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Educational Development Program for Caregivers of Acquired Brain Injury
Get PDFAcquired brain injury (ABI) disrupts normal brain function and often requires caregivers to assist with daily tasks. One-third of ABI caregivers experience burnout and psychological distress within a year of the injury, primarily due to decreased confidence, education, and social support. This burnout can significantly affect caregivers\u27 emotional, social, financial, physical, and spiritual well-being. The purpose of the proposed capstone is to aid in preventing caregiver burnout and burden by empowering caregivers through education.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2025/1012/thumbnail.jp
Educating Occupational Therapy Students on the Role, Scope, and Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services in End-of-Life Care
Get PDFPatients at the end-of-life (EoL) experience a decline in body functions and performance skills along with challenges in maintaining occupational roles, routines, habits, and performance patterns (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2020). Despite their decline, patient want to continue to participate in their chosen occupations, which are unfulfilled due to the role, scope, and delivery of OT services in EoL care being misunderstood by OT students and practitioners, healthcare professionals, patients, families, and caregivers (Hammill et al., 2019; Knecht-Sabres et al., 2019; Mueller et al., 2021). There is a need for increased education and training so OT students can better understand their role in EoL care.
To address this problem, an EoL care simulation was developed to educate OT students on the role, scope, and delivery of OT services within this population. The purpose of this simulation was to provide OT students with hands-on experience in evaluating and treating individuals at the EoL and educating and training their caregivers. This capstone project aspires to improve OT students\u27 understanding of the role of OT in EoL care and overall improve OT practice in EoL care. Ultimately, this project can broaden OT practice and the scope of EoL care to comprehensively meet the needs of terminally ill patients and their families.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2025/1016/thumbnail.jp
The Inner Blueprint: Unlocking Your 24/7 Potential
Get PDFInner Blueprint is a trauma-informed, occupation-based intervention designed to address the complex needs of adolescent girls with histories of trauma, substance use, and mental health conditions. Grounded in occupational science, the program emphasizes the integration of brain function, sensory processing, emotional regulation, and hormonal influence to promote self-awareness, resilience, identity development, self-worth, and functional independence. The intervention incorporates manualized content delivered through interactive group activities, reflective exercises, and routine-based skill building to support gains in emotional regulation, self-concept development, and daily life performance. A central therapeutic emphasis is placed on enhancing interoceptive awareness and empowering participants to recognize that their brain, body, emotions, and hormonal systems are not only interconnected but also continuously accessible and modifiable. The concept of having 24/7 access to these internal resources is critical in adolescent trauma recovery, offering a sense of control, autonomy, and hope, key elements in restoring agency and promoting sustained healing. Preliminary implementation of Inner Blueprint demonstrated high participant engagement and qualitative improvements in emotional regulation, self-awareness, and the application of learned strategies across contexts. This program highlights the essential role of occupational therapy in adolescent trauma recovery and supports its expanded integration within interdisciplinary mental health care.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2025/1033/thumbnail.jp
Early Intervention Pediatric Adaptive Sports Program
Get PDFThis doctoral capstone focused on developing a community-based program to improve access to pediatric adaptive sports for children with physical disabilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area. A needs assessment of families, occupational therapists, and recreational therapists revealed significant gaps in awareness and accessibility of entry-level adaptive sports programs. In response, a multi-component program was developed, including a centralized resource website (DFWAdaptiveSports.com), an educational outreach initiative for families and providers, and a six-week introductory adaptive sports curriculum. Guided by the Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP) model, the program aims to increase participation, promote social and motor development, and reduce barriers to community-based recreation for this underserved population.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2025/1053/thumbnail.jp
Enhancing Concussion Management: Addressing the Needs of Student-Athletes, Coaches, and Occupational Therapy Practitioners
Get PDFThere are limited educational resources available on concussion management for occupational therapy practitioners, coaches, and student-athletes which can limit access to comprehensive occupational therapy services for clients who have sustained a concussion, ultimately hindering participation in sport and overall wellbeing. The purpose of this capstone was to develop a comprehensive guidebook for coaches and student-athletes and a comprehensive handbook for occupational therapy practitioners to raise awareness in concussion education and clarify occupational therapy\u27s role on a multidisciplinary concussion management team. This project addresses the growing need for concussion education among student-athletes and coaches, improves understanding of concussion signs and symptoms, raises awareness about adaptations, reinforces the importance of following safe return to play protocols, and focuses on the contributions of occupational therapy practitioners in concussion management.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2025/1043/thumbnail.jp
Parenting with Peace: A Childhood Anxiety Education Program
No full textThe Parenting with Peace education program offers a comprehensive education program to parents of children with Anxiety. The program delves into the topics of self-regulation, emotional regulation, etc. The program offers parents information on each topic, information on how parenting impacts the topic, and at-home interventions that parents can engage in to help support their child. The program can help parents address the goal of improving competency about childhood anxiety symptoms and self-regulation techniques, improving their ability to engage in the occupation of caregiver.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2025/1056/thumbnail.jp
Exploring the Lived Experience of Growing up with a Neurodivergent Sibling
Get PDFNeurotypical siblings of neurodivergent children often experience unique roles, responsibilities, and emotional challenges within their family systems, yet their needs are frequently overlooked in service delivery models. This mixed methods study explored the lived experiences of individuals who grew up with neurodivergent siblings, focusing on the occupations, routines, and play experiences that shaped their development. Four themes emerged through thematic analysis of survey responses and semi-structured interviews: (1) play as a reconstructed experience, (2) role imbalance in daily life, (3) environmental influences on occupational engagement, and (4) navigating emotional demands. Findings highlight the need for occupational therapists to include neurotypical siblings in family-centered care by addressing their emotional and occupational needs. Future directions include developing structured support programs and sibling-inclusive interventions to promote well-being, role balance, and engagement within the family system.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2025/1066/thumbnail.jp
Occupational Therapy for Participation in Spirituality for Individuals With Cancer: A Scoping Review
Get PDFThe incidence of cancer continues to rise. For many individuals with cancer, spirituality is an important part of life. Spirituality impacts the individual’s meaning, purpose, self-identity, occupational engagement, occupational performance, and quality of life. However, there are sometimes barriers to participation in religions activities. Occupational therapy (OT) is indicated when people have barriers to participation. However, spirituality is not consistently addressed in OT practice and OT practitioners may not feel comfortable in addressing barriers to participation in spiritual activities among their clients with cancer. Objective: Scoping review methodology was used to answer the research question, how are OT practitioners addressing the barriers and challenges to participation in spirituality of clients with cancer? Design: A scoping review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses -Scoping Review (PRISMA ScR) guidelines. Online databases were searched to identify literature from the years 2000-2025. Nine articles met the inclusion criteria. Data was charted based on constructs of the OT process and the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement (CMOP-E). Results: Most of the identified literature used qualitative methods. OT practitioners were aware of the clients’ needs and outcomes per OT referral. The impact of each intervention on the individual with cancer was illustrated as themes within the components of the CMOP-E. The themes illustrated within the majority were strength found through spiritual beliefs, hope, and/or faith, coping with cancer, social support, physical symptoms associated with cancer, as well as the program/hospital rules and regulations. OT practitioners address the barriers and challenges to participation in spiritual activities by creating a tailored treatment plan for the individual through the completion of each component of the OT Process and the identified spiritual interventions.
Conclusions: Through the guidance and support of the OT practitioner, spiritual interventions were used to treat the individual from a holistic perspective to address the barriers and challenges individuals with cancer face. The spiritual interventions fostered meaning, purpose, occupational participation in spirituality, self-identity, self-worth, and overall quality of life.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2025/1072/thumbnail.jp
Expanding Occupational Therapists’ Role in Youth Adaptive Sports: A Comprehensive Guidebook
No full textChildren with disabilities are less likely to participate in adaptive sports or physical activity than typically developing children, despite the proven benefits adaptive sports provide for physical, social, and emotional well-being. Adaptive sports can be modified to accommodate a variety of ability levels and can improve quality of life (QoL) of children with disabilities through enhanced mobility, social participation, and self efficacy. However many occupational therapists (OTs) underutilize adaptive sports within their practice and are unaware of their role in promoting participation and of resources within their community. Guided by the Synthesis of Child, Occupational Performance, and Environment in Time (SCOPE-IT) frame of reference, this project explores how OTs can be advocates for, support, and facilitate access to adaptive sports for children with disabilities. By providing OTs with community resources within the San Antonio community, this guidebook aims to bridge knowledge gaps, empower OTs to advocate and integrate adaptive sports into their scope of practice, and overall enhance the QoL for children with disabilities.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonessummer2025/1021/thumbnail.jp
Best Practice Toolkit for Burnout Prevention in Emergency Department Nurses
No full textPractice Problem: Burnout Syndrome (BS) is a serious problem in emergency department (ED) nurses and is associated with higher nurse turnover rates. A burnout prevention toolkit is needed.
PICOT: The project was guided by the following PICO question: For emergency department nurses (P), how does the development of the best practice burnout prevention toolkit (I), compared to the absence of a structured intervention (C), support the establishment of nurse burnout best practices when evaluated using the CDC Program Evaluation Framework? (O) .
Evidence: The analysis of the literature supported the implementation of active interventions in the form of workshops.
Intervention: A Best Practice Burnout Prevention (BPBP) toolkit was developed to enable ED nurses to assess, implement active interventions, and reassess BS. A subject matter expert (SME) questionnaire ensured compliance with the CDC Program Evaluation Framework.
Outcome: The CDC Program Evaluation Framework supported the BPBP toolkit for interventions and any needed adjustments in practice to prevent BS in ED nurses.
Conclusion: This project presents the design of a BPBP toolkit based on the best practices from the literature to help prevent nursing BS in the ED. SMEs analyzed how the CDC program evaluation framework was used as an evaluation instrument to support the toolkit .
Keywords: nursing burnout, toolkit development, emergency departmen