Browsing by Author "Gibbons, Molly"

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    Exploring Occupational Therapy’s Role in Optimizing Positive Sensory Experiences in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
    (2024) Gibbons, Molly; Nguyen, Elizabeth; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; Bushur, Stephanie
    Admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a psychologically and physically distressing experience for infants and their families (Givrad et al., 2021). Prolonged exposure to increased stress and overstimulation among preterm infants can have negative short- and long-term effects on health status, growth, and development (Sathish et al., 2019). This capstone project was completed at a level III NICU in central Indiana, with the purpose of increasing awareness and education related to the sensory experiences that preterm infants are exposed to in the NICU. In collaboration with the site, the capstone student aimed to address an existing gap through the creation of evidence-based educational materials and a comprehensive assessment of the sound environment within the NICU. NICU nursing staff were engaged in an educational in-service to discuss the findings of the capstone project and ways to support the creation of a healing environment as it relates to noise levels in the NICU. Through project evaluation, results indicated a positive trend in nursing staff’s knowledge and understanding as it relates to the sensory environment and ways to incorporate positive sensory experiences. Overall, the project had a positive impact on the capstone site as all participants agreed that the information provided was valuable and pertinent to the care of infants in the NICU.
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    Occupation-Based Group Interventions Impacting Social Participation For Autistic Children and Adolescents: A Rapid Systematic Review
    (2022-05) Oleshchuk, Oksana; Legue, Anna; Gibbons, Molly; Banks, Riley; Chase, Tony; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences
    This rapid systematic review examines the literature on effective group interventions targeting social participation in autistic children and adolescents. Autistic youth often receive occupational therapy with social participation being a distinct targeted outcome. However, recent advocacy has introduced a need for reducing social skills training in favor of client-centered social participation, which can be done through the lens of occupational therapy’s unique core values. This review provides an overview and analysis of 20 studies that addressed a wide range of occupation-based group interventions in the areas of art, play, physical activity, school-based, and social skills group training (SSGT). Findings reveal moderate strength of evidence for the use of occupation-based group interventions in enhancing social participation in autistic children and adolescents, limited mostly by lack of blinding in studies. This review supports the use of group occupation-based interventions which can widen, inform, and guide the intervention approaches for occupational therapy practitioners working with this population.