mental, physical, social, and economic challenges (Rajaram & Tidball, 2018). The purpose of this project is to utilize an occupational therapy lens to evaluate the needs of human trafficking survivors to promote community reintegration, while considering their roles, routines, and significant occupations and how these may have been disrupted by their lived experience as survivors.

  Observations of the established programming and the participants over 4 months, informal interviews with staff and participants, education through weekly life skills classes, concept mapping, and discussions on occupations were made as part of the needs assessment. Participants reported struggling in eight out of nine areas of occupation outlined in the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process, 4th edition (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2020). Several themes were found in the needs assessment: a need for support in self-care, areas of desired skill development, improved social participation, and other areas of occupation. However, the main theme found in the needs assessment is that participants had difficulty balancing all the important activities in their lives, which has impacted their ability to reintegrate into the community. An eight-week “Lifestyle Balance” program was designed with a four-week focus on foundational skills that promote lifestyle balance followed by four weeks of sessions on specific occupations in which participants mainly engage.

  This project allows for another step for occupational therapy as a field to expand into an emerging area of practice. Currently, there is limited support for occupational therapists (OTs) working with human trafficking survivors even though they are particularly skilled to address the barriers that this population faces. As demonstrated by this project, OTs can provide meaningful and effective services for sex trafficking survivors. Further research and program development should be conducted to continue to provide evidence-based practice for OTs working with this population and establish it as a consistent area of practice.

  As of 2016, there is an estimated 35.8 million people who are victims of human trafficking (Gorman & Hatkevich, 2016). There are overwhelming and lasting effects that human trafficking survivors and their families face such as mental, physical, social, and economic challenges (Rajaram & Tidball, 2018). The purpose of this project is to utilize an occupational therapy lens to evaluate the needs of human trafficking survivors to promote community reintegration, while considering their roles, routines, and significant occupations and how these may have been disrupted by their lived experience as survivors.

  Observations of the established programming and the participants over 4 months, informal interviews with staff and participants, education through weekly life skills classes, concept mapping, and discussions on occupations were made as part of the needs assessment. Participants reported struggling in eight out of nine areas of occupation outlined in the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process, 4^th edition (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2020). Several themes were found in the needs assessment: a need for support in self-care, areas of desired skill development, improved social participation, and other areas of occupation. However, the main theme found in the needs assessment is that participants had difficulty balancing all the important activities in their lives, which has impacted their ability to reintegrate into the community. An eight-week “Lifestyle Balance” program was designed with a four-week focus on foundational skills that promote lifestyle balance followed by four weeks of sessions on specific occupations in which participants mainly engage.

  This project allows for another step for occupational therapy as a field to expand into an emerging area of practice. Currently, there is limited support for occupational therapists (OTs) working with human trafficking survivors even though they are particularly skilled to address the barriers that this population faces. As demonstrated by this project, OTs can provide meaningful and effective services for sex trafficking survivors. Further research and program development should be conducted to continue to provide evidence-based practice for OTs working with this population and establish it as a consistent area of practice.

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  The Occupational Impact of Reintegration After Military Deployment

  Kelli Zahariades, Becki Cohill, Susan MacDermott, and Karen Park

  After the completion of a deployment, begins the 3–6-month period of reintegration. The reintegration of an integral member of the family who has been absent for 6-12 months means re-establishing occupations, relationships, roles, and routines (Walsh & Rosenblum, 2018). Many MSMV experience stress from re-establishing the bond between themselves and their child, and their spouse (Arvanitis, 2013). The post-deployment reintegration process is even more challenging if the MSMV is experiencing trauma such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, or other mental health or physical health challenges (Walsh & Rosenblum, 2018).

  The purpose of this project was to research the occupational impact of military reintegration, as well as identify and expand the potential role of OT with this population, resulting in a more successful transition between the occupations, roles, and routines from active deployment to post-deployment stages.

  Sixty (n=60) subjects participated in this Phenomenological mixed methods study which included the completion of an online survey (n=60) and optional virtual interviews (n=7) to collect data on the lived experiences and challenges of military servicemembers and their spouses. All survey and interview questions were routines-based and guided by the Person Environment Occupation (PEO) model and the Quality-of-Life Scale (QOLS). The open-ended interview was semi-structured. The online survey asked participants to rate their satisfaction and personal experiences with reintegration.

  Five primary research themes were developed during the data analysis phase: 1) Servicemember Comes First, 2) Finding Balance 3) Managing Expectations, 4) Gain/Loss of Independence 5) Lack of Resources

  The results of this study concluded that many military servicemembers and their spouses experience difficulty with role fulfilment, routine adherence, occupational performance, and some QOL factors following the return from deployment. While many participants spoke to their challenges during reintegration, the survey results did indicate that not all individuals who participated share the same degree of struggle during post deployment reintegration.