Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals including occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) were required to transition to working utilizing an online-service delivery model called telehealth. The use of telehealth for occupational therapy (OT) sessions was limited prior to the pandemic, and this shift required OTPs to provide services in ways many had never experienced. The purpose of this study was to identify how the transition to telehealth impacted OTPs and their ability to provide proper care to the pediatric population via telehealth. The final analytic sample included 32 female OTPs who worked with the pediatric population. Results from qualitative and quantitative analyses showed that OTPs had positive feelings toward using telehealth and that the telehealth modality had a moderate impact on their job performance. The areas that pediatric OTPs want to be addressed included technology and internet issues, lack of parent involvement, decreased quality of care, inaccessibility of materials, decreased attention span and increased distractions, and lack of general knowledge about telehealth among clients, parents, and professionals. Despite these drawbacks, a positive theme emerged that the telehealth model is good for current circumstances. The results show telehealth is a positive experience for OTPs and allows OT to be more accessible to their clients. Implications for increasing education for healthcare professionals, clients, and parents/guardians to make telehealth accessible to clients on a large scale are discussed.
Through the process of writing the sustainability report for InnovationSpace program, I had gained deeper understanding about applying sustainability concept into daily business procedures. As supply chain is defined as the oversight over materials, services, information and finances flowed within and among companies and industries, the new innovative supply chain management can be better adjusted according to the concern of any sustainable impact to all the stakeholders and communities. After gathering the information from industries and listening to the suggestions from academic insights, I then finalized the proposed innovative sustainability strategy for the supply chain management nowadays and I called it as Diamond Index.
Diamond Index=Avg(Environmental Stewardship+Social Responsibility +Economic Impact)^(Innovation Index)
Economic Impact (Econ)∈ [0, 10] Social Responsibility (Soc)∈[0, 10]
Environmental Stewardship (Env) ∈ [0, 10] Innovation ∈ [0, 1]
The primary research question is, “How does involvement in Christian ministries at ASU relate to the wellness of students?” The study will examine multiple dimensions of wellness: occupational, physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional. Each component is essential to understanding the health and well-being of an individual, which is why this study will measure wellness levels in each dimension among samples of students at ASU.
The methodology chosen was a short, anonymous survey that 148 ASU students participated in—73 involved in Christian ministries at ASU and 75 not involved. The quantitative component included a wellness assessment using questions from The National Wellness Institute. These wellness scale questions were broken up into 5 randomized sections, each with one question per dimension, for 30 questions total. Each question response was assigned a rating on a 1 to 5 scale, 1 associated with low wellness and 5 high wellness. The qualitative component, comprised of short answer questions, only applied to students who were involved in a Christian ministry. This portion allowed respondents to explain if and how the ministry impacts each dimension of wellness uniquely.
The quantitative results showed some evident differences between students involved in Christian ministries and students not involved. The social and spiritual dimensions concluded much higher levels of wellness for involved students, both statistically significant with p-values of 0.028 and 0.004. Although some of the wellness differences between involved and not involved participants were not statistically significant, there is also notable variation among questions within each dimension. For the qualitative data, most students in Christian ministries said they believe their involvement increases their wellness in all six dimensions. For each dimension, over 75% of participants said that the ministry impacted their well-being. For the social, spiritual, and emotional dimensions, at least 97% of respondents said their ministry involvement impacted their wellness.
In examining the conclusions of the study, one recommendations is to strengthen the partnership between the greater ASU community and Christian ministries by collaborating and combining resources for programming that relates to their common goals and shared values. Additionally, other faith-based organizations at ASU may benefit from replicating this study to observe their unique wellness impact.