51品茶students and faculty provide leadership at Maine O.T. Association Conference
On November 7, 2015 students from the Occupational Therapy graduate and Health, Wellness, and Occupational Studies undergraduate programs presented their posters the Maine Occupational Therapy Association conference under the leadership of Judy Kimball, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA.
Kimball presented a session titled, 鈥淰eterans and Service Members with PTSD and mTBI: A Wellness Approach with Implications for Improving Occupations.鈥 The presentation included the students鈥 work as an integral part of the topic.
The students, Leslie Bardin MSOT 鈥17, and Morgan Mitchell HWOS 鈥17, discussed their poster titled 鈥淲ellness Interventions for Veterans with Co-Morbid Chronic Pain and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Case Study鈥. The two students partnered with Kimball to research how Sensory Modulation affects Veterans with PTSD. Their case study centered around a local Veteran who uses equine therapy, transcendental meditation and other wellness interventions to combat his PTSD and chronic musculoskeletal pain. This veteran was also included in UNE鈥檚 Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences research on chronic pain, creating an interprofessional research opportunity for students.
Leslie and Morgan were the only student presenters at the MEOTA conference and will continue their research on Veterans with PTSD and chronic pain with Kimball. The peer-reviewed poster was selected to be presented at the Occupational Therapy Annual Conference and Expo in Chicago in April.