9667 research outputs found
Sort by
Conf(ID)ence in Connection: Social Skills and Self-Empowerment Modules Tailored for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities
No full textImplementing educational workshops aimed at enhancing social and life skills in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) can significantly benefit their confidence, mental health, and overall well-being. This doctoral capstone project addresses the gaps in services that arise when adolescents transition from pediatric care to adulthood, highlighting the need for education on becoming valuable members of society. The seven workshops included in this project focused on positive affirmations, emotions, mindfulness, sensory integration, respect, boundaries, and self-care. Each workshop was designed to promote participation from all members and incorporated a blend of visual, auditory, and physical activities. To ensure sustainability after the capstone student's involvement concluded, the program materials were given to Adaptive Recreation. The workshops were successfully tested in classroom settings, with approximately 15 participants in each session and a total of three sessions held each day. The effectiveness of the project was assessed using pretest and posttest surveys administered to the staff, which demonstrated positive outcomes. This capstone project represents a significant advancement in fostering social and life skills among adults with intellectual disabilities.Adaptive Recreation Cente
Multimodal group rehabilitation improves function in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)
No full textObjectives: To examine the effect of a multimodal group program on gait speed, grip strength, quality of life, daily life function, cognition, and fatigue in POTS.
Design: A retrospective, longitudinal analysis on 19 individuals with POTS. Testing at preintervention, postintervention, and at 3-month follow-up.
Setting: Outpatient therapy clinic at a community hospital.
Participants: Inclusion criteria were English-speaking individuals with POTS, aged 18-60, who could walk at least 3 minutes without postexertional malaise or an unmanaged psychiatric disorder. A convenience sample was recruited via electronic flyers on social media, paper flyers, and word-of-mouth through local providers in the community. A total of 23 participants met the criteria and began the program, and 20 completed the study and testing. Attrition was due to family emergency (1), schedule issues (1), health challenges not associated with the study (1), and one participant completed the training but did not attend follow-up testing. Analysis was conducted on 19 female participants, an average of 28.63 years (SD, 11.03) old.
Interventions: The intervention included fifty-minute sessions over 8 consecutive weeks. Each session involved education, movement, and mindful self-compassion. Education included lectures on nonpharmacologic management of POTS. Movement included Pilates and pole walking.
Main Outcome Measures: Lower Extremity Functional Sale, Rand 36-Item Health Survey, Modified Fatigue Impact Scale, Trail Making Test A & B, 10 Meter Walk Test, dynamometer.
Results: Significant improvement was noted on several outcome measures, analyzed using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test comparing values at pre to 3 months post (follow-up). The multimodal group intervention improved grip strength in the dominant (Z=−2.864, P<.01) and nondominant (Z=−3.006, P<.01) hand and gait speed at both the comfortable pace (Z=−2.373, P<.05) and fast pace (Z=−2.504, P<.05). Energy was improved in psychological (Z=−3.238, P=.001), physical (Z=−2.305, P<.05), and cognitive (Z=−2.206, P<.05) fatigue. Cognitive performance increased most notably at the complex task (Z=−3.724, P<.001) along with function (Z=−1.962, P<.01). Quality of life significantly improved, including physical functioning (Z=−2.138, P<.05), emotional well-being (Z=−2.211, P<.05), role limitations due to physical health (Z=−1.975, P<.05), energy levels (Z=−3.354, P<.001), social functioning (Z=−2.663, P<.01), and general health (Z=−2.684, P<.01).
Conclusions: This cohort showed significant benefit from a multimodal group rehabilitation intervention for POTS in the areas of gait speed, grip strength, fatigue, cognition, function in daily life, and quality of life. Further studies are indicated with a larger number of participants to generalize to the clinical population.
Disclosures: none
Physical Outcomes of a Dance Program for Children with Cerebral Palsy
No full textMy capstone project was a continuation of research on an adaptive dance program, called DANCE!, at Scottish Rite for Children. My project involved planning and running a week-long dance camp for children with cerebral palsy. I specifically focused on the physical outcomes of the program and changes necessary for sustainability. The capstone paper discusses my experience facilitating the camp, and the poster details the experience and outcomes of DANCE! for one participant.Scottish Rite for Childre
Grow Your Own Way: A Program for Leisure-Based Activity & Harm Reduction in the Homeless Population
No full textThis capstone project demonstrates the vital role that OT can play in the homeless population through wellness promotion; evidenced by providing interventions to promote engagement in meaningful activities to aid in recovery and prevention for individuals struggling with and at-risk for mental health and substance abuse challenges.Our Daily Brea
Hypertrophic aide by limb occlusion to mitigate muscle atrophy in spaceflight
No full textLong-duration spaceflight can elicit increases in muscle disuse, thereby leading to a decrease in muscle mass. The consequences of these negative effects include decreases in muscle strength and mobility, and an increase in injury risk. The large muscle groups of the lower body are particularly susceptible to these adaptations.
PURPOSE: To design, fabricate, and test a compact device that allows for blood flow restriction to be implemented during resistance training in spaceflight to promote muscle hypertrophy and aid in muscle recovery.
METHODS: The custom device was originally designed in three-dimensional modeling software (Solidworks Premium, Waltham, MA). Components of the device included: a cuff and associated airbag, DC motors, microcontroller, motor board, and lithium-ion battery. To code the device, C++ and Arduino IDE software were used. The device was programmed to inflate to 140 mmHg (3 DC motors on motor pins 1-3), maintain inflation for 15 minutes, and deflate (1 DC motor on motor pin 4). Testing of hypertrophic aide by limb occlusion (HALO) was completed using a repeated measures design. Two young, untrained, female participants completed three visits: 1) baseline; 2) exercise without the HALO; and 3) exercise with the HALO. At baseline, a blood sample was collected from the antecubital space. Then, a 1-repetition maximum (1-RM) was determined for 5 key exercises: 1) back squat; 2) Romanian deadlift; 3) deadlift; 4) single-leg heel raise; and 5) single-leg knee extension. For at least 5 days prior to the baseline session, no structured exercise was performed. For the second visit, which occurred at least 2 days later, a blood sample was collected first. Then, the five exercises were performed, at an intensity of 70% 1-RM and a duration of 24 reps over 3 sets. For the third visit with the HALO, which occurred at least 5 days later, a blood sample was collected first. Then, the five exercises were again performed, at an intensity of 35% 1-RM and a duration of 75 reps over 4 sets. Serum concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were measured during each blood draw and later analyzed.
RESULTS: Both participants completed all data collection procedures. When the airbag was deflated, the pressure read 0 mmHg. When inflated, the pressure in the airbag was approximately 140 mmHg. There was a slight delay in the time to reach the peak pressure due to the DC motor performance at that point. There was a 41.4% increase and 53.2% decrease, in VEGF concentrations from exercise without the HALO to exercise with the HALO in participants 1 and 2, respectively.
CONCLUSION: The HALO device, which provides blood flow restriction during resistance exercise in spaceflight, may allow for enhanced training adaptations for astronauts. It is worth noting that inter- individual responses to exercise were evident with the study protocol
Safe Steps to Aging in Place: A Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults
No full textA fall prevention program, consisting of both education and exercise, was created for community-dwelling older adults at Casa Feliz. The goals of the program were to empower participants with preventive strategies and decrease their fear of falling.Wesley-Rankin Community Cente
A Community-Based Approach to Fall Risk Reduction and Polypharmacy Management in Older Adults: The Senior Health Balance Program at NAM
No full textFalls are a leading cause of injury among older adults, often worsened by issues like poor balance and polypharmacy. This capstone project involved creating and implementing the Senior Health Balance program at Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM), a community-based fall prevention program focused on exercise and medication management. Guided by the Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) model, the program used screenings, group classes, individualized plans, and educational handouts to reduce fall risks and improve occupational engagement. Results showed high initial fall risk among participants, with improvements in mobility, strength, and confidence reported after participation.Northwest Assistance Ministrie
Supporting Learning and Behavior: Implementing Sensory Processing Tools for Caregivers and Educators
No full textThe student’s doctoral capstone project focused on developing a program to help educate staff on understanding the impact that sensory processing deficits can have on children’s learning, participation, and behavior. Teaching staff the signs of sensory processing deficits and the benefits of sensory integration can provide guidance to provide necessary input to the child to promote learning and participation in the classroom and overall behavior. Once the childcare providers were educated on sensory integration, they were provided with a book of sensory integration activities to be utilized as a toolkit.New Generation Childcare Cente
Nurse leadership style, work-related well-being, and intent to leave per newly licensed registered nurses
No full textNewly licensed nurses, particularly within their first three years after residency, face heightened experiential barriers. These challenges are complex and often place unique demands that nurse leaders are unprepared for. Even the most novice nurse may find themselves in precarious leadership-like positions, causing feelings of inadequacy, and initiating a planned departure from their current employment situation. The selected style of leadership utilized by nurse managers is believed to have a substantial impact on nurses’ quality of life and wellbeing within their work environment. The critical nursing shortage exists despite the matriculation and graduation rate nationally, so understanding causation is paramount in a national effort focused on retention. A descriptive correlational study design was used to examine the survey responses of Newly Licensed Registered Nurses (NLRNs) related to their perceived work-related well-being (WRWB), leadership style (LS), and intent to leave (ITL) the nursing profession.
NLRNs (N=144) were recruited via social media postings and snowball sampling. Predominately female at 78% and men at 22%, the age range most dominant was 24-29 years and representing 54% of the participant population. Participants who achieved an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) degree as their initial license represented 41%, while Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) led the majority at 59%. A strong representation from 11 different practice settings was found, however five were dominant and were located outside of the tradition acute care hospital setting A multiple regression analysis was used to identify a significant relationship between LS, WRWB, and ITL in newly licensed registered nurses. Results indicated that the overall model was significant, F(2, 141) = 112, p = <.001, and accounted for 61% of the variance in ITL. Of the predictors, both LS and WRWB were significant. Based on the negative regression coefficient, LS was the strongest predictor of a nurses ITL, β = .61, p = <.001 (Yeatts et al., 2016; Grande, 2019; Checking Assumptions for Regression Models in SPSS, 2017). Considering demographic data, NLRNs who were in their mid-late 20’s and obtained a BSN degree for their initial RN license were significantly linked as predictors of intent to leave. This study supports the presence of strong leadership styles is needed to develop and sustain WRWB in NLRNs, consequently reducing their intention to leave and increasing retention
They’re There for Me if I Ever Need Anything: Experiences of Family Involvement for First-Generation Latino Men in College
No full textThis phenomenological study focused on the family involvement experiences of 10 first-generation Latino men in college using theoretical concepts from familial capital (the asset of having family) of Yosso’s community cultural wealth model and developing person (first-generation Latino men in college) and microsystem (family) of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory. The research question that guided this study was: What are first-generation, Latino male college students’ experiences of family involvement in their college education? A semi-structured interview and demographic questionnaire were completed, and descriptive, in vivo, and pattern codings were used to analyze the data. Analysis yielded three themes: 1) they just weren’t able to help me out, 2) they’re just my biggest motivators, and 3) they’re always going to at least have my back. Results were compared with existing literature and implications along with practice and future research recommendations are presented