New Doors: A Community Program Development Model

SUMMARY

The need to provide occupational therapy services across a continuum of care has stimulated interest in moving into community-based arenas of practice. Limited job opportunities and lack of awareness of the benefits of occupational therapy are common barriers to this movement. This case study illustrates the “New Doors Model” and describes how a partnership between the university, master clinicians, students, and community agencies can result in (1) expanding occupational therapy services to facilities that have not historically interacted with occupational therapy, (2) training occupational therapists and occupational therapy students, and (3) promoting employment of occupational therapists by community organizations, and (4) a scholarship of practice that studies and supports the development of occupation based practice in community settings. The New Doors Model begins with exposing new sites to occupational therapy through level I fieldwork, progressing to level II fieldwork, and ending with creation of permanent occupational therapy positions     

Changes in Daily Experiences: Perceptions of the Care Provider of the Traumatic Brain Injured

Occupational therapy practitioners are rapidly becoming more involved in community-based services. Practitioners must understand the effect on program participants as well as family or paid care providers. This study gives voice to care providers in a community-based program for survivors of traumatic brain injury run by occupational therapists and occupational therapy students. Roles, routines, and occupational choices of care providers changed dramatically with program involvement. These findings have implications for community-based programming and the collaborative integration of care providers. Implications for program outcomes and the health and well being of care providers are discussed.     

Future of Mental Health Occupational Therapy: Student Perspective and Concerns

Occupational therapy has been gradually slipping away from its foundation in mental health practice. In order to provide the best services to individuals with mental health disorders, the occupational therapy profession must maintain and expand its involvement in this area of practice. The purpose of this paper is to explore the threats and opportunities to promote education and practice in mental health from a student perspective. The authors reviewed the literature, distributed questionnaires, and conducted focus groups with occupational therapy students at a southeastern university. Based on findings in the literature and of the focus groups with students, the authors have drawn a list of suggestions to improve the visibility of occupational therapy in mental health care. These suggestions are for occupational therapy educational programs, mental health practitioners, AOTA, and state associations.     

The Reindeer of Hope: An Occupational Therapy Program in a Homeless Shelter

SUMMARY

This article describes a successfully designed and implemented program created for mentally ill homeless men by Level II occupational therapy students from Eastern Kentucky University. Outcomes for the clients, the staff and the students were extremely positive and have contributed to the appreciation and acceptance of occupational therapy as a discipline that can contribute to the health of this underserved population. This model demonstrates the effectiveness of University sponsored fieldwork in introducing occupational therapy to the community, creating awareness of what occupational therapy has to offer and developing a climate to bring needed services to clients and provide community-based employment for occupational therapists.     

Building Student Community in a Hybrid Program

ABSTRACT

The concept of student community has been shown to enhance learning, empower students, and increase engagement in the learning process. An occupational therapy program transformed classroom-based learning to a hybrid platform with over 70% of the course content online and expanded from one to two learning sites. Based on faculty concerns about occupational therapy students’ experience of belonging to a community, this study compared student-perceived sense of community in the first and final didactic semesters of a hybrid Master's program. Using the Classroom and School Community Inventory and a Checklist of 24 Points of Contact, faculty found over 90% of students reported a sense of community with no significant differences from start to finish of the didactic program, or between learning sites. Furthermore, students reported informal, out-of-classroom interactions with colleagues, group assignments, and face-to-face classroom sessions as the strongest points of contact contributing to a sense of student community.     

Using the Model of Human Occupation to Conceptualize an Occupational Therapy Program for Blind Persons in South Africa

The diversity within South African society encourages innovative occupational therapy practice. This paper illustrates how the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) was used as a guiding framework for an innovative program for unemployed blind adults. The program allowed these clients to participate in income-generating projects and illustrates how factors related to South Africa's cultural, economic, and social conditions influence the use of MOHO in occupational therapy practice.     

Student Development in an Online Post-Professional Master's Program

SUMMARY

Students' perceptions of personal and professional development in an online post-professional Master's degree program in occupational therapy were investigated. In-class postings, reflection papers, and e-mail surveys completed by 14 occupational therapists throughout the course of an online Master's program were coded and analyzed. Three themes were identified: the developmental process of post-professional education, the value of the online learning community, and the influence of positive and negative characteristics of online pedagogy in creating lifelong learners. Results indicated that the students perceived personal and professional growth that enhanced their clinical practice, and that the online learning community supported and enhanced this growth. Online pedagogy was effective in creating a cooperative learning environment that facilitated personal and professional development at the post-graduate level.     

Using Service-Learning to Teach Mental Health and Research Skills

ABSTRACT

This paper describes how an occupational therapy program used service-learning to integrate the learning objectives for mental health and research curriculum content. The service-learning program assisted participants diagnosed with mental illness to achieve success in higher education and/or related goals and served as a clinical program within a research curriculum for entry-level graduate occupational therapy students. The occupational therapy students served as mentors for the participants. The purpose of the program for the occupational therapy students was to teach research skills, clinical skills, and increase comfort in working with the mental health population. Seventy-eight occupational therapy students participated in the program over four academic years. A case example of a student/participant mentoring relationship is provided. Results indicated that the occupational therapy students gained comfort with the population and competence in their clinical and research skills.     

A self-directed fieldwork program to provide alternative occupational health placements for undergraduate occupational therapy students

Second-year students of undergraduate occupational therapy at the University of Newcastle, NSW, undertake a fieldwork placement in occupational health. However, sufficient placements are not always available. A new fieldwork program attempts to meet this need. Three groups of students conducted risk assessments throughout the academic year, with generally positive results. Students enjoyed the self-directed nature of the placement and the opportunity to learn generic and occupational health related skills. Although there were some limitations to the program, we believe that fieldwork placements met the learning needs of second-year students and offered them an excellent opportunity to gain practical experience related to occupational health practice in prevention.     

Effects of an Occupation-Based Obesity Prevention Program for Children at Risk

ABSTRACT

Since the prevalence of obesity-related medical conditions in children and adolescents has increased over the past several years obesity prevention has become a vital need for our society and a focus of our professional practice. The primary aim of this pilot study was to increase children's experiences with physical activity and healthy foods to promote self-efficacy related to a healthy lifestyle. Using a pre- and posttest design, the Healthy Choices for Me program was evaluated for its efficacy. Intervention consisted of a 12-week after-school program implemented by occupational therapy students. Elementary-aged children from two lower social economic schools in an urban area participated in the program. Results demonstrated positive changes in food behavior, food self-efficacy, and vegetable consumption for the participants.     

The Partnering Model: Occupational Therapy Assistant and Occupational Therapy Students Working Together

SUMMARY

Establishing a partnering relationship between the occupational therapy assistant (OTA) and the occupational therapist (OT) is imperative in order to create an optimal working environment and deliver effective client care. A developmental model that provides students with opportunities to practice such a relationship has been used by an OTA and OT program in southwestern Ohio. This developmental Partnering Model gives students an opportunity to interact, work as teams, and collaborate during their educational experience. Each aspect of the model provides students with experiential learning opportunities. Educators will serve their OTA and OT students well in providing opportunities for them to develop and practice the skills they will need to create an optimal working environment and deliver effective client care as occupational therapy practitioners.     

Developing and Implementing a Senior Community Based Fall Prevention and Home Safety Program

Occupational therapists are primary candidates in taking a proactive role in meeting the community dwelling senior citizen's safety, environmental, and cognitive needs through the development of community based programs in conjunction with aging organizations. The purpose of this paper is to provide recommendations to occupational therapists in developing, implementing, and marketing a senior community based fall prevention and home safety program in conjunction with a Council on Aging and occupational therapy outpatient private practice.     

A Framework for Promoting Scholarship Productivity in Occupational Therapy Curricula

ABSTRACT

This paper describes a curricular model to support the production of quality research and development of occupational therapy professional students, prepared to become leaders in the production and utilization of evidence for practice. This model is designed for programs with faculty challenged by the dual mandate of program excellence and expectations for scholarly productivity needed for tenure and promotion: typically programs at research universities. The essence of the model is the paralleling of research and competencies for clinical practice where faculty and students participate as a community of scholars. It is based on the literature that addresses the tensions between achieving excellence in research and scholarly productivity, and excellence in teaching. The experience of one university with this model over a five-year period of time is shared with the student-faculty productivity outcomes. These outcomes include dissemination of 55 collaborative peer reviewed products and faculty has generated support for 25 paid graduate assistantships. The combination of student outcomes and faculty support for their research has strengthened the ability of the faculty to excel in meeting the University mandate of scholarship while providing a high quality professional educational program.     

Active Participation in Fieldwork Level I: Fieldwork Educator and Student Perceptions

ABSTRACT

Fieldwork experiences bridge the gap between a student's education and entry-level practice. Academic programs, faculty members, and fieldwork educators are challenged to prepare occupational therapy students for entry-level practice. The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) standards advocate for both active participation and guided observation in Level I fieldwork experience (. Students report their most meaningful learning experiences, which include performance of clinical skills and participation in clinical reasoning. However, many students enrolled in the author's entry-level master's program and the other schools within a regional consortium report their Level I fieldwork experience is primarily observation. This article describes the results of a survey administered to fieldwork educators and occupational therapy students eliciting their perceptions of active participation in Level I fieldwork. Results indicate that perceptions of the groups are dissimilar. Recommendations and implications for increased active participation in Level I fieldwork are discussed.     

Teaching Evidence-Based Practice in a Distance Education Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program: Strategies for Professional Growth and Advancing the Profession

ABSTRACT

The Centennial Vision of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) projects that by 2017 all occupational therapy (OT) practice areas will be supported by evidence. Achieving this goal requires preparing clinicians with the skills to assimilate, analyze, and apply research to their areas of practice and communicate the value of OT services to consumers and payers. These skills are at the heart of evidence-based practice (EBP). Educators must be prepared to teach EBP skills in both entry-level and postprofessional programs. This article outlines how EBP can be taught to postprofessional occupational therapy clinical doctoral students using a distance education format. Key features of a successful EBP course include having access to full-text electronic articles, opportunities for students to explore the literature in their own areas of interest, consistent and timely feedback on written work and discussion topics, and opportunities to collaborate with peers.     

Attitudes of entry level occupational therapy doctoral students towards inclusion for students with disabilities

Background/Aims:  The increasing popularity of inclusive education for students with disabilities and the attitudes towards it inevitably affect school-based occupational therapy practice. This survey study investigated the attitudes of entry-level occupational therapy doctoral (EOTD) students towards inclusive education and the effect of professional education on their perception.
Methods:  A total of 62 EOTD students responded to a self-developed questionnaire, Attitudes and Inclusive Education Survey , yielding a response rate of 91.2%.
Results:  Results of the study revealed that entry level occupational therapy doctoral students have positive attitudes towards inclusive education and believe that the inclusion movement has an inevitable impact on school-based occupational therapy practice. Professional education in occupational therapy might positively affect students' attitudes.
Conclusion:  Given the close association between one's attitude and behaviour, the findings of the study are particularly encouraging. Future research needs to further examine school-based occupational therapy practice in inclusive environments.