School-Based Asthma Management
This study is a research-school partnership to (1) understand the impacts of chronic diseases on academic achievement and attainment, engagement, and participation for youth, and (2) develop and adapt interventions to support school-aged youth with asthma and other chronic diseases and aligned implementation strategies.
Barriers and Facilitators to School-Based Management of Pediatric Asthma
Through a research-school partnership, the aims of this KL2 proposal seek to 1) assess the reach and effectiveness of medical and academic supports for youth with asthma in partner school districts using existing data, and 2) conduct a formative assessment to identify barriers and facilitators, existing processes, and implementation strategies influencing the implementation of these supports in partner school districts.
Funding: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NIH/NCATS), WU Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS), (KL2TR002346)
Development of a School-Based Care Coordination Service Model to Support Youth with Asthma
Asthma disproportionately impacts achievement and opportunity for vulnerable youth. This study aims to develop a service model with accompanying implementation strategies to facilitate care coordination and communication across medical, school, and home settings. Development of this service model will address identifying barriers, improve asthma management, and reduce asthma impact for school aged youth.
Funding: WU Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS), Clinical and Translational Research Funding Program Award
Health and Schools
Health and School Readiness
This study interrogates a large nationally representative data set, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort, to examine the relationship between early child health outcomes, healthcare access and utilization, family and neighborhood vulnerability, and educational outcomes among youth.
Developing An Equity-Focused Understanding of School Health and Engagement: Building a Research-Practice Partnership
Challenges connecting school and health data in meaningful ways limit schools’ ability to provide effective support. This proposal aims to (1) formalize a research-practice partnership with a partner school district, (2) identify stakeholder questions around the intersection of behavioral health and school processes in their community, and (3) map current data infrastructure and future needs to address stakeholder concerns.
Funding: WU Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS), Partnership Development and Sustainability Support Award
Asthma & Environment
Home Assessments & the Role of OTs on Multidisciplinary Asthma Teams
Asthma inhibits quality of life. Reducing environmental triggers reduces asthma
symptoms. Occupational therapy (OT) practitioners are trained to assess and modify physical environments, a cost-effective intervention that may improve outcomes for youth with asthma. This study examines practitioners’ perceptions on 1) Their role to support youth with asthma in clinical practice 2) Feasibility and acceptability of an OT home assessment 3) The impact of asthma on occupational participation
Asthma & Environmental Justice
Beginning with a literature review, this study examines the effectiveness and feasibility of housing assessments and interventions to address environmental injustice and mitigate the impacts of environmental conditions on asthma.
Asthma & Participation
Asthma and Occupational Participation: A Scoping Review
Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases among children. It affects one in twelve children in the US, and disproportionately affects poor and minority children. Asthma great impacts a child’s health and well-being, yet there is a lack of research on how asthma affects occupational participation. Occupational therapy (OT) has a unique lens in which to investigate this. We have conducted a scoping review to assess the assess the extent of the literature on the effects of pediatric asthma on the occupational participation in the domains of ADLs, IADLs, rest and sleep, education, play, leisure, and social participation.
Asthma, Occupation, and Participation
This study is focused on how pediatric asthma affects the participation and well-being of children in daily activities. The severity of asthma will be assessed using multiple measures to determine activity limitations.
mHealth to Mitigate COVID
Leveraging mHealth to mitigate the Impact of COVID-19 in African American Communities
mHealth technology delivers healthcare services overcoming geographic, temporal, and even organizational barriers. This study tests the hypothesis that mHealth technology, introduced via faith-based communities, will serve as a feasible and acceptable platform to increase the prevention of COVID-19 and improve access to critical diagnostic testing.
Assessing the Implementation of the Safe Return to Schools Program (COVID testing)
This study (1) examines the implementation of symptomatic versus surveillance COVID-19 testing in K-12 schools, specifically assessing the acceptability, feasibility, and fidelity of the intervention, (2) identifies appropriate implementation strategies, and (3) examines the relationship between testing availability and vaccination status.
Equity and Inclusion in Independent Schools
Achievement and Engagement in Independent Schools
This study examines the nature of racial equity work in independent schools (IS), the professional experiences and perceptions of diversity practitioners (DEI practitioners) in IS, and the impact of public health and financial crises like COVID-19 on the roles and initiatives of DEI practitioners. The primary goals of this study are to 1) examine racial, gendered, and year of entry disparities in achievement and engagement 2) offer recommendations to enhance the quality of schooling experiences for all students, staff, and families affiliated with IS, 3) and disseminate the results to the local school and other scholarly schools.
For additional information on current research studies in the Occupational Therapy department at Washington University, please visit: https://www.ot.wustl.edu/research/study-recruitment-1709