More than 50 Belmont Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) students recently attended the Tennessee Occupational Therapy Association’s (TNOTA) Day on the Hill.
The students joined a group of 120 other students and practitioners from across the state, forming the largest organized representation to date for TNOTA Day on the Hill. Continue reading
Belmont OT student, Jayme Mills and BU PT alumnus, Marna Jane Bevill watch as a child test drives her new “ride.”
Six doctoral students from the School of Occupational Therapy recently joined with Dr. Teresa Plummer, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, Dr. Nancy Darr, Professor of Physical Therapy, and several graduates of both programs to teach a Go Baby Go preconference workshop at the annual International Seating Symposium (ISS) held in Nashville this year. The ISS is the lead educational and scientific conference in the field of wheelchair seating & mobility and related technologies.
The student presenters included Elizabeth Davis, Gabrielle LaGrace, Emily McClearran, Jayme Mills, Kelly Phipps and Betsy Philo, all second year OTD students. OTD alumnus Cassie Swinehart and DPT alumnus Marna Jane Bevill assisted in the presentation which was coordinated with Go Baby Go Music City and the Center for Independent Living.
Workshop participants were instructed in how to modify commercially available ride on toys for young children with disabilities. Several children with physical disabilities participated in the workshop and received ride on cars modified by participants with assistance from the instructors and Go Baby Go Music City volunteers. Modified ride on cars enable children with physical disabilities to interact and play with peers thus improving communication, vision, cognition and motivation to move.
Two separate teams of health science students are in Guatemala over Spring Break this year. One team consists of nursing and pharmacy students. The other includes OT and PT students. Both team are writing about their experiences.
Team OT/PT
from Grace Cronin & Talia Fayed
“God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called”
Today on March 11th, we spent the morning traveling to the community of Las Conchas on the outskirts of Guatemala City. The houses in this community are a single room with concrete floors, tin roofs and walls, and even blankets serving as dividers. Access to clean water is limited and food is sparse. Upon arrival we split up into 3 teams who each visited with a local family in each sector of the community. 
My group went to visit Nicole’s family. Nicole is a 3 year old little girl who has problems with her spinal alignment and is poorly nourished due to problems with feeding. As we came to learn more about her family we found out that Nicole has had a very hard life so far, but now is in the care of her aunt and grandmother. She is being raised by her aunt and grandmother because her mother abandoned her. These two women stepped up to the plate to do God’s work and take care of this sweet soul that Nicole is. These women were certainly not equipped to take on caring for a toddler with special needs, but God has certainly picked the right women! We loved getting to spend time with these women and Nicole. We enjoyed playing with Nicole, loving on her and her family, and teaching her stretches for her back and strategies to help her eat and communicate more. We can’t wait to hear of Nicole’s progress and the joy that she will bring to her family and her community. Continue reading
Two separate teams of health science students are in Guatemala over Spring Break this year. One team consists of nursing and pharmacy students. The other includes OT and PT students. Both team are writing about their experiences.
Team OT/PT
from Ali Groot & Allison Richardson
“God has created us to do small things with great love.” Mother Theresa
March 10, team Guasome traveled to Elim, a church in Guatemala City. We were able to visit with four families in order evaluate and give suggestions of activities based on the children’s needs. The families were actively engaged with the sessions and eager to learn how they could encourage and improve the quality of care they give their child. Although every member of the team had their own experience with a different family, both of us worked with one special boy named Jimmy.
Jimmy is a 7-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. We collaborated with his eager to learn family on positioning to increase his strength and participation in exploring his environment. It was very inspiring to see the amount of love and support surrounding this child. After two hours Jimmy was out cold in his gracious Mothers arms. His parents explained that Jimmy is a precious gift from God and that they feel blessed that our team was able to come in and share more ideas with them. His father spoke with so much love and hope about Jimmy’s future and it was a true blessing for us to hear his kind words spoken over us. Hearing him speak so freely about God touched our hearts so deeply.
After stuffing our faces with Gautemalan fried pollo, we decided to get a little exercise and headed to the Guatemala National Olympic training center where one of our amazing translator’s brothers plays adaptive tennis. Jose and Isa showed us how it’s done, making it look much easier than many of us were soon to find out. We were both able to test our skills (or lack there of) on the tennis court. Turns out maneuvering a wheelchair with one-hand results in going nowhere but circles while watching tennis balls fly past you. After we got schooled, Julio (number 46 in the world-NBD) had us all in awe as he and the coach played a match. We broke into groups again and gave the kids and Julio suggestions for stretching, strengthening, and adaptations to help them succeed and minimize discomfort. Continue reading
Two separate teams of health science students are in Guatemala over Spring Break this year. One team consists of nursing and pharmacy students. The other includes OT and PT students. Both team are writing about their experiences.
Team OT/PT
from Gabby LaGace & Olivia Kennedy
Today was full of adventure!! Our first stop was an orphanage named Rosa de Amor in Guatemala City. We were greeted with hugs, warm smiles and words of thanks from the staff. Here we spent the morning playing with and assessing the needs of the children. We were broken into 4 teams mixed of OT and PT students and we were able to see children ages 12 months to 16 years old all with contagious smiles and enthusiasm. 
Together with the staff of Rosa del Amor, we collaborated to determine appropriate exercises and activities to enhance development of the children.
Next stop was Hope for Tomorrow. This is a home for children founded by two American women who were both adoptive mothers of Guatemalan children. The team split into two groups. The first group brought many children to the local playground while the second group worked with the staff to develop a plan for a future sensory room. They also completed thorough assessments of the children with disabilities.
The PT’s worked with the staff to fit a child for orthotics to correct an abnormal gait. The OT’s also worked along side the staff to determine appropriate treatment approaches to further the children’s fine motor development and participation.
The staff of Hope for Tomorrow couldn’t have been more eager to work with us and problem solve together. Their passion for caring for the children was inspiring. What a great start to our trip and we look forward to our next stop on this journey.
With a mission to honor men and women who have made significant and lasting contributions to the health and health care industry, The Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame seeks to recognize and honor the pioneers and current leaders who have formed Tennessee’s health and health care community and encourage future generations of health care professionals.
The nominations process began on February 20 and will continue until April 10 at www.tnhealthcarehall.com. Created by Belmont University and the McWhorter Society, The Hall of Fame is supported by the Nashville Health Care Council, a Hall of Fame Founding Partner. The inaugural class will be announced at the McWhorter Society’s May 5 luncheon.
In addition to recognizing Tennessee’s most influential health and health care leaders, The Hall of Fame will serve as an on-going educational resource to document the rich history that has contributed to Tennessee’s position as a leader for national health care initiatives.
At the beginning of the spring semester, first year graduate students in the College of Health Sciences & Nursing had their first experience working and learning together under the guidance of more than 25 volunteer faculty. Using a case study approach, nursing, occupational therapy and physical therapy graduate students worked together to design the best treatment plan for an elderly patient with complex health problems. The new students then tackled the “Marshmallow Challenge,” a fun and creative exercise designed to encourage teams to experience simple but profound lessons in collaboration, innovation and creativity.
College of Health Sciences & Nursing Dean Dr. Cathy Taylor said, “According to the World Health Organization (2010), ‘interprofessional education (IPE) occurs when two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.’ Emerging evidence links interprofessional (IP) teams to better patient outcomes. As we move into the next phase of healthcare reform, licensed professionals must be able to work effectively in teams and communicate vital patient information clearly.”
Three students preparing to be occupational therapy assistants at Nashville State Community College join the first year class of doctoral students in Belmont’s Occupational Therapy program.
First year doctoral students in Belmont’s Occupational Therapy program recently hosted students and faculty from the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program at Nashville State Community College (NSCC) as part of their preparation for upcoming fieldwork experiences.
Ms. Donna Whitehouse, Associate Professor and Director of NSCC’s OTA program, was joined by OTA students, Ashley Collins, Amber Sevier-Hunt and Chelsey Morton, in sharing information about the OTA curriculum, the roles and responsibilities of an occupational therapy assistant, and supervision guidelines.
The purpose of the class was to familiarize the students with how occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants collaborate to deliver occupational therapy services.
As part of the new student orientation this week, the School of Occupational Therapy had 57 students and faculty members involved in an afternoon of service at six different locations around the Nashville area. Service opportunities included shopping for refugee families with World Relief, sorting and organizing equipment for the Tennessee Disability Coalition, packaging newborn kits and prenatal vitamins at LiveBeyond, doing landscaping at Homeplace, making cards for Meals on Wheels through Fifty Forward and interacting with residents at Morningside Assisted Living Facility. Through these service experiences, they got to know each other while learning about organizations around the Belmont community and being introduced to service, which is a key value of the University and a central theme in the occupational therapy curriculum design.
Dr. Teresa Plummer, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, was a presenter this spring at the Interdisciplinary Seating and Mobility Conference in Nottwil, Switzerland. The conference was held at the Switzerland Paraplegic Center, a 150 bed facility dedicated to spinal cord injury rehab and research. Dr. Plummer’s presentation was on the Relationship of Vision, Posture and Mobility.
Photo courtesy of WSMV
The Inman Health Sciences Building became a workshop and playground on Thursday as part of an international project to promote pediatric mobility. University of Delaware physical therapy professor Cole Galloway and his Pediatric Mobility Lab and Design Studio bought to Belmont Go Baby Go, a program that teaches adults how to modify existing toy cars in a few hours to make them functional for children with disabilities.
Eight families and their therapists from Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia worked alongside Belmont occupational therapy and physical therapy students and alumni to learn how to modify toys and the logistics of the Go Baby Go program. Together, they altered Fisher Price Lightning McQueen red cars with Velcro, PVC pipes, pool noodles and kickboards to create wheelchair-like toys. The cars also function as physical therapy devices to teach strength and balance while allowing the disabled children to socialize with other children their age. Through constraint-induced therapy, the children are motivated to use their weaker muscles to gain independence and operate the toys, which by nature are fun. Buttons were moved so that the toy car moves only when a girl with cerebral palsy holds her head up or a boy with a spinal cord injury stands.
Two occupational therapy doctoral students from Belmont University, Evan Pendygraft and Jevorius Price, began work this semester to provide ergonomic consultation to Spring Back Mattress Recycling in Nashville. The local non-profit was started in 2010 as a project by a Belmont University Enactus (then Students in Free Enterprise) team who explored mattress recycling as a means of achieving a triple bottom line, serving people, planet, and profit. Pendygraft and Price are working under the guidance of Dr. Teresa Plummer and Dr. Debra Gibbs, faculty members in the School of Occupational Therapy, and with Dr. John Gonas from the College of Business Administration, to assist workers at Spring Back to lessen the physical strain in their work activities and avoid potential injury. The consultation will continue during the next year.
First inductees to be announced at McWhorter Society Luncheon May 1
With a mission to honor men and women who have made significant and lasting contributions to the healthcare industry, Belmont University announced today the formation of a new Tennessee Healthcare Hall of Fame. Sponsored by Belmont’s McWhorter Society, the Healthcare Hall of Fame will announce its first inductees at the McWhorter Society Annual Luncheon on May 1 on Belmont’s campus.
Belmont Provost Dr. Thomas Burns, co-chair of the McWhorter Society, said, “Tennessee has become a premier hub for healthcare and healthcare education in the United States. It’s only appropriate that we recognize and honor the countless men and women who have contributed to the growth of the industry, creating ever higher standards for patient care and well-being. With Belmont’s strong interdisciplinary programming in nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, social work, healthcare business and pharmacy, we’re proud to host this new Tennessee Healthcare Hall of Fame as these leaders can inspire our students for generations to come.”
Over 70 physical and occupational therapists attended a continuing education course, An Evidence Based Approach to Standing and Walking for Children with Moderate to Severe Motor Dysfunction, at Belmont University on Saturday, February 22. This course was sponsored by Belmont University Schools of Physical and Occupational Therapy along with Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The course was taught by Ginny Paleg, a nationally-recognized expert in pediatric standing and mobility, and was underwritten by Prime Engineering. Course participants learned how to select and fit appropriate standing and walking assistive devices for children with special needs.
During his recent visit to Thomazeau, Haiti, College of Pharmacy Dean Phil Johnston visited villages with LiveBeyond workers and a Belmont delegation to aid and dispense medications to a woman in postpartum, a father with high blood pressure, a small boy with worms and a man with a hip injury. The most powerful experience of them all was when a man who received medical attention sang a Christian hymn in Creole as his Voodoo-practicing neighbors gathered around and listened.
“It was like watching a Bible story about caring for the least of these,” Johnston said.
He, along with College of Health Sciences & Nursing Dean Cathy Taylor and Nursing Assistant Professor Robin Cobb, visited LiveBeyond’s base in Haiti last week to identify areas of student mission participation and to flush out unique partnerships between the University and the nonprofit organization that would allow Belmont Continue reading
Dr. Harry Jacobson, Chairman of MedCare Investment Funds and a founding partner of Tristar Technology Ventures, will present a public lecture at Belmont University this Friday morning, February 7. He will speak on healthcare innovation from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. in McWhorter Hall Room 114, and the event is open to the public. The lecture is sponsored by the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing as part of their Diagnosing Our Future Speaker Series.
MedCare and its affiliated entities manage approximately $1 billion in assets, the substantial majority of which are related to the medical and healthcare services industry. Currently MedCare has a portfolio of fifteen healthcare companies representing most sectors of the industry including services, information technologies, medical devices, pharm and biotechnology. All of MedCare’s investments are targeted to companies bringing innovation to health care.
Dr. Jacobson is former Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at Vanderbilt University and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Continue reading
Daniel Teague, a second year doctoral student in the School of Occupational Therapy, provides information at the Fall Awareness and Prevention event.
Every 15 seconds, an older adult is seen in an emergency department for a fall-related injury. Nationally, falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries for those aged 65 and over, and the chances of falling and being seriously injured in a fall increase with age.
In light of these findings by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), faculty and students from the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing lent their expertise to the public last week at a Fall Awareness and Prevention event hosted by Williamson County Parks and Recreation. Health professionals from each discipline in the College were on hand to assist seniors with strategies to keep active and falls free: ideas about effective home modifications and the use of assistive devices from the School of Occupational Therapy, counsel on the proper use of medications from the School of Nursing, information on community resources from the Social Work Department, and suggestions on shoe wear and exercises to increase flexibility, mobility and strength from the School of Physical Therapy.
“This was a great opportunity for our college’s faculty and students to work together in serving the seniors in our local community with ideas for preventing falls”, said Dr. Debra Gibbs, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, who coordinated Belmont’s participation in the event.
Nathan Cruse, a third-year doctoral student in the School of Occupational Therapy, was part of a volunteer team organized by Achilles International to guide a blind runner through the 26.2 mile New York City Marathon this past Sunday. Cruse signed up for this duty back in May and was chosen to be one of three individuals to guide runner Theresa Khayyam. In the months leading up to the marathon, he guided Khayyam in training runs once or twice a week, working on running in unpredictable weather and on unfamiliar courses to increase her confidence in her abilities and her faith in her guides.
As an avid runner, it has always been a dream of Cruse’s to run in the New York City Marathon. “I love the feeling of completing a race, knowing that all the sweat and pain of training has truly paid off,” said Cruse. He added, “I have always imagined what it would feel like to cross the finish line of the New York City Marathon. Little did I know that taking a back seat and standing alongside another runner while she completed the race would be an even greater experience.”
Occupational and physical therapy students took their classroom learning outside during a community service project on Tuesday. During Wash and Roll, dozens of wheelchair users had their power chairs cleaned and serviced free-of-charge by students and faculty from Belmont’s Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy programs and local equipment dealers.
“This collaboration of physical therapy and occupational therapy was to get students involved in community service with an underserved population. Because once they get a wheelchair from insurance, they can get serviced once a year, but it is difficult to find place to get it done,” said Occupational Therapy Assistant Professor Teresa Plummer. “No one just cleans and services chairs, so families of people with medical disability have to do it on their own.”
The service is so rare that Barbara Pierce drove her husband, Marion, 90 miles from Winchester, Tenn. to Belmont’s campus to have his five-year-old wheelchair evaluated and cleaned.
Belmont University will host a “Wash & Roll” event for wheelchair users on Tuesday, October 22, 2014 from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Attendees can bring their wheelchairs to be cleaned and serviced free-of-charge by students and faculty from Belmont’s doctoral programs in physical therapy and occupational therapy, and local equipment dealers. In addition, there will be opportunity to use a power wheelchair test track, listen to live music, and enjoy offerings from local food trucks. The event will occur on the courtyard between Belmont’s McWhorter Hall and the Curb Events Center.
Wash & Roll is sponsored by two leading providers of wheelchairs and mobility devices, Permobil and Numotion, as well as the Tennessee Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association and the Schools of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy at Belmont University.
“I’m going to show the world that having a disability is cool!”
Those are the words of Jennifer Adams, Ms. Wheelchair America 2014, who will speak on the “Inclusion Revolution” at Belmont University on Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. in McWhorter Hall Room 110. The event is sponsored by the Belmont Student Occupational Therapy Association (BSOTA) and is open and free to the public, with convocation credit available to Belmont students.
Ms. Adams is a successful 33-year-old businesswoman from Tacoma, Washington. She was born with partial limbs and has used a wheelchair her whole life. She grew up in a family of eight children after being adopted along with five of her siblings, all who had either down syndrome or cerebral palsy. “I believe that really set me up to grow up into the world with a view of diversity and to accept people from the inside first,” Adams said. “I attribute a lot to my parents.” Her adopted mother, Jeanne, is a family doctor in Chehalis, Washington.
A scene from the educational video that faculty and students at Belmont University School of Occupational Therapy helped produce.
Faculty and students from the School of Occupational Therapy recently joined with Resolve TV to produce an educational video for the Council on Aging (COA) of Greater Nashville to demonstrate how family and friends can help safely transport older adults.
The Council on Aging aims to address the needs of older adults and caregivers through information, advocacy and education, acting as a catalyst for comprehensive solutions. COA identified the need to assist individuals in the Nashville community who help older adults get to and from appointments with doctors, attend church services, run errands and visit family and friends. While willing to help, these individuals were often unsure of how to safely assist seniors with transfers and mobility with devices such as walkers and wheelchairs. The Council connected with Belmont University School of Occupational Therapy to create a solution for the problem.
Congratulations to the following faculty members in the College of Health Sciences who received promotions this summer.
School of Nursing
Martha Buckner from Associate Professor to Professor
Angela Lane from Full-time Adjunct to Assistant Professor
Erin Shankel from Full-time Adjunct to Assistant Professor
School of Occupational Therapy
Shelley Hix from Instructor to Assistant Professor
Tamara Garvey from Full-time Adjunct to Assistant Professor
Camille Turner from Full-time Adjunct to Instructor
Emmy Dagnan from Full-time Adjunct to Instructor
School of Physical Therapy
Renee Brown from Professor to Professor & Chairman
Social Work Department
Jennifer Crowell from Full-time Adjunct to Assistant Professor
Martha Buckner
Erin Shankel
Shelley Hix
Tamara Garvey
Camille Turner
Renee Brown
Jennifer Crowell
Dr. Teresa Plummer, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, recently presented at the annual conference of the Batten Disease Support and Research Association (BDSRA) held this year in Nashville. Dr. Plummer shared her expertise in a presentation on handling and positioning children with Batten disease and assistive technology products for children with the disease.
Batten disease affects children from birth and causes mental impairment, worsening seizures, and progressive loss of sight and motor skills over time. Eventually, the child becomes blind, bedridden and unable to communicate, and the disease is always fatal. Although Batten disease and related disorders are considered rare, they often strike more than one person in families that carry the defective gene.
BDSRA was formed in 1987 by a family who had three children with the disease. The association provides technical assistance and support to families who battle the disease while promoting research and education.
Dr. Martha Buckner
Professor of Nursing
Buckner, M. M., Dietrich, M. S., Merriman, C., & Keeley, J. P. (2013). Identifying at-risk nursing students using a midcurricular examina-tion. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 31(4). Retrieved from 10,1097/NXN.0b013e31828a0dda.
Dr. Ruby Dunlap
Professor of Nursing
Dunlap, R. K. (2013). Nursing theory and the clinical gaze: Discovery in teaching theory across a cultural divide. Nursing Science Quarterly, 26(2), 176-180.
Dr. John Halle
Professor of Physical Therapy
Halle JS. The Neuromuscular Scan Exam (Chapter Four), in Voight, Hoogenboom, and Prentice (ed), Musculoskletal Interventions: Techniques for Therapeutic Exercise, McGraw-Hill Medical, New York (Scheduled for 2013 publication).