Class Projects
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The Impact of Service Dogs on Engagement in Occupation among Persons with Mobility Impairments: A Phenomenological Study
A requirement for the Master of Science in Occupational Therapy Program at SVSU is to engage in a capstone research project. This research process consists of developing a research proposal and receiving IRB approval in order to implement the research project. I worked with three other classmates on a qualitative study that explored the lives of four service dog owners with mobility impariments that affect their gait or balance. Data was obtained through phone interviews that lasted for 60 to 90 minutes. The interviews were later transcribed and coded. Five major themes were identified: Service dog used as a form of AT, Emotional support, Social context, Unique personalization of service dog, and Extra work caring for service dog. In doing this research project, we discovered that each participant's service dog has a significant impact on their everyday life and their ability to independently perform everyday occupations.
A requirement for the Master of Science in Occupational Therapy Program at SVSU is to engage in a capstone research project. This research process consists of developing a research proposal and receiving IRB approval in order to implement the research project. I worked with three other classmates on a qualitative study that explored the lives of four service dog owners with mobility impariments that affect their gait or balance. Data was obtained through phone interviews that lasted for 60 to 90 minutes. The interviews were later transcribed and coded. Five major themes were identified: Service dog used as a form of AT, Emotional support, Social context, Unique personalization of service dog, and Extra work caring for service dog. In doing this research project, we discovered that each participant's service dog has a significant impact on their everyday life and their ability to independently perform everyday occupations.
Therapy in a Box Occupation-Based Kit
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In our OT 528 Level I Fieldwork for Physical Conditions class, we had to create an occupation-based treatment kit that could be used for patients at our current fieldwork site. I was at Memorial Healthcare so I decided to make a kit called 'Therapy in a Box' because there was one patient at my site who inspired me to make a kit based off scrapbooking since it was one of her favorite occupations to engage in. This kit is extremely versatile and can be used for more than simply scrapbooking. There are various textures within the kit that can be used for individuals with sensory issues or for individuals who are having a difficult time with fine motor tasks and eye-hand coordination tasks. This kit addresses many performance skills including motor and praxis, cognitive, and sensory-perceptual skills.
Snippity-do-dah!
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In our OT 548 Level I Fieldwork for Psychosocial Conditions we had to create an occupation-based treatment kit that could be used for patients at our current fieldwork site. I was at Camp Cardinal Kidz so I chose to work with a classmate and create an occupation-based kit that focused on fine motor skills, primarily eye-hand coordination and scissors skills. This kit is used for the pediatric population and is quite versatile and allows the camp cardinal staff administering the kit to be creative and use it as a tool to work on paper stabilization when cutting, adherence to visual boundaries, color sequencing, tracing with raised boundaries, and learning to cut out different shapes and sizes. This kit addresses motor and praxis, sensory-perceptual, and cognitive skills and performance areas. It works on motor skills because a person needs to manipulate the different materials and works on one’s ability to carry out a learned motor activity including following through on a verbal command or visual-spatial construction. It works on sensory-perceptual skills because an individual utilizes visual, proprioceptive, and tactile senses. In addtion, there are many different types of materials and textures in the kit, which means that an individual will be able to work on many different sensations.