OT VetSet: A Clinician’s Manual to Working with Veterans as Clients is designed to educate occupational therapy providers on unique client factors of veterans as well as provide resources to occupational therapy providers for the effective evaluation and treatment of veterans as clients. Using descriptive evidence of veterans as a population in conjunction with literary evidence on how to create effective learning for adults, OT VetSet can be truly considered an evidence-based tool. The tool is split into six lessons which range from introductory information including military terminology, conditions by service era, and considerations for mental health, to two case studies on fictional veterans (that were based on demographic information) as well as a list of resources for both providers and veterans. Each lesson is published in three sections including the introduction, content, and sample administration techniques. This doctoral project presents the evidence behind this design, funding plan, evaluation plan, and dissemination plan as well as a sample manual (via appendices) for future users to be able to replicate OT VetSet in their own facility.

School-based occupational therapy practitioners actively support students’ functional participation in school-related activities. Underlying these daily school activities are executive functioning skills. Although addressing executive functioning (EF) skills is within occupational therapy’s scope of practice, school-based practitioners typically do not support the development of these skills in students. Identified factors that contribute to this gap in practice are limited (1) EF knowledge, (2) availability and access to EF resources, and (3) time to complete job demands. To address this clinical gap, an interactive online course for school-based occupational therapy practitioners was developed which presents current EF research, knowledge, and resources. The course utilizes interactive features to support practitioners in applying course information in the school setting. This includes practicing EF assessments, designing EF interventions, and preparing advocacy resources and dissemination tools to share with school administrators and school staff about the importance of addressing executive functioning skills in school-age students. The objective of the online course is to develop a community of occupational therapy practitioners committed to improving EF skills in students through contributions in research, assessment, interventions, and school collaborations.

The growth and learning needs of pediatric occupational therapists working in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have not been fully researched or documented at this time. Without a formal occupational therapy association, the communication and planning to identify these professional development needs can be challenging. WFOT resources available for non-member countries combine with some of the traditional occupational therapy resources and initiatives from neighboring member associations. Hong Kong and Taiwan provide practices and materials that reflect Chinese culture and assist in promoting the profession (Lin, 2014; Sinclair, 2015). Language nuances, historical and political issues can make direct transference to the mainland of China problematic. These activities help support occupational therapy as a distinct healthcare profession within these regions of the PRC but may have barriers to direct application in mainland China. A formal needs assessment of the occupational therapists has not yet been undertaken. The steps to develop a pediatric needs assessment are presented in this paper. Research confirms a facilitated needs assessment can assist in determining and understanding learning needs, preferences, patterns, and future topics (Newcomer, Hatry, & Wholey, 2015) for occupational therapists and the groups that provide them professional development training in mainland China. There are three distinct stakeholder groups identified for this research project: pediatric occupational therapists, professional development producers, and families of children receiving therapy services in mainland China. The research team works collaboratively with identified stakeholder partners to identify the training and growth needs of the pediatric occupational therapist to provide the required educational recommendations that will foster competency in practice. Both the occupational therapists and the providers of professional development activities gain a better understanding through participation in the program evaluation processes of surveying learning needs in the context of international evidence-based competency content. The implementation and dissemination of the program verifies, validates and provides a synthesis of perspectives and establishes a connection for the client’s input to the therapy services. The program evaluation summary recommendations are hypothesized to have an impact on improving the perception of the quality of pediatric occupational therapy services received by caregivers and families in mainland China.

Impairments in capacity to accurately perceive one’s self following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) poses serious consequences for not only the individuals who experience these deficits, but also their family members and social supports, treating clinicians, and all levels of the healthcare continuum including rehabilitation institutions and insurers. Individuals with limited understanding of their deficits often take longer to complete the rehabilitation process due to poor motivation, reduced effort, persistence and commitment when faced with repeated task failure. For these reasons, individuals with a TBI resulting in executive dysfunction often require increased support and assistance in daily life long-term. The aim of this project, A Clinician’s Guide to Self-Awareness Training, is to provide occupational therapists working in TBI rehabilitation with an eight-hour continuing education course that will equip them with tools that utilize the existing evidence literature to develop treatments that are conducive to the current state of healthcare and are effective. Such treatments include: detailed behavioral analysis, design of a tailored intervention for a specific target behavior, collection of data, and frequent reassessment throughout treatment phases to monitor effectiveness. A Clinician’s Guide to Self-Awareness Training will focus on strategies to facilitate gains in self-awareness during rehabilitation through attention to key factors such as constructive feedback and structured experiences that seek to promote a sense of understanding, control, and confidence while helping to progressively restructure self-evaluative beliefs about functional capabilities (Barco et al., 1991; Langer & Padrone, 1992; Mateer, 1999).

“Help Me Play,” an evidence-based, client-centered and theory-driven training program facilitated by an occupational therapist, provides educational opportunities for early childhood educators to support the development of social play among preschool students in an inclusive classroom setting. Despite the belief of early childhood educators of the importance of social play, research suggests lack of pre-service or in-service training focusing on how they can support social play effectively in the classroom (Vu, Han, & Buell, 2015). “Help Me Play” consists of four weekly two-hour workshop sessions and an individualized 30-minute coaching and feedback training session. The workshop sessions are held in small groups of eight to 12 individuals, and cover the following topics: definition and benefits of social play, assessment of social play needs, environmental supports and barriers, and strategies to facilitate social play. The coaching and feedback session is held upon completion of the workshops and scheduled at the participants’ convenience. During this session, the facilitator may use prompting, modeling, feedback and encouragement to support the teacher in using scaffolding strategies. In line with adult learning principles highlighting active participation, the workshop sessions are organized using Kolb’s (1984) Model of Experiential Learning, which posits that experience is the building block of learning. Each session begins with concrete experience (i.e. engaging in an activity), followed by reflective observation (i.e. relating the activity to past experience), abstract conceptualization (i.e. gaining knowledge and skills) and active experimentation (i.e. testing out new skills and abilities). Another theoretical framework that guides the program relates to the concepts of zone of proximal development and scaffolding in Vygotsky’s (1978) social development theory. Vygotsky (1978) defined the zone of proximal development as the distance between the developmental level by independent problem solving and under adult guidance, while scaffolding is the process by which adults tailor their guidance with the just-right support to enable the child to perform at a higher level. “Help Me Play” presents a unique opportunity for occupational therapists to engage in a collaborative consultative model of service delivery in preschool settings to foster children’s social play by collaborating and providing training to preschool teachers.  REFERENCES Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience at the source of learning and development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Vu, J. A., Han, M., & Buell, M. J. (2015). The effects of in-service training on teachers’ beliefs and practices in children’s play. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 23(4), 444–460. doi: 10.1080/1350293X.2015.1087144 Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Disability in the Media for Rehabilitation Professionals: A Pilot Program to Foster Reflective Practice is an innovative program that seeks to encourage rehabilitation professionals at a private pediatric practice to engage in thoughtful discussion about tropes about children with disability. The program will utilize various media sources in order to address the problem of a lack of reflective practice among many rehabilitation professionals and the prevalence of negative tropes about children with disabilities (CWDs), which negatively impact therapeutic relationships and therapeutic outcomes for CWDs. It draws upon extensive literature and evidence from two bodies of knowledge — journal clubs and effective strategies for teaching and fostering reflective practice. The use of journal clubs for independent professional development and skill acquisition has been studied and shown to be effective across many medical fields, including rehabilitation professions such as occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, and physical therapy. Strategies for addressing and reflecting on bias within health care, often with a focus on racial, weight, or age biases, have also been a topic interest within the literature as a way to address health disparities that are associated with bias by health care providers. Using the theoretical lenses of social constructionism and cultivation theory, the proposed program seeks to bring together these two fields of evidence in a unique way to address the threat of biases against people with disabilities within rehabilitation. Program content and structure are outlined, as well as best practice for group logistics and bias reduction strategies. A plan for funding, implementing, disseminating, and expanding the reach of the program is outlined.

Incarcerated women face increased barriers to successful community reintegration, often including a history of trauma and poor coping skills. Using a composite of several theories, the author’s proposed model of the problem states that as women return to the community following incarceration, maladaptive thought processes and decreased problem solving abilities may lead to detrimental behavior resulting in recidivism. The author suggests that an occupational therapy emotion regulation and problem solving program beginning in prison and continuing into the community will afford women the skills necessary to respond appropriately to stressors and prevent recidivism. Phase one of the proposed program consists of six modules introduced in three-hour weekly sessions in the prison environment, which will focus on emotion regulation and problem solving strategy development. Phase two of the program begins after the women have reentered the community and consists of monthly individual visits between the occupational therapy facilitator and participants. In addition, weekly phone calls will be initiated to reinforce learned concepts and provide an environment of support. As demonstrated throughout the author’s proposal, this nine-month program has the potential to decrease recidivism, lower taxpayer financial burden, and rebuild damaged communities.

Sensory processing challenges in adults are associated with life experiences, such as anxiety, depression and decreased quality of sleep (Engel-Yeger & Dunn, 2011; Engel-Yeger & Shocat, 2012; Kinnealey & Fuiek, 1999). These life experiences may impact perceptions of Life Balance related to patterns of daily activities to support health, relationships, challenges and identity (Matuska, 2012b). Researchers have reported that life imbalance is associate with decreased well-being and dissatisfaction with life (Eakman, 2015). Literature that connects the sensory integration literature with the life balance literature is just evolving. The aim of this doctoral project was to better understand the potential relationship between sensory processing challenges and life balance and to identify evidence-based interventions to best address the problem of life imbalance for adults with sensory processing challenges. Making Sense of Life Balance, an 8-week intervention program, was developed using the results of the literature review. The intervention incorporates four key components: an interview that focuses on the participant’s sensory needs as well as current coping strategies, goal-setting with development of an action plan, co-active coaching for problem solving, as well as use of journal for tracking strategies and reflecting on life balance. The intervention is designed to facilitate reflection and problem solving to identify effective coping strategies, increase use of effective coping strategies, increase self-efficacy regarding self-management of sensory needs, and, ultimately increase perception of life balance.

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability (Benjamin et al., 2017) and patients with this diagnosis have been found to have higher incidences of inappropriately long hospital lengths of stay (McDonagh, Smith, & Goddard, 2000). Generalist training in occupational therapy curriculum coupled with variable research utilization (Dysart & Tomlin, 2002; McKenna et al., 2005) leads to inconsistent methods of evaluation and decreased communication between providers across settings. Furthermore, there are currently no standardized discharge planning models or guidelines for clinicians to follow when evaluating patients or making recommendations (Ilett, Brock, Graven, & Cotton, 2010). An evidence-informed discharge planning model was created to address these issues. This model utilizes a multidisciplinary approach, with guidelines for selecting and administering evaluations to quantify a patient’s functional status. Assessments are clustered into four domains: activities of daily living, balance and mobility, cognition, and other (i.e. visual inattention, motor control and spasticity). These assessments supplement a basic patient evaluation, and results are used to guide clinical decision making regarding recommendations for the next level of care. Stroke rehabilitation and care cannot be standardized, but the methods used to select measures and make discharge recommendations should have distinct guidelines. By choosing from a core set of measures, clinicians can use a common “language” to describe patient function and measure progress across settings over time. This will ensure patients are discharged to the appropriate level of rehabilitation to optimize their recovery, and it will also help prevent excessively long hospital admissions.

Social and political movements over the past few decades have contributed to the need for more occupational therapy (OT) services in the community for mental health, wellness, recovery from substance use disorder, and homelessness. There has been a sharp increase in the number of OT educational programs since the 1970s, as well as a paradigm shift from a medical model to a socio-political or community service model that is more in keeping with the original principles of OT. Yet only 2% of occupational therapists currently work in the community. All of these factors have contributed to a severe shortage of fieldwork (FW) sites, especially in the community. To address the need for more FW sites to train students for practice in the community, a best practice model for community-based Level II FW was created. The goals of the Level II FW program are to support the development of a student’s unique professional identity and to prepare students for entry-level practice. Because there will be limited supervision by a fieldwork educator (FWEd) on-site, the model is based on the principles of Adult Learning Theory including self-directed learning (SDL), collaborative learning, and experiential learning with self-reflection. The components of the program include an online, interactive wiki-based website that will be accessible to the FWEd and students both on- and off-site. The website will include manuals for both the students and FWEd as well as training modules, site-specific objectives, and student self-assessments. Reflective sessions and journals will also be included in the FW experience. A student’s readiness for SDL will be determined prior to the beginning of FW by using the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale for Nursing Education. Goal Attainment Scaling will be used to encourage SDL and to provide a structured progression of goal competency attainment for entry-level practice. Students will also complete a pre- and post-fieldwork survey. Dissemination of this model to administrators of potential FW sites will hopefully increase the number of FW programs that can offer students an experience focused not only on the health and well-being of individuals, but of communities and populations.