UIC OT Progress Notes: Fall 2015

UIC Department of Occupational Therapy

Progress Notes University of Illinois at Chicago

Fall 2015

From the Desk of the Department Head Dear Readers, It is with great pleasure that we share with you some highlights from the last six months. We are thrilled that Dr. Mary Khetani has joined our department. She brings important expertise in pediatric occupational therapy research.

Fall 2015 proved to be very productive for our department. Faculty were awarded several research and training grants that we will highlight in these pages. We allocated the highest number of student travel awards, allowing students to attend conferences. We also had three post-professional OTD students graduate this fall.

Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar Professor and Head

Please save a few dates to join us at events we will be hosting this spring.

During the AOTA conference in Chicago, Apr. 7-10, we'll host an alumni reception and our college will host its second CE Day with the Vivette Rifkin Lecture on Apr. 16. I hope to see many of you at these events.

New OT Faculty Mary A. Khetani, ScD, OTR/L, joined the UIC Department of Occupational Therapy in September 2015. Dr. Khetani holds affiliate research appointments at the Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS) in Colorado and at the CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research in Canada. She earned her MA in occupational therapy from the University of Southern California and her ScD in rehabilitation sciences from Boston University. Dr. Khetani completed her postdoctoral training at the Slone Epidemiology Center in Boston prior to accepting her first faculty position at Colorado State University. During her tenure at CSU (2011-2015), she also held an affiliate faculty appointment in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies.

Mary Khetani Assistant Professor

Dr. Khetani directs the Children’s Participation in Environment Research Lab (CPERL), which contributes to interdisciplinary and multisite research relevant to pediatric occupational therapy practice, with particular emphasis on service systems that are relevant to the early childhood period. Current research in CPERL focuses on developing, testing and applying caregiver questionnaires that are promising parent-reported outcomes (PROs), and building a web-based care planning guide for use by caregivers to support collaborative care planning.

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New Grants/Funded Research Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar was awarded a second year of competitive funding from The Chicago Community Trust for her project on Healthy Families: A Community Coalition to Promote Healthy Lifestyles among Latino Youth with Disabilities and their Families. Her Co-PI on this grant is Dr. Angela Odoms-Young, associate professor in our college's Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition. Several OT students and UIC Honors College students are working on this project. The photo at right illustrates the students and some of the project participants at El Valor, our community partner in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

Yolanda was also the recipient of a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to fund her project, "Advanced Training in Transitional and Community-Engaged Scholarship to Improve Community Living and Participation of People with Disabilities." Her co-PIs in our college's departments of Disability and Human Development and Physical Therapy, this training grant will bring several postdoctoral fellows to the college.

Congratulations to Liz Peterson who is co-investigator of a recently funded, $2.5 million, three-year grant titled ENGAGE-IL (ENhancement of Geriatric Care for All through TraininG and Empowerment). The project was funded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Adminisgtration, as part of its Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, which aims to integrate geriatrics into primary care. The grant builds on the earlier efforts undertaken by PI Valerie Gruss from the UIC College of Nursing, co-PI Memoona Hasnain from the UIC College of Medicine, and other members of UIC’s Collaborative for Excellence in Interprofessional Education, of which Liz is a founding member. The award will establish UIC as a leader in interprofessional education, training and practice.

Susan Magasi is the principal investigator on a 12-month intervention development grant from the American Occupational Therapy Foundation. The purpose of this community- based participatory research study is to develop and field-test an educational intervention, co-facilitated by an occupational therapist and a disability peer to build the capacity of people with newly acquired physical disabilities to negotiate the primary healthcare system.

Susan is also a co-principal investigator on a three-year study from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute. As part of the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative, a $17 million initiative, Susan and her team are developing, CanConnect, a social media-based mobile app that will enable people recently diagnosed with cancer who have pre-existing disabilities to receive one-to-one peer support from a matched disabled cancer survivor mentor. The research team will use a communitybased participatory research approach.

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Other News From Faculty

During the week of Oct. 26, Trine Magne, Malin Eerola and Kjersti Vik, faculty members from Sør-Trøndelag University College in Trondheim, Norway (pictured at left with Liz Peterson) visited our department to learn more about our educational and research programming, and to explore opportunities for collaboration.

As part of her role as the Wade/Meyer Endowed Chair, Joy Hammel traveled to Trondheim, Norway, to deliver the keynote address at a conference on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), a framework for organizing information on functioning and disability. Eighty people attended from diverse disciplines, focusing on participation-focused interventions. She also consulted with Sør-Trøndelag University College, aiming to set up international exchanges and collaborative research.

Additionally, Joy was awarded a contract from the State of Illinois Division of Mental Health Services to conduct OT functional and community living assessments of 70 people with psychiatric disabilities who are transitioning out of IMDs (institutional settings) to the community as part of the Williams Consent Decree. Joy now has a team of OTRs with mental health experience trained in the PASS community living assessment and conducting these assessments. Celeste Januszewski, faculty member and recent OTD graduate, is coordinating these assessments.

News from UIH Clinicians

Alejandra Villanueva is a 2014 UIC OT graduate and new OT practitioner at UI Health in rehabilitation, orthopedics and acute care. She recently completed the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program. As a LEND trainee, Alejandra assisted in the promotora study of Participation of Latino Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

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Professional Conferences On Oct. 3, current MS students and recent UIC graduates attended the Lawrence C. Vogel Pediatric Spinal Cord Symposium at Shriners Hospital for Children in Chicago. A variety of clinicians spoke about recent trends in pediatric spinal cord injury including wheeled mobility, upper extremity management, assistive technology, and pain and behavioral management techniques.

Attendees were also able to take a walking tour of the hospital to learn more about their unique therapy equipment, general patient population and care management.

Pictured Top Row: Rebecca Sax, Emily Miller, Julia Ramirez, Emily Swiderski, Annie Elder, Alli Ferlin, Alex Yant, Armando Medina, Kate Ibara, Rachel Luangdilok, Alexa Adducci, Ashley Heleine, Katie Merigold, Melina Marte, Jenny Popova Pictured Bottom Row: Stephen Oh, Amy Morton, Meg Matthews, Ada Terman, Camara Singleton, Richard Tinimbang OT Professor RenĂŠe Taylor, director of the UIC Model of Human Occupation Clearinghouse, co-chaired the Fourth International Institute for the Model of Human Occupation, Oct. 23-24 at Indiana University in Indianapolis. Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar, Gail Fisher, Jenica Lee and 16 UIC students also attended. The event showcased the research of 150 scholars attending from 18 countries. This important event was co-sponsored by UIC and Indiana University, and was deemed a great success, with double the number of attendees compared to previous years. Advancing the research and application of the Model of Human Occupation is a major focus of the UIC OT Department.

Four second-year OT students made their way to Philadelphia for the AOTA/NBCOT Student Conclave.

Students attended lectures and poster sessions on various topics relevant to current OT practice. UIC students were able to network with vendors, practitioners and students from all over the country. These four students represented UIC proudly at this event.

Pictured: Maureen Peterson of AOTA, in blue, posed with (left to right) with UIC students Briana Bonner, Sarah Easton, Jocelyn Knight, and Chelsie Christophe.

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Professional Conferences Many first- and second-year MS students attended the 2015 Illinois Occupational Therapy Association Conference, Nov. 5-7 in St. Charles, Ill. Left to right (front row): Sucha Chantaprasopsuk, Alexa Adducci, Camara Singleton, Tayler Cypin, Rachel Luangdilok, Susan Felson, Stephanie Su, Dalmina Arias, Becky Sax, Aline Xayasouku, Briana Bonner; (second row): Janelle Washko, Julia Ramirez, Dani Shain, Alli Ferlin, Ada Terman, Holly Shapnick, Tabatha James, Jill Antonini, Evelyn Ingargiola, Shannon Vogel, Roshni Patel, Kathryn Duke; (third row): Chelsie Christophe, Sophia Anagnos, Rachel Kim, Jocelyn Knight; (back row): Jessica Weiler, Emily Miller, Molly Hoisington

Second-year MS OT students presented their evidence-based research project at the 2015 Illinois Occupational Therapy Association Conference.

Pictured right: Roshni Patel, Kevin Durney and Kim The Pictured far right: Shannon Vogel, Dalmina Arias and Becky Sax

Scholarship Samantha Torres, a first-year MS student, is one of three students in the country to be awarded AOTA’s E.K. Wise Award, a $2,500 scholarship. Samantha is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has been working at Northwestern on a research study of health navigators. The E. K. Wise Award "was established in the 1960s through the generous bequest of Elizabeth K. Wise to support women pursuing higher education degrees," according to the AOTA website.

It goes on to explain that the award is designed to "support students from diverse backgrounds who can meet E.K. Wise’s and the AOTA’s objectives of developing a workforce to meet society’s diverse occupational needs in underserved areas or communities."

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Illi-SOTA The Illinois Student Occupational Therapy Association (Illi-SOTA) has participated in several meaningful events over the past year. With more than 50 members, UIC’s Illi-SOTA chapter engages in service, professional development and fundraising events to provide additional opportunities that complement the MS program.

One such event was the Chicagoland Out of the Darkness Walk to raise awareness and funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Left to right: Kayla Smith, Dan Wirt, Jordan Newmark, Grace Deardurff, Aline Xayasouk, Emily Miller

Briana Bonner, one of the Illi-SOTA officers, organized a departmentwide t-shirt order from 3E Love, a company founded by a student in our college's doctoral program in disabilities studies, before her premature death in 2009. The company promotes acceptance of disability through its wheelchair heart logo.

Bottom (left to right): Jill Antonini, Ana Perez, Alexa Adducci, Janelle Washko, Samantha Torres. 2nd row: Rachel Luangdilok, Camara Singleton, Dalmina Arias, Jessica Guzman, Ana Garcia, Amy Krischer, Aline Xayasouk, Christine Leung. 3rd row: Susan Felson, Daiva Ragas, Molly Hoisington, Melanie Milling, Shannon Vogel, Becky Sax, Lauren Janness, Holly Shapnick, Stephanie Su. 4th row: Stephen Oh, Chelsie Christophe, Emily Miller, Evelyn Ingargiola, Roshni Patel, Jessica Weiler. 5th row: Briana Bonner, Jill Swartzmiller, Julia Ramirez, Jocelyn Knight, Tabatha James.

First- and second-year MS students competed in a kickball game with Rush OT students to develop new connections with future colleagues and play for the trophy!

Left to right: (back row) Grace Deardurff, Kent Bubel, Jenny Wescott, Chelsie Christophe, Kate Ibarra, Kayla Smith, Katie Merigold, Kevin Durney, Shannon Vogel (front row) Amy Morton, Janelle Washko, Tayler Cypin, Julia Ramirez, Jenna Colangelo, Anna Holod

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Graduates/Projects We congratulate the following recent graduates of the doctor of occupational therapy program, not only on their successful completion of the program, but also for their outstanding work on their final projects.

Heidi Fisher – Spring 2015, “Implementation of a Self-Management Program for People Who Have Experienced Stroke in an Outpatient Day Rehabilitation Setting” Piper Hansen – Spring 2015, “Promoting COPM Administration and Participation-Based Goal Setting During Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation” Esmeralda Vasquez – Spring 2015, “Transitioning Together/Juntos en la Transicion” Celeste Januszewski – Summer 2015, “Returning to Our Roots: Occupational Therapy in Mental Health” Alexander Agudelo Orozco – Fall 2015, “Bailando Somos” (Dancing we are) Jessica Smith – Fall 2015, An Evidence-Based Review of the Right of People with Disabilities to Utilize Community-based Services: Occupational Therapy’s Role The Department of Occupational Therapy is accepting applications, due Apr. 8, 2016, for the OTD program for fall 2016. Interested students will find the application and instructions at ahs.uic.edu/ot/academics/otd.

UIC Legacies and Leaders Dinner Former faculty member and department head Barbara Loomis was honored at a the Legacies and Leaders dinner at UIC on Apr. 23, 2015. Ms. Loomis, her family and supporters have created an endowed scholarship fund in her name. The Barbara Loomis Scholarship is awarded to MS, OTD or PhD students who plan to become clinical or academic educators. Awardees have dinner with Ms. Loomis to discuss their career plans and learn from her experience.

The April event provided an opportunity for Ms. Loomis to reconnect with Nicole Thonn ’10, the first recipient of the scholarship.

Pictured (left to right): Alumna Anne Kiraly-Alvarez, Barbara Loomis, Gail Fisher and alumna Nicole Thonn

Fourth Annual OT Summit UIC OT helped host the 4th Annual OT Summit of Scholars, May 1-2, 2015, in Los Angeles. Co-organizers were Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar and Joy Hammel.

Five OT faculty and four OTD and PhD students attended.

Pictured (left to right): Kavitha Krishnan, Virginia Chu, Jenna Heffron, Susan Magasi, Anders Kottorp, Liz Peterson and Danbi Lee.

LEND Interdisciplinary Training Program Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) trainees at UIC complete didactic, community and clinical work and a leadership project. We have two OT LEND trainees this year in the group of 26 total trainees from 14 different disciplines.

Melina Marte, who earned her MS in 2015, is working with Ashley Stoffel and a community agency, Aspire Kids, to develop their High Impact Therapy Program and measure the impact of short-term, culturally sensitive therapy services, with a focus on parent/family participation and education.

Jarrett Wolske, a first-year MS student, is working with Susan Magasi to develop a five-week disability peer-led intervention related to her AOTF grant (see p. 2). Jarrett is a great asset to the team, bringing both a fresh perspective and prior experience in the development of manualized research interventions.

New Post-Doctoral Fellow Joanna Keel received her PhD in Special Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her dissertation explored perspectives about the desired components of adult life, and the necessary supports to achieve that post-school vision for 12th grade Latino students with learning disabilities, their parents and teachers. Joanna won the 2nd place award for "Student Researcher of the Year" given by the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Career Development and Transition for the Pat Sitlington Emerging Researcher Award Competition. She is currently working with Yolanda Suarez-

Balcazar.

Upcoming Events

Apr. 7-10: Alumni reception at AOTA Conference Apr. 16: AHS CE Day and Vivette Rifkin Lecture Stay tuned to e-mail for details.

Or visit ahs.uic.edu/OT in early spring.

Editors: Jill Antonini, Ada Terman, Matrice Truevillian, Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar Department of Occupational Therapy

This edition of the UIC Department of Occupational Therapy’s Progress Notes can also be viewed on our website: ahs.uic.edu/ot