Here are a few more details about the projects in which students will take
part this term.
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Project 01
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Title:
Sensory Processing and Leisure Participation among children ages 6-12
years
in US and Israeli children
Brief description of project: This project will
explore if relationships exist between a child's sensory processing
patterns and their leisure interests/participation. We will also
analyze the similarities and differences among US and Israeli Children
What the students will do: Collect and analyze
data; This group will target publication of an article with the
findings. (I already have the Israeli data and some of the US data)
Relevance to OT: Leisure
Participation in Everyday life and the impact (or not) of sensory processing
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Project 02
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Title: Successful re-integration
for stroke survivors participating in community run programs
Brief
description of project: There
is little research available on the successful re-integration of stroke survivors
who participate in community-run programs. Community-run programs, such as
the American Stroke Foundation, act as a bridge between rehabilitation and a
new life for people who have survived a stroke. The specific aim of this
qualitative study is to collect data from interviews of past participants of
the American Stroke Foundation in order to determine what helped them
successfully re-integrate into their community
What
the students will do:
Identify a journal for publication, review relevant literature,
transcribe interviews, independently and cooperatively code transcripts,
analyze results, submit manuscript for publication.
Relevance
to OT: OTs work with stroke survivors in community
settings. Understanding what
stroke survivors identify as important for successful community reintegration
after stroke can inform OT practice.
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Project 03
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Title:
Evaluating rehabilitation outcome after acute stroke
Brief description of project: Accounting for
ideomotor apraxia after stroke has implications for treatment planning for
motor impairments in the in-patient rehabilitation setting. Treatment of
paresis alone may not be ideal without also considering the possibility of
ideomotor apraxia. Videotaped test sessions and assessments will be used to
evaluate the presence and extent of ideomotor apraxia, and correlated with
the duration of time in in-patient rehabilitation and measures of global
function and motor impairment.
What the students will do: review of background
literature, analysis of videotaped stroke survivor test sessions, on-site
observation of test administration, analysis of preliminary data.
Relevance to OT: Important
considerations for treatment planning; encourage awareness of best practice
in stroke rehabilitation setting.
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Project 04
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Title: Examining the Characteristics of
Effective Coaching Practices with Families that have a child with Autism
Brief
description of project: We will be coding the coaching transcripts from
an intervention study to identify the pattern of coaching features within the
sessions and across time. We want to know how the coaching practices change
as parents become more capable of identifying strategies for their families.
What
the students will do: Students
will collaborate to determine what statements and actions represent the core
coaching practices. Students will code the transcripts of actual intervention
sessions to look for patterns across time.
Relevance
to OT: There is a growing body of evidence to
suggest that coaching practices are an effective means of providing
intervention. If we are to expect colleagues to implement these practices, we
must understand precisely how effective coaching practices happen. In this
study we will identify these patterns so we can provide specific guidance to
OT students and colleagues about how to implement coaching practices
effectively.
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Project 05
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Title: Thematic Analysis of Blood and Marrow
Transplant Patients’ Artwork
Brief
description of project: Tiles of Hope offers BMT patients and caregivers an opportunity to
paint a ceramic tile during outpatient treatment. Almost 400 tiles have been painted since Tiles of Hope
started in October of 2009. For this project, students will examine the tiles
painted by patients (or photos of those tiles) for themes in their artwork.
What
the students will do: Choose journal for publication, review relevant
literature, use qualitative methods to independently and cooperatively code themes
on BMT patient tiles (approximately 150-200 tiles), write up results, submit
manuscript
Relevance
to OT: Tiles of Hope allows patients to engage in a
meaningful occupation during their cancer treatment. Preliminary evidence suggests
art-making reduces therapy-related symptoms of BMT patients thus art-making
may be an evidence-based intervention occupational therapists can offer to
cancer patients.
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Project 06
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Title: Using Telecommunication for
interpretation of the Sensory Profile
Brief description of project: Academic Fieldwork
coordinator will use telecommunication to support fieldwork educators and
students in the use of the sensory profile. Fieldwork educator will collaborate with the fw educators
and students to assist with interpretation and write ups based for assessing
children using the Sensory Profile.
What the students will do: Analyze survey data,
may participate in reviewing sensory profiles and practice interpretation.
Relevance to OT: Helping OTs to
understand the uses of the Sensory Profile and how to communicate the
information to caregivers and other professionals.
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Project 07
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Title: Evaluating the effectiveness of an
evaluation guide for school-based occupational therapists in generating the
development of functional goals for special educations students.
Brief description of project: The specific aims
for this project include:
· Determining
if an assessment guide facilitates use of client-centered, occupation based
assessment tools among school-based therapists.
· Evaluating
how the use of an assessment guide facilitates the development of functional
goals for special needs children receiving occupational therapy in schools.
· Examining
evaluation strategies that promote collaboration between team members
regarding the participation of the child receiving occupational therapy
services..
What the students will do: Analyze goals
generated prior to introduction to the evaluation guide and after
implementation of the evaluation guide.
Relevance to OT: Help school-based
OTs to develop occupation-based goals.
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Project 08
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Title: Students' considerations for client evaluations and
proposed treatment approaches.
Brief description of project: The specific aims
for this project include:
· Identify
considerations for client goals in an adult-based physical disabilities
service-learning site.
· Analyze
the differences in goal writing when utilizing an occupation-based evaluation
tool versus a deficit-based evaluation tool.
·
Determine if an occupation-based evaluation tool facilitates the use
of evidence-based interventions
What the students will do: Analyze goals
developed from initial evaluations and compare to goals using the COPM for
Jay Doc Clients.
Relevance to OT: Examine the impact of
assessment tool on goal development.
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Project 09
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Title: Feasibility Study of Using a Modified
Version of the Alert Program with 3 to 5 Year Old Children in an At-Risk
Preschool
Brief description of project: Occupational therapists, teachers and administrators
identify self-regulation as a primary need for the children in the At-Risk
Preschool setting. Challenges
with self-regulation interfere with the ability to participate in the
classroom environment. Self-regulation includes understanding how to
regulate one’s emotions and attention.
Self-regulation represents a skill that is important across the
lifespan. Assisting the children
in acquiring this skill now as young children helps them now as well as in
future occupations i.e. student, worker, parent, significant other. Using the Alert Program curriculum as
a foundation, this feasibility study will ultimately identify the “active
ingredients” for offering a similar curriculum at the preschool level. For this age group, we imagine that
the intervention will include classroom activities as well as teacher
consultation/coaching. As a
result of this study, future researchers can explore the effectiveness of
this curriculum in a more rigorous manner.
What the students will
do: The student project will include seven
steps. First, students will
choose journal for publication.
Second, students will review relevant literature. Third, using evidence and theory
found in the literature, students will design the intervention package to
include content, frequency, intensity and duration. Fourth, the students will identify outcomes measures for
the students and teachers.
Fifth, the students will apply various components of the intervention
for analysis. Sixth, the
students will use qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the
preliminary data. Finally,
students will write up results and submit manuscript for publication.
Relevance to OT: The Alert Program (also called “How Does Your
Engine Run?”) teaches children how to self-regulate in their daily lives
using concepts from sensory processing theory. The Alert Program curriculum was developed by two
occupational therapists for school aged children. Evidence exists that this curriculum fosters a change in
children’s ability to learn to use sensory strategies to stay on task during
classroom activities. Assisting
the children in acquiring this skill now as young children helps them now as
well as in future occupations i.e. student, worker, parent, significant
other. This project will investigate
the feasibility of the Alert Program curriculum modified for preschool aged
children.
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Project 10
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Title: Analysis
of participation needs for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Brief description of project: This project is an extension of an initial
study of coaching sessions for parents conducted by OTRs, which involved
(among other things) helping parents identify how their child's sensory
processing was affecting participation. The current project's
objective will be to identify themes emerging from existing data, and
determine if correlations exist among the different measures.
What the students will do: Students will analyze the COPMs, Sensory Profiles,
Goal Attainment Scales, and the Participant Data Sheet for 20 families of
children with ASD. Students will determine any relationships that may exist
among these data.
Relevance to OT: Determine areas of occupational need for
children with ASD.
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Project 11
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Title: Developing Core Competencies for
Inter-professional Collaborative Practice (ICP) through Participation in an
Online Learning Community
Brief description of project: The project will examine effectiveness of an
online course instruction format as a venue for development of
inter-professional collaborative practice competencies
What the students will do: Evaluate effectiveness of online course
instructional methods in developing ICP core competencies through
retrospective analysis of pre- and post-test survey data, and by qualitative
review of narrative responses to summative questions. Students will conduct
literature reviews, analyze quantitative survey
data, summarize/categorize qualitative data, and assist with development
of a professional poster.
Relevance to OT: Inter-professional collaborative practice (ICP) is critical to
client-centered care in the complex and ever-changing health care arena.
Evidence regarding inter-professional collaboration in education and practice
is necessary to assure informed decision making and effective
interactions in inter-professional practice contexts. Likewise,
instructional platforms continue to incorporate technology and transform
courses into fully online formats and/or hybrid teaching approaches.
The aim of this project is to contribute to the bodies of knowledge related
to e-learning communities and inter-professional education and
practice.
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Project 12
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Title: Head injuries in high school sports – Player
self-report.
Brief description of project:
The FAST program is being developed by the
Missouri Football Coaches Association in conjunction with faculty members at
KUMC. It is intended to educate key high school personnel about risks
associated with concussion in high school sports, and to serve as a data
collection tool for tracking concussive events over the career of a high
school athlete. The findings of this survey will provide insight into the
status of student brain health as the students enter high school.
What the students will do:
A key element in the program is to develop a
database of head injuries sustained in different sports by Missouri high
school athletes, that can be used by coaches and trainers as well as trauma
center or emergency departments. An important aspect of this database will be
information about head injuries sustained by the athlete prior to high
school, as part of non-athletic events, or during the off-season. The student
will review the literature and the existing survey, administer the survey to
a group of athletes and/or parents, compile the results, and conduct an
analysis of the data.
Relevance to OT: A brain injury sustained in
high school can precipitate functional performance deficits in the
short-term, which then may persist beyond the high school years, into college
and adulthood. Recognizing the risks, limiting the probability of an event,
preventing successive events, and setting clear criteria governing
return-to-play are areas where an OT may provide useful input – and preempt
the need to provide OT services to individuals after they have acquired
functional impairments.
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