Occupational Therapy (OT)
UAB students, alumni, faculty adapt electric cars for special needs children
Faculty and alumni from the UAB Department of Physical Therapy, along with students from the UAB Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, were joined by students from UAB’s Department of Occupational Therapy and School of Engineering, to adapt electric toy cars for Alabama children with disabilities as part of the nationwide GoBabyGo program.
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Examining perceptions of accessibility symbols
By Adam Pope, UAB Media Relations
The perpetual association of current symbols with wheelchair users has been criticized for insufficiently representing individuals with other disability types.Recent research from the UAB School of Health Professions Department of Occupational Therapy has assessed individual comprehension and perceptions of nine existing and newly created accessibility pictograph symbols, and it identified one that represented universal access to fitness equipment.
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Jana Cason, UAB OT alumna, wins national AOTA award
Jana Cason, DHS, OTR/L, FAOTA, alumna of UAB Occupational Therapy Class of 1998, is the 2019 American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Emerging and Innovative Practice Award.
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Urban parks could make you happier
Researchers from the UAB Department of Occupational Therapy have published new findings that suggest spending 20 minutes in an urban park will make someone happier regardless of whether they are engaging in exercise or not during the visit.
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Occupational Therapy’s Golden Toilet Award goes too…
For the fourth year in a row, the UAB Department of Occupational Therapy handed out one of their most prized possessions – the infamous Golden Toilet Award. And the award goes too...
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Jenkins named chair of Occupational Therapy
Gavin Jenkins, Ph.D., has been named chair of the UAB Department of Occupational Therapy. Jenkins, whose research interests include assistive technology, pedagogical affect, learning performance, and the influence of green spaces and built environment on occupational participation, has worked and researched in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Read moreOT’s Valley McCurry wins ALOTA Cosby Award
Chris Eidson and Valley McCurryValley McCurry, MBA, OTR/L, assistant professor in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Department of Occupational Therapy, received the Ann Cosby Service Award from the Alabama Occupational Therapy Association (ALOTA).
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UAB OT students learn therapy tricks from illusionist Kevin Spencer
Kevin Spencer is an illusionist and artist who has performed magic in front of tens of thousands of people on stages in 34 countries on six continents.A day ahead of performing his “Theatre of Illusion” at the UAB Alys Stephens Center, he delivered a performance in front of a crowd of only 50, but it was a performance that has the potential to impact tens of thousands of people around the world. Read more
UAB Low Vision Rehab program wins Envision top honor
UAB / Lakeshore Research Collaborative awarded $5.8M for MS research
James Rimmer, Ph.D.The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors has approved a $5.8 million grant over the next four years to the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Health Professions’ James Rimmer, Ph.D., to fund a study to determine whether people with multiple sclerosis get as much benefit from an exercise-based rehabilitation program delivered via internet and telephone as they do when the therapy is provided in a clinic.
OT students’ research on play space inequities between affluent and non-affluent communities published
A University of Alabama at Birmingham study, conducted by students in the Department of Occupational Therapy, investigating the quality of park play spaces between affluent and non-affluent communities has been published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The study, titled “Disparities in Quality of Park Play Spaces between Two Cities with Diverse Income and Race/Ethnicity Composition: A Pilot Study,” found “significant disparity in Play Value in parks” between the two communities.
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Adrianne Smiley is 1st UAB OT student accepted to AOTA Emerging Leaders program
Adrianne Smiley, AOTA Emerging LeaderAdrianne Smiley, a 2nd year student in the UAB Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program, is the first UAB student to be accepted to the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Emerging Leaders Development Program.
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Low Vision’s Barstow earns AOTA Fellow honors
Beth Barstow, Ph.D., OTR/L, SCLV, FAOTAElizabeth (Beth) Barstow, Ph.D., OTR/L, SCLV, FAOTA, received the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Roster of Fellows Award at the recent AOTA Conference and Expo in Nashville. Barstow, an associate professor in the UAB Department of Occupational Therapy, is the fourth faculty member of the OT faculty to earn the honor - that means one-third of the UAB OT faculty are FAOTA.
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OT students’ restroom sign designs win inaugural Golden Toilet Award
OT students wearing simulation glassesThe UAB Department of Occupational Therapy faculty are renowned for creative lessons designed to prepare students for their career upon graduation.
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Rimmer honored by AAP for best paper of 2013
James H. Rimmer, Ph.D., director of the Lakeshore Foundation / UAB Research Collaborative, has been selected to receive the AAP Excellence in Research Writing Award by the Association of Academic Physiatrists and the editorial board of the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. The award, which is given annually to the lead author of the best paper published in the AJPM&R each year, is for Rimmer’s article titled “Telehealth Weight Management Intervention for Adults with Physical Disabilities: A Randomized Controlled Trial.”
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OT class builds chairs for children in Uganda using cardboard, paper, flour and water
So when co-instructors Deek Cunningham, MS, OTR/L, and Gavin Jenkins, Ph.D., OTR/L, both assistant professors in the OT department, asked the class to build chairs – using only cardboard, paper, flour and water – as assistive devices. You can imagine what went through the students’ heads. Read more
OT class given $5, 5 minutes to make a difference in world
The assignment was simple. Okay, maybe not simple, but definitely basic. Students in the UAB School of Health Profession’s Department of Occupational Therapy class OT 673 were asked to make an assistive device that would help people with an injury or disability.
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Helping people with disabilities become more physically active is focus of new UAB initiative
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Birmingham-based Lakeshore Foundation have partnered on an initiative made possible by a $6-million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to find ways to improve health outcomes among disabled persons.
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New Rehabilitation Science doctoral program offered at SHP
Two University of Alabama at Birmingham departments have joined forces to create a new doctoral program. The Department of Occupational Therapy and Department of Physical Therapy in the School of Health Professions is offering a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science this fall.
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