The Covid-19 pandemic has caused increased hardship for new mothers and their young children. Increased isolation, lack of in-person doctor visits and decreased interaction within the community, has pregnant and postpartum women in need of additional support. Occupational therapists often work with infants and their mothers due to feeding concerns. Difficulty with early feeding adds additional stress on the mother-infant dyad relationship. This case study describes a mother's traumatic experience giving birth during Covid-19 and the occupational therapy intervention provided to the mother-infant dyad. In order to improve outcomes for the mother and child with feeding concerns, this case study is a call to action for paediatric occupational therapy practitioners to include the promotion of positive mental health of mothers in their practice, particularly during the pandemic.
Date Presented 04/02/2022
OT practitioners can take a public health approach to early identification of delays by promoting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s free developmental monitoring program called ‘Learn the Signs. Act Early’ (LTSAE). The aim of this mixed-methods study was to examine the impact of online training for implementation of LTSAE within Head Start (N = 194). Results showed that the online training was effective, and Head Start is an ideal setting to promote LTSAE to improve early identification of delays.
Primary Author and Speaker: Kate Barlow
Contributing Authors: Kelsey Mays Sullivan, Lauren Scott
Date Presented 04/06/19
In order for OT practitioners to make recommendations that are age appropriate, consistent with cultural practices, and evidence-based, this study examined the prevalence of household chores for school-age children as a pilot study for the development of age norms for chores. Survey results (N= 252) identified caregivers’ priorities for childhood occupations, as well as the age at which children are regularly and sometimes completing 17 different chores.
Primary Author and Speaker: Kate Barlow
Additional Authors and Speakers: Michael Salemi
Date Presented 04/12/21
OT and physical therapy students visited Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) centers to educate families on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Milestone Tracker app. A pretest-posttest design using an adapted version of the Cultural Competence Self-Assessment Checklist (N = 40) was utilized. The results indicated that while students perceived the experience as a positive one that increased their knowledge of WIC, the experience did not significantly alter self-perceptions of their cultural competence.
Primary Author and Speaker: Kate Barlow
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