OTD Capstone Projects

Abstract

This project partnered with Friends Life Community of Nashville, TN, in effort to advocate for, increase meaningful participation in, and promote independence in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the implementation of several training tools. Staff and families at Friends Life expressed a need for more classes in a virtual capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to tools to guide Friends Life staff from an occupational therapy perspective. An occupational therapy-based training module was introduced to promote inclusion and teach activity analysis, goal-setting, and how to adapt tasks and the environment to maximize engagement and independence in occupations. This training module is to be used as professional development for staff, volunteers, and future caregivers of this population, and was created with data collected via interviews with speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, school psychologists, and special education teachers. The online class focused on basic life skills, and demonstrated an improvement in Friends’ soft skills - such as time management and self-awareness - health, and activities of daily living including home management, hygiene, and safety. Both the training module and the class were piloted at Friends Life and edited to maximize effectiveness. Friends Life was provided with electronic and paper versions of both parts of the project to increase sustainability of the project in utilization for future members.

Publication Date

Spring 4-5-2021

Faculty Mentor

Halle King

Department

Occupational Therapy, School of

College

Health Sciences & Nursing, Gordon E. Inman College of

Document Type

Poster

Degree

Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD)

Degree Level

Doctoral

Degree Grantor

Belmont University

Keywords

intellectual and developmental disabilities; life skills; occupational therapy; virtual teaching

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