Award Date

5-1-2024

Degree Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate

Department

Brain Health

First Committee Member

Donnamarie Krause

Second Committee Member

Jefferson Kinney

Number of Pages

86

Abstract

Occupational therapy practitioners are provided a wealth of knowledge through school and professional fieldwork experiences to understand and skillfully address the needs of children who have been exposed to trauma. Therapists are competently prepared to provide holistic and client-centered care that is dedicated to meaningful and volitional engagement (Lynch et al., 2021). However, many therapists still lack the confidence and awareness of their role related to trauma-informed care in the pediatric environment (Piller, 2022). Trauma compromises each domain of occupation (Lynch et al., 2021). As early intervention specialists, the lack of responsiveness to children’s trauma can have devastating and enduring negative consequences on their occupational performance and well-being. When trauma-informed practices are integrated by pediatric OT service providers in the home, school and community settings, this vulnerable population will have an improved likelihood of developing more meaningful and secure relationships with their provider, family members, and other support systems. Additionally, it will expand their ability for safe-engagement in occupation and sensory-based interventions and reduce the opportunity for re-traumatization.

This doctoral capstone project aimed to fill a gap in the literature and investigate the perceptions and practices of pediatric occupational therapists’ use of trauma-informed care. It examines disseminating childhood trauma-informed care education, targeting pediatric occupational therapy practitioners by the development of a professional continuing education presentation and a prospective twelve-week course entitled, “Pediatric Trauma-Informed Care and Implications for Occupational Therapy Practitioners.” The attitudes of practitioners are assessed using pre and post-measures to determine the effectiveness of providing trauma-informed education that coincides with the exclusive contexts of the pediatric OT setting.

Keywords

Mental Health; Occupational Therapy; Occupational Therapy interventions; Pediatrics; Trauma-Informed Care

Disciplines

Occupational Therapy

File Format

pdf

File Size

1810 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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