Events

April 23-26, 2009: AOTA Conference and Expo in Houston, Texas

Several Occupational Therapy faculty members are presenting research at the 2009 AOTA Conference and Expo in Houston, Texas, April 23-26. Below is a list of the presentation topics.

Advancing Dementia Care: Applying the Evidence in Practice. E. Adel Herge, OTD, OTR/L, Catherine Piersol, MS, OTR/L, Tracey Vause-Earland, MS, OTR/L.

The Fieldwork Educator Certificate Program (FWECP). Caryn Johnson, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA.

Home and Community Health Annual Program: Using Evidence to Develop Programs and Improve Outcomes in Home and Community Health. Catherine Verrier Piersol, MS, OTR/L, Carol Siebert, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, Tracey Vause Earland, MS, OTR/L, Karen Vance, OTR.

Infusing Occupational Therapy into Overnight Camping for Children with Disabilities. Ashley Kalman, MS, OTR/L, Audrey Zapletal, MS, OTR/L.

Neuroscience Foundations of Vestibular, Proprioceptive and Tactile Sensory Strategies:  Shelly Lane, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, Roseann Schaaf, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA. 

OT in Dementia Care: From Research to Practice. Janice P. Burke, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Laura N. Gitlin, PhD, Catherine V. Piersol, MS, OTR/L, Tracey Vause Earland, MS, OTR/L.

Preparing Occupational and Physical Therapists for Interprofessional Practice Careers in Early Intervention and School-based Practice Together. Marcia Levinson, PhD, PT, Shelley Wallock, DrPH, OTR/L.

The Use of Kripalu Yoga to Increase Occupational Performance in Sensory Over-Responsive Individuals Across the Lifespan. Kim Mollo, MS, OTR/L, Roseann Schaaf, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA.

Using Participatory Action Research to Develop a Health Promotion Education Program for Individuals with Heart Failure. Stephen B. Kern, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA.

April 17, 2009: OT Awareness Night with the World Series Champions the Phillies!
The third annual OT Night at the Phillies will take place on Friday, April 17, 2009 at 7:05pm when the Phillies take on the San Diego Padres. Tickets are $22.00 each. ($2.00 from each ticket will be donated to the Phillies charity of choice, TBD). Seats are in right field 308 - 310 section.

Occupational Therapy Night at the Phillies - Advance Video (click on link below)

http://occupational-therapy.advanceweb.com/Article/Occupational-Therapy-Night-at-the-Phillies.aspx

April 3, 2009: You’re Invited to Discover OT Day
Want to learn more about Jefferson’s Occupational Therapy program? April 3 is Discover OT Day, a time for prospective and accepted students to participate in simulated labs and lectures, meet current students and faculty and tour the campus. For more information, please contact Eneida Nieves at 215-503-8010 or eneida.nieves@jefferson.edu

March 19, 2009: Clinical Council Day
Philadelphia Region Fieldwork Consortium 15th Annual Clinical Council Day
DATE: March 19, 2009
TIME: 8:30-3:30
LOCATION: Philadelphia University
TOPIC: Reclaim and Reframe: The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework II
RSVP: Space is limited. Contact Cyndi Haynes at HaynesC@philau.edu to register.

March 19, 2009: Intercollegiate OT Night:
On Thursday, March 19, 2009, from 6-9 pm in Jefferson Alumni Hall’s Brent Auditorium, all OT students in the Philadelphia area are invited to mingle and network with other OT faculty, students and employers. This free event includes dinner, a discussion panel featuring a faculty member from each school and information booths and short presentations from local OT employers.

March 14, 2009: Accepted Students Reception
On Saturday March 14th, the Department of Occupational Therapy participated in JSHP’s Accepted Students Reception, an event to which all students who have been accepted to JSHP were invited. Administrators, faculty and current students welcomed the accepted students at an event which consisted of a multi-disciplinary student panel, informal lunch, and campus tour. The guests separated into groups to view departmental presentations and the OT group participated in hands-on OT demonstrations in the Hamilton Building. Several students from the OT program participated in assisting and organizing the event: Samantha Gons, Monique Chabot, Amanda Parezo, Lindsay Hourcade, Gina Gergan and Kirsten Morford.

Faculty News

Adel Herge’s capstone project: Web-based Health Promotion Program Empowers Adults with ID
Adel Herge’s evidence-based OTD project was based on the health disparities experienced by adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). She says, “I developed a web-based health promotion program to empower adults with ID in making lifestyle changes to improve their health status.” She used evidence from the literature as well as input from four adults with ID to develop the program, which was integrated into direct occupational therapy intervention with six adults with ID ranging in age from 31 to 69 for six weeks. Her project was done with clients at ALTEC (www.altecservices.org), a nonprofit agency dedicated to provide individuals with disabilities an opportunity to actively engage in community employment or meaningful day services of their choosing

Arlene Lorch’s capstone project: OT Intervention for Persons with Visual Impairment
In Arlene Lorch’s OTD program capstone project, “Community-Embedded Occupational Therapy Intervention for Persons with Visual Impairment,” she developed and introduced an evidence-based, client-centered occupational therapy program to meet the needs of community-dwelling individuals with visual impairment within a nonprofit, service-based agency in Philadelphia. Program participants received a range of interventions including environmental recommendations, training in the use of adaptive devices and compensatory strategies, visual task practice, social and visual problem-solving activities and self-advocacy skill development. The program evaluation suggests that these methods of intervention were frequently effective in improving visual task performance and in assisting clients to achieve a variety of occupational goals.

Tracey Vause Earland and CARAH Share Tips about Alzheimer’s Disease and Caregivers in AOTA podcast
Tracey Vause Earland joins Catherine Verrier Piersol, MS, OTR/L, Clinical Director of the new Living Laboratory for Elder Care, part of the Jefferson Center for Applied Research on Aging and Health (CARAH), in an AOTA podcast. The pair speaks about Alzheimer’s disease, Alzheimer’s caregivers and how adult caregivers can care for themselves in this 15-minute podcast. Alzheimer’s disease care is a growing specialty within occupational therapy, and Jefferson researchers have a great deal of experience to share. The AOTA podcast series educates consumers about how occupational therapy helps people of all ages live life to its fullest. Each episode addresses a different way in which occupational therapy helps people prevent—or live better after—illness, injury or some form of disability.

Listen here: www.aota.org/consumerPodcasts  (Episode 2)

OTs Teach Medical Students about Splinting and OT Rehab for Fractures
On December 4, 2008, Tina DeAngelis, EdD, OTR/L, and Monica DiVito, CHT, OTR/L, instructed an afternoon workshop with fourth-year medical students doing a rotation in the emergency department at TJUH. The topic was fractures that are commonly seen in the ER, and the OTs taught the med students how to make a basic hand splint, explained other splinting techniques and discussed occupational therapy rehabilitation post injury. Dr. Dale Berg, co-director of the University Clinical Skills and Simulation Center, initiated the workshop, which was held in the Dorrance H. Hamilton Building.

Faculty and Alumni Spoke about Autism on 2008 Alumni Day
The 2008 Alumni Day event, "Updates in Autism: Innovations in Research and Practice," broke all previous attendance records. Speakers included Jefferson faculty and alumni who are locally and nationally recognized researchers and experts on autism, including Cathy Scutta, Audrey Zapletal, Teal Benevides and Roseann Schaaf, who was recently awarded an Autism Speaks grant. As always, the anniversary classes—alumni who graduated in 1998 or 2008—attended for free!

Caryn Johnson Wins Award of Recognition
Caryn Johnson, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, received the prestigious Award ofRecognition at the 2008 Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association annual conference in King of Prussia, Pa. She was recognized for her contributions in the areas of service, education and practice.

Audrey Zapletal and Ashley Kalman Present to Alabama Occupational Therapy Association
At the Alabama Occupational Therapy Association conference held September 5-7, 2008, Audrey Zapletal, MS, OTR/L and Ashley Kalman, occupational therapy student (BSMS class of 2009), presented information about the work of occupational therapists at Camp Dream Street, an overnight camp for children with physical disabilities in Mississippi. 

Audrey’s career choice was driven by her experiences as a counselor at Dream Street, and she has continued to attend the camp every summer since she became an OT. She says, “OTs are an integral part of our camping program because they work to make each of our programs and activities as accessible as possible for our campers.”

In preparation for the presentation to occupational therapists, Audrey and Ashley surveyed camp staff members about different areas of occupational therapy, including where they feel OT has the largest impact on campers. Their presentation included general information about the camp, the role of OTs at the camp and the results of the surveys conducted. The opportunity to share information about Camp Dream Street with therapists from Alabama will hopefully connect more children to the camp and encourage other OTs to work in nontraditional settings.

Adapted from: Streiffer, E., & Goldich, K. (2008). Dream Street presents at Alabama Occupational Therapy Assoc. (ALOTA) conference. The Happiness Runner, Winter 2008, 3.

Student News

Richard Dressel’s poster focuses on Reflections of Health Mentors Program
Richard J. Dressel III, a second-year EMOT student, presented a poster entitled “Reflections on a Longitudinal Interprofessional Mentor: A Qualitative Study” at the Florida Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference held in Orlando, FL, in February.

The phenomenological study described the impact of the Health Mentors Program, a longitudinal, interprofessional mentorship program in chronic illness. Analysis of students’ self-reflections revealed increased knowledge of living with chronic illness and the importance of patient-centered/holistic care. Chronic illness mentorship programs may be a promising tool for the development of high-quality OT practitioners.

Jefferson Sports Medicine Society Seeks OT Participation
Laura Pepper, the OT liaison for Jefferson Sports Medicine Society (JSMS), reports that this student-run organization wants more occupational therapy students—as well as students from all Jefferson disciplines who have an interest in sports medicine. JSMS aims to bring together students from a variety of disciplines to discuss and learn more about sports medicine. JSMS activities include lunchtime lectures by experts in the field, clinics, as well as social and charity events.

Department Happenings Archives