Creation of the Database for the Don Wright Faculty of Music\u27s Opera Costume Collection

Over the course of my USRI, I created a database to organize and display the costume collection from the Don Wright Faculty of Music Opera Program at Western University. This process consisted of a series of phases with a focus on digitizing the costume collection so that it is accessible and sustainable. Extraction, sorting, creation, development, photograph, organization, and consultation constituted the progression of the new costume database. The extraction phase featured the removal and assessment of the costumes. This provided a visualization of the costume collection in its entirety and thus, guided the creation of the database. The sorting phase resulted in the approval, elimination, and categorization of different sets of costumes. Next, Excel spreadsheets equipped with a a piece-personalized code, hosted on Microsoft Teams, were utilized during the creation and development phases. This culminated in the creation of the system to categorize and store the different pieces in the costume collection. The photograph phase incorporated capturing the costume pieces and uploading them online to a custom made OWL site, eliminating the need to search for the pieces physically. Manual transportation was the main feature of the organization phase, resulting in the collection being moved to its permanent space, a space corresponding with the newly created online, remotely accessible database. Lastly, consultation occurred throughout the internship. Multiple correspondences were established with professional costume designers to help mold the system to better suit the digitization, accessibility, and sustainability of the Don Wright Faculty of Music costume collection

Bridging the gap: Cultural wealth and college transitions for Upward Bound students

Often when assessing the success of minoritized students, deficit models place the weight of low achievement on students’ cultural identities, thus blaming them for their lack of success. However, many minoritized students combat this erasure by using their cultural capital, wealth, and identities to transition and persist through college. Using Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth model, this study explored the ways that 20 first-generation, low-income, Black and Latinx Upward Bound alumni implemented their cultural wealth to transition and persist through the postsecondary pipeline, and investigated the role of an Upward Bound program preparing them for college. Through artifact/photographic elicited, semi-structured interviews, this study found that these Upward Bound alumni used their cultural wealth, comprised of their (1) Familial Influence and (2) Resistance to transition and persist through college. This study also found that this Upward Bound prepared them for college, by illustrating the importance of forming (3) Community and the development of their (4) College and Culture Predisposition. These findings significantly contribute to transition and persistence literature, as it furthers research surrounding the complexities of navigating the educational pipeline for first-generation, low-income, Black, and Latinx college students. Additionally, this study adds to the discourse on Upward Bound programs and the necessity of providing students with holistic college knowledge, comprised cultural and academic provision. This study can be used to inform policies, practices, and programs with best practices to support the success of minoritized college students

Black elephant in the room : Black students contextualizing campus racial climate within U.S. racial climate

The systemic racism in U.S. society being resisted through larger movements such as Black Lives Matter is also reflected and reproduced in U.S. higher education. This qualitative study examines how Black students contextualize their campus racial climate within broader race issues, tensions, and movements occurring across the nation. Findings reveal four themes: (1) Perceptions of Blackness on campus; (2) Campus racial climate mirroring societal racial climate; (3) Experiencing and engaging in movements on campus; (4) Impact of racial climate on future planning

Resolution of Diabetes Insipidus After Pyeloplasty: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI), a rare cause of polyuria and polydipsia in children, is usually managed with medications and careful monitoring of water intake. We present a child who was incidentally found to have right hydronephrosis secondary to ureteropelvic junction obstruction, and was subsequently also diagnosed with NDI. After being medically managed, he underwent open right pyeloplasty. His polydipsia abated within 1 month of surgery, and he has done well off of medications since that time. NDI resolution after correction of obstructive uropathy in adults has been reported, but this represents a novel case in pediatrics

Outcomes of Naviculectomy for Severe Recurrent Clubfoot Deformity

Background: Naviculectomy was originally described for resistant congenital vertical talus deformity but was later expanded to use in rigid cavus deformity. This study reviews the operative outcomes of complete excision of the navicular for recurrent deformity in the talipes equinovarus (TEV) population. Methods: After institutional review board approval, all patients undergoing naviculectomy at a single institution were identified. Clinical, radiographic, and pedobarographic data (minimum 2 years’ follow-up) were reviewed. Results: Twelve patients (14 feet) with TEV from 1984 to 2019 were included. All feet had minimum 1 prior operative intervention on the affected foot (mean age = 4.0 years, range 0.2-14.5), with 8/14 having at least 3 prior operative procedures. Complete navicular excision with concomitant procedures was performed in all patients (mean age = 11.7 years, range 5.5-16.1). Mean clinical follow-up from naviculectomy was 5.1 years (range, 2.2-11.2). During follow-up, 6 patients required subsequent surgery, most often secondary to pain and progressive deformity. One patient underwent elective below-knee amputation of the affected extremity. Of the remaining 11 patients, 7 of 11 reported continued pain and 8 of 11 maintained adequate range of motion at the ankle at the most recent follow-up. Conclusion: Clinical follow-up demonstrated deteriorating results in a large percentage of patients. The high rate of additional procedures and continued pain in the current series suggests that even as a salvage procedure, naviculectomy may not provide adequate results for patients. Level of Evidence: Level IV, case series

Health Management: Occupational Therapy’s Key Role in Educating Clients About Reliable Online Health Information

Background: Only 12% of Americans possess proficient health literacy skills. Among those with the lowest health literacy are individuals with chronic health conditions. Occupational therapists are well prepared to assist these clients with health literacy, given our roles in teaching new health management skills and health promotion. Methods: An educational course was designed and taught to over 100 individuals and caregivers with chronic health conditions to assist in finding and determining trustworthy health information online. An author designed pre postsurvey was used to evaluate effectiveness. Results: There was a significant pre-post change in four categories: finding quality health information online (M = 0.703), judging trustworthiness of online health information (M = 0.624), understanding health information (M = 0.489), and retrieving information using email alerts (M = 0.826). Conclusion: The ability to find and evaluate health information online empowers clients to fully participate in medical care. Evidence shows that this skill can be efficiently taught to clients or client groups for improved health management. Providing training in finding trustworthy health information online is a skill that occupational therapists can successfully teach in conjunction with overall health management skills for improved occupational participation

Promoting Health Across the Lifespan: Stress Management Topics

This document contains six lesson plans. The first lesson plan is designed to introduce the principles of mindfulness and stress management through music listening and mandala free drawing activities. The second lesson plan addresses stress management in the workplace through the introduction of the Freeze Frame method. The third lesson plan is designed to teach stress management through the principle of gratitude. The fourth lesson introduces the mind-body connection and principles of self-care through self-assessment of behavior. The fifth lesson plan is designed to discuss issues of mental illness and to provide resources to address mental health concerns. The sixth lesson plan addresses time management skills and the implementation of SMART goals to improve academic success. The content is intended for high school or college-aged students and health care professionals. Each lesson plan has a topic overview, time and format information, Healthy People 2020 Objectives, National Health Education Standards information, learning objectives, key concepts and terms, materials needed, and teaching steps. This material was developed by Plymouth State University students as a part of their coursework for Promoting Health Across the Lifespan, in fall 2016 with Dr. Barbara McCahan