Supporting the Transition Out of the Family Caregiver Role: An Occupation-Centered Approach

Engagement in meaningful and valued occupations can be used as a means to help former family caregivers cope, heal, and grow following the loss of their loved one (Pickens, 2011). Occupational engagement can be used as a means to help former family caregivers reshape their personal identity, experience a sense of wholeness, and reestablish purpose and balance in their lives (Hocking, 2016). The purpose of this doctoral capstone project was to educate hospice care staff on ways to support individuals with transitioning out of the family caregiver role following the death of the care recipient. An educational resource was developed to inform hospice care staff on the use of occupation-centered interventions and activities to foster adaptation to shifts in roles, routines, habits, and rituals after caregiving ends.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstones-spring2022/1009/thumbnail.jp

Entrepreneurship and OT

The purpose of this project was to discover the perceived and actual barriers to business ownership through research with current OT businesses and create a deliverable supporting OTs entering business ownership.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstones-spring2022/1043/thumbnail.jp

OT Employment Program Addressing Homelessness for Women Experiencing Homelessness

Women experiencing homelessness face many barriers to employment participation. Occupational therapy (OT) is a well-suited profession to address employment barriers; however, there is a lack of OT programs that address the unique barriers to employment participation for women experiencing homelessness. The purpose of the capstone project was to develop a program focused on employment obtainment and maintenance for women experiencing homelessness. The employment program was developed based upon the findings from an in-depth literature review and needs assessment.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2023/1038/thumbnail.jp

How Occupational Therapists Address Chronic Pain and Sex/Intimacy

Sexual activity is 1 out of the 9 activities of daily living (ADLs) and is considered to be fundamental for a person\u27s life, yet it is one of the least discussed topics that occupational therapists address in client care settings, academia, and/or professional development. The aim for this project was to explore how occupational therapists addressed sex/intimacy with the chronic pain population in order to provide more insight and encouragement for other occupational therapists to incorporate discussion of sex/intimacy in their practice.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstones-spring2022/1034/thumbnail.jp

OT’s Role in a Social Enterprise Jobs Training Program for Homeless Youth

This capstone outlines a jobs training program for transition-aged youth (TAY), ages 18 – 25, currently residing at Urban Street Angels, a transitional housing facility for youth experiencing homelessness located in San Diego, California. The purpose of this project was to incorporate occupational therapy services into the site’s dormant social enterprise program, 8West. 8West produces a line of artisanal hand soaps created in-house by the youth living at Urban Street Angels. Through experiential and didactic learning, youth developed integral skills in customer service, communication, sales, marketing, professionalism, and production. The project addressed an unmet need for job skills training and development for TAY youth experiencing homelessness.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesfall2021/1012/thumbnail.jp

Sexual Activity and Intimacy within Occupational Therapy Practice

Sexual activity is often the forgotten ADL, that is underdressed in practice, and not spoken about in academia. This presentation aims to explore the role of occupational therapy addressing sexuality and intimacy following the onset of long term physical or neurological disabilities. This project outlines the role of OT in emerging practice in advocating for the development of a referral pathway specific for sexual activity and intimacy, and OT within an emerging setting.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2023/1032/thumbnail.jp

Inclusive Employment Opportunities for Adults with Down Syndrome

Adults with Down syndrome (DS) face several barriers to inclusive and community-based employment opportunities, including the DS phenotype, volition, and disability stigma. The purpose of this project was to create a strengths-based occupational therapy (OT) group program to address these barriers. Using information from the needs assessment as well as the Ecology of Human Performance model, the Model of Human Occupation, and the Social Model of Disability, the EmployAble program was created. EmployAble took place twice a week for five weeks and included six adults with DS, ages 19-32. The group focused on employment readiness skills such as interpersonal skills, professional communication, and self-advocacy through various client-centered activities. The outcome measures and evaluations demonstrated the effectiveness of the program. 66% of the group improved in the following domains: appropriate greetings, asking for help when needed, offering help if needed, taking responsibility for mistakes. Parents of group members reported unanimous satisfaction with the program. The EmployAble program, as well as relevant information about inclusive employment, was disseminated across a variety of platforms. It is recommended that OT practitioners continue to facilitate inclusive employment opportunities for adults with DS.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstones-spring2022/1035/thumbnail.jp

Barriers and Resources for Competitive Adaptive Rock Climbing

The purpose of this project was to (1) identify barriers to participation in competitive adaptive rock climbing for adults with a physical disability and (2) create and distribute virtual educational resources to meet identified barriers. The need for this project was highlighted by athlete and coach self-report of limited ability to engage in competitive adaptive rock climbing, also known as paraclimbing. The sample consisted of 108 adaptive athletes, adaptive rock-climbing coaches, staff members in rock climbing gyms, and volunteers at adaptive rock climbing events. Participants anonymously completed a ten-minute mixed methods virtual survey using Microsoft Forms. Statistical analyses suggest recurrent barriers to participation in competitive paraclimbing including lack of accessibility within the gym environment, limited financial and social resources, and confusion regarding the paraclimbing classification criteria and competition rulebook for national and world cup competitions. Thematic analysis of free response questions suggests additional barriers of poor disability etiquette from able-bodied staff and volunteers, a lack of “community” at the climbing gym, and limited diversity in the climbing community. Educational resources were created and published through a novel corporation created by the author, the Adaptive Climbing Alliance LLC. Resources were distributed virtually after being published on a freely accessible, community centered domain entitled Paraclimbing Info. Resources promote equity for paraclimbers and support the growing field of adaptive athletics.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstones-spring2022/1008/thumbnail.jp

Occupational Rights Workshops: Critical Reflection, Discussion, and Collaboration with Occupational Therapists

In the summer of 2020, occupational therapy organizations condemned systemic racism and called on the profession to improve its’ practices in promoting justice and enhancing efforts in increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2020; World Federation of Occupational Therapists). Since then, there have been formations of DEI committees, opportunities for continuing education in justice and antiracist practice, and more discussion in the literature on how therapists could support the occupational rights of their clients. Occupational rights are “the right of all people to engage in occupations that contribute positively to their well-being and the well-being of their communities” (Hammell, 2008, p. 62). The problem is that there is a lack of discussion on how to promote occupational rights in occupational therapy practice when faced with institutional, cultural, political, personal, and interpersonal barriers in the workplace. To address this problem, this capstone looked to increase the knowledge and practice of occupational rights among occupational therapists by facilitating interacting workshops that stimulated individual and collective critical reflection, discussion, and collaboration on how to implement occupational rights into daily practice. Four sites with practicing occupational therapists, four didactic occupational therapy graduate students, and a small group of occupational therapy faculty participated in a workshop or focus group that centered the conversation around occupational rights. Each workshop and focus group received background information about occupational rights, participated in an activity and/or discussion about occupational rights, and ended the experience with group reflections and collective accountability commitments on how to continue to learn and incorporate occupational rights into practice. Results of the workshops and focus groups saw most participants understanding how occupational rights connect with other justice concepts, feeling comfortable discussing the topic with their peers, and wanting to participate in more workshops like the one they attended.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstones-spring2022/1050/thumbnail.jp

Enhancing Leisure Participation in an Inpatient Mental Health Setting

This capstone project, Enhancing Leisure Participation in an Inpatient Mental Health Setting, was completed by a Doctor of Occupational Therapy candidate at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. Project objectives aimed to identify and address internal and external barriers related to leisure participation in inpatient mental health settings from an occupational therapy perspective. A literature review of leisure engagement demonstrates beneficial mental health outcomes in correlation with increased leisure engagement during inpatient mental health treatment. However, leisure is often an underutilized facet of mental health treatment. Additionally, individuals with mental health challenges present with individualistic barriers decreasing leisure engagement resulting in omission from these benefits. By identifying internal (client-related) and external (environment-related) barriers to leisure participation, enhancement of leisure engagement was targeted to enhance mental health outcomes in inpatient mental health settings. The findings of this project provided implications for current and future mental health treatment approaches for individuals with mental health challenges receiving inpatient treatment.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesfall2022/1010/thumbnail.jp