Browsing by Author "White, Debra"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Developmental Playbook, Staff Training, and Resources for Community Child Development Center: Infant to Four-Year-Old Programs
    (2021-04-13) Egnatoff, Emily; Petrenchik, Terry; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; White, Debra
    Researchers suggest that lower levels of socioeconomic status (SES) in children are associated with higher rates of infant mortality (Haider, 2014), higher rates of obesity (Levine, 2011), decreased success in education (Sheridan & McLaughlin, 2016), and have lasting impacts on behavior, learning, and health (Shonkoff & Garner, 2012). Sheridan & McLaughlin (2016) discuss how poverty can negatively affect the child's ability to have more exceptional school achievements, fewer difficulties with academics, and the ability to graduate from high school compared to children not raised in poverty. They found a correlation between the lack of learning experiences before entering school and the impact on memory, language skills, attention span, and unspoken and unambiguous learning processes. The purpose of the capstone project was to provide the Child Development Center (CDC) in a low-income area of Indianapolis with a developmental playbook incorporating age-appropriate play suggestions, educational materials, and additional resources for the child development center staff and the families that they serve to encourage child academic success. Project success was evaluated through the use of quantitative and qualitative data from participants. Due to low teacher response rates, it is not possible to analyze the significance between pre-and post-survey responses. However, in-person qualitative data was obtained to provide insight on project successfulness from the teacher's perspective. Executive staff reported they were extremely satisfied with the materials delivered and presented, and the materials were excellent and valuable to the CDC.
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    Enhancing Educational Programing at an Urban Child Development Center
    (2024) Koss, Ashley; Van Antwerp, Leah; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; White, Debra
    Promoting developmentally appropriate learning is critical to enhancing a child’s education. Child development centers serve as a social and emotional learning opportunity for those that attend. A local child development center strives to promote age-appropriate learning and developmental activity engagement while also meeting the individual needs of diverse learners. After completing a needs assessment, the capstone student and site concluded that providing educators at the center with additional supports and resources for promoting age-appropriate learning and development would be beneficial. This doctoral capstone project was created to provide program enhancement through a trauma-informed care lens while promoting age-appropriate developmental learning. At the conclusion of the capstone experience the student concluded that classroom educators found value in different materials implemented within their rooms and feel as though these materials will increase their confidence in promoting developmentally appropriate learning and play.
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    Environmental Adaptations to Enhance Leisure Participation and Mobility for Senior Program
    (2024-04-23) Hughes, Kelsey; Bednarski, Julie; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; White, Debra
    Providing adequate leisure and social engagement opportunities for the older adult population is a key part to healthy aging. Flanner House is a local community center that has a Senior Program, and their goal is to provide the local older adult population with the means to be active within the community. After assessing the current program, the need for environmental modifications to promote leisure and social participation as well as recruit new members was established. This capstone project used occupational therapy-based models to guide the purpose of the research. Then environmental changes made created a safe environment for the seniors to actively engage in leisure and social activities.
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    Mental Health Among Frontline Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (2021-05-04) Nguyen, Phuong; Bednarski, Julie; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; White, Debra
    Leadership from a local nonprofit organization serving families in Marion County, all of whom face numerous disparities, identified a need for mental health services for their frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveys were distributed to employees were used to investigate the impact this pandemic has had on their occupation, their confidence in managing mental health concerns, and areas of interest based on current in-place structures. Weekly in-services were conducted based on these results. Improvements were observed in exit surveys and feedback; participants reported positive attitudes towards the in-services they attended, desires for future in-services, and that the in-services addressed their desired focus areas. These findings suggest that programs and protocols that prioritize mental health in the workplace have a positive effect on perceived mental and physical health as well as confidence levels in addressing mental health at this site.
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    Pediatric Emotional Regulation and Parental Wellness: An Educational Program at a Child Development Center
    (2023-05-01) Reed, Morgan; Van Antwerp, Leah; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; White, Debra
    Pediatric emotional regulation strategies can facilitate increased emotional development, positive interpersonal relationships, and increased self-efficacy. Caregiver wellness can have a direct impact on a child’s emotional, social, and psychological development. Additionally, staff members at an early childhood development center identified a need to improve students’ emotional regulation abilities and address caregiver wellness through capstone program development. The purpose of this capstone project was to meet the identified needs through the: implementation of a pediatric yoga program and outlining of a caregiver wellness workshop. At the conclusion of the capstone, teachers were satisfied with the yoga implementation, believed it helped promote emotional regulation development in the students, and stated they had a high likelihood of continuing yoga sessions after the capstone. The capstone student identified common caregiver stressors, which in turn highlighted client-centered topics to be considered for a caregiver wellness workshop.
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    Sensory-Based Resources and Lesson Plans for Community Child Development Center: A Doctoral Capstone Project
    (2022-05-01) Brown, Hannah; Van Antwerp, Leah; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; White, Debra
    Sensory processing challenges make it difficult for a child to learn, concentrate, socialize, and engage in daily school-related activities. To effectively understand sensory processing challenges and the impact they may have on academic success, teachers must have a working knowledge of sensory processing. This project aimed to enhance early childhood education teachers' knowledge and understanding of sensory-based topics using a coaching approach. For this project, coaching involved helping teachers develop awareness, knowledge, and skills through the creation of sensory-based resources and the implementation of sensory-based lesson plans. Results from the qualitative data analysis indicated that coaching effectively facilitated learning and increased teachers' awareness of sensory processing differences, knowledge and understanding of sensory-based topics, and implementation of sensory strategies within the classroom. This project adds to the growing body of research to support the use of coaching for professional development in early education settings.
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    Supporting Infant Motor Development in a Community-Based Child Care Setting
    (2023-05) Byrn, Hannah E.; Van Antwerp, Leah; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; White, Debra
    As the first year of life is a critical period for motor development, infants require support from caregivers to maximize their development to promote occupational engagement. In community-based child care centers, a lack of knowledge and confidence can inhibit teachers from following best practices guidelines for supporting infant motor development in the classroom. This capstone project aimed to increase teacher knowledge of infant motor development and confidence in building motor skills in the classroom through education and modeling of activities. Results from quantitative and qualitative data analysis revealed that education and modeling increased teacher knowledge and confidence in supporting infant motor development. This project adds to the growing body of research that supports teacher education as an effective method for supporting infant motor development in child care settings.
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    A Virtual Program Continuation for a Community Senior Program
    (2022-05-02) Lester, Lauren; Bednarski, Julie; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; White, Debra
    A community facility within the Indianapolis area presented with a need to have the capability to continue their senior program through a pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic presented many challenges with social distancing restrictions causing closures throughout the community to include the senior program. The OT (occupational therapy) student formed collaboration groups with an IUPUI informatics team and the IUPUI 2023 OT cohort to complete the project of building a virtual program for the senior program and creating educational videos. A literature review was completed to support the need of the senior program, the use of technology and older adults, support of health literature and the need for OT in this program. The OT student worked closely with the senior program staff, the informatics group and the 2023 cohort, gaining and improving clinical skills such as leadership, advocacy, and communication. The OT student used the Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) model throughout the project to ensure fit of the design of the webpage and its features and to increase accessibility to occupations to maintain occupational load for the older adult population. The end result of the project is assessed by the informatics students and their education gained by completion of the project. The interprofessional collaboration allowed the informatics students to gain knowledge on the scope of occupational therapy and the effectiveness of interprofessional collaboration. The evaluation of the virtual webspace was unable to be obtained during the timeframe of this project and will be assessed at a later date.
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    A Virtual Program Continuation for a Community Senior Program
    (2022-05) Lester, Lauren; Bednarski, Julie; Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences; White, Debra
    A community facility within the Indianapolis area presented with a need to have the capability to continue their senior program through a pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic presented many challenges with social distancing restrictions causing closures throughout the community to include the senior program. The OT (occupational therapy) student formed collaboration groups with an IUPUI informatics team and the IUPUI 2023 OT cohort to complete the project of building a virtual program for the senior program and creating educational videos. A literature review was completed to support the need of the senior program, the use of technology and older adults, support of health literature and the need for OT in this program. The OT student worked closely with the senior program staff, the informatics group and the 2023 cohort, gaining and improving clinical skills such as leadership, advocacy, and communication. The OT student used the Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) model throughout the project to ensure fit of the design of the webpage and its features and to increase accessibility to occupations to maintain occupational load for the older adult population. The end result of the project is assessed by the informatics students and their education gained by completion of the project. The interprofessional collaboration allowed the informatics students to gain knowledge on the scope of occupational therapy and the effectiveness of an interprofessional collaboration. The evaluation of the virtual webspace was unable to be obtained during the timeframe of this project and will be assessed at a later date.