artifacts 11-13

Through completion of the University of Southern California's Life Management Series, I acquired skills in health promotion through lifestyle based interventions. This course series emphasized targeted programming for chronic health populations, while also providing proactive and preventive methodologies for enhancement of physical and mental well-being across the lifespan. This artifact represents my initial acquisition of knowledge and training in lifestyle redesign.

Through participating in the AOTA Continuing Education’s digital badge program, I sought to further deepen my breadth of knowledge in lifestyle programming interventions. This badge demonstrates my competence as a practitioner in Lifestyle Redesign®. I developed skills in analyzing and managing lifstyle factors to support occupation-based prevention programming across the lifespan.

During the Guidelines to Intervention course, two NYU classmates and myself developed an orginal frame of reference entitled "From NICU to Community: Supporting Role Transition in New Mothers of a Medically Complex Child". Combining our collective interests in women's health, wellness and role transition, we identified a need to develop a theoretical basis for a treatment approach to address this unique phenomenon.This frame of reference is intended for women during role transition to new mother of a medically complex and/or premature infant requiring increased medical care. More specifically, it addresses the transition from neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to home environment within the first month after discharge.

The content of our frame of reference was adapted into a poster and accepted as a peer-reviewed poster presentation for the AOTA 2020 conference.

Collectively, these artifacts demonstrate my shift towards a holistic approach to care. This shift is a theme that now permeates my practice and resonates on multiple levels. I acknowledge the relevance of treating the whole child - mind, body and soul; with particular relevance to children with physical disabilities. I recognize the intregral role of the family unit, in the ability the effectively treat the whole child. And lastly, I strive to integrate knowledge and resources to establish a foundation for primary care and prevention in pediatric practice. Ultimately, I seek to provide care that promotes well-being through lifestyle based practices and preventive occupational therapy services.