How To OT

Micki and discuss how effective training of manual wheelchair (MWC) propulsion during rehabilitation may make enormous impacts on the incidence of pain, overuse injuries, and independence for MWC users. She shares techniques and tips she researched in her training program that can be quickly implemented to improve the learning of new and experienced MWC users. 

Today we discuss Elena Bishop's work in the driving  and community mobility research lab at Washington University in St. Louis. She studied occupational therapy's role in helping prepare people with dementia and older adults in general prepare for the transition to driving cessation. and what practitioners can do to decrease caregiver stress. 

Abby shares how she and her research team adapted the comfortable cafeteria program to promote positive mental health in students with developmental disabilities. We discuss how positive mental health promotion can impact this population and how Abby was able to see positive outcomes by pairing the comfortable cafeteria training with enjoyable experiences.

If you want to learn more about Leanna's Model and see a visual depiction of it in action please reach out to her at: [email protected]

Sarah shares her experiencing helping to train clinicians on a self-management program for patients with vision loss. She also developed an entire practice model to help practitioners treat adults aging with vision loss holistically.  Resources mentioned on the show: Ensminger, D., Scaffa, M., & Reitz, M. S. (2015). Program evaluation. In M. Scaffa & M. S. Reitz (Eds.), Occupational Therapy in Community Based Practice Setting (2 ed.). Philadelphia: FA Davis Company. Lorig, K. R., & Holman, H. (2003). Self-management education: History, definition, outcomes, and mechanisms. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 26(1), 1-7. doi:10.1207/s15324796abm2601_01 Perlmutter, M. S., & Hussey, G. (2017). Living life with vision loss: A community-based selfmanagement program for people with low vision. SIS Quarterly Practice Connections, 2(3), 24-26.

Taylor shares with us her experience as a participant and as a group leader on the Washington University in St. Louis International Service Learning (ISL) trip to Guatemala. Taylor developed pediatric modules to help prepare her and fellow group members to provide occupational therapy intervention to diverse populations in Guatemala. 

PAWLTPD stands for People Aging with Long Term Physical Disabilities. We discuss how this population is impacted by a variety of factors and Courtney shares a practice model she developed to assist clinicians when working with PAWLTPD. NCHPAD website: https://www.nchpad.org/ Cedar Midwest website: https://cedarmidwest.org/

Ariana is completing her post professional doctorate at WashU. She's researched Sleep in people experiencing homelessness and program development for underserved populations including people experiencing incarceration. A list of resources mentioned during the episode is found below: AOTA Sleep Sheet: https://www.aota.org/About-Occupational-Therapy/Professionals/HW/Sleep.aspx https://sleepot.org/ Thrive and Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington: http://ariannahuffington.com/thrive Why we Sleep by Matthew Walker: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0752XRB5F/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Maggie and Eric teamed up to conduct a research project titled Program Development for Neurodiverse Students in Higher Education. We discuss topics related to neurodiversity in higher education, outline their project, and the implications their research could have for occupational therapy practice. Resources mentioned during the show: https://collegeautismnetwork.org/research/canvas/

The full title of Melanie's research is The Patient's Journey: Predictors of Baseline and Discharge Disability, Pain, Work Ability, and Global Health after Occupational Therapy for Upper Extremity Dysfunction in Under and Uninsured Patient Population. We discuss her work with the WashU student hand clinic, her study design and outcomes, and how her experience can be used and learned from to promote evidence informed care and the best possible outcomes for patients.