Advancement of Clinical Skills and Interoceptive Assessments at Cincinnati Children's College Hill Campus

Abstract

Cincinnati Children’s Medical Hospital Center is known throughout the country as one of the leading medical centers for providing current evidence based pediatric care. Every department is responsible for having research teams in charge of finding literature to support best practices being utilized at the clinic. This capstone project aims to create an evidence based binder of interoceptive assessments to bridge the gap between occupational therapy services and mental health settings. The binder was created for the Translating Research and Clinical Knowledge (TRACK) team, a group of occupational therapists at the College Hill campus that work to advance research in mental health. The capstone student also gained clinical skills within a pediatric mental health setting during the capstone experience. Advancing skills in this setting will situate the student as a potential leader to advance the field of mental health into other settings. These skills help to advance the profession of occupational therapy by being able to address mental health during all sessions and settings. The capstone student was able to advance skills through leading group sessions, attending rounds, administering standardized assessments during evaluations, and completing one on one treatment sessions. The capstone student worked alongside other occupational therapists on site to ensure all groups were covered each day and that everyone’s caseload was equal for the day. This capstone project also helped to bring awareness to the work occupational therapists can accomplish in mental health settings.