Kendall K. Gonyea Occupational Therapy major
POSTER PRESENTATION Gonyea, K., & Jaime, J. (SVSU student) (2011, March). Health promotion and obesity prevention through occupational therapy: A survey. Poster presented at The 24th Annual Midwest Deans‘ Occupational Therapy Research Conference, St. Louis, MO. The researchers presented the findings of their survey exploring practices utilized by school-based occupational therapists to promote health and prevent obesity within school systems in the state of Michigan, and barriers that prevent therapists from becoming involved with health and wellness programming in schools. The results of the survey indicated a lack of therapists addressing this issue, with many participants expressing their belief that health promotion and obesity prevention is not within the occupational therapy scope of practice. In their poster, the researchers discussed how health and wellness promotion fits into the occupational therapy scope of practice, and highlighted interventions used by respondents to promote health and wellness in schools. Using the feedback from their survey as a guide, the researchers proposed methods that could be used by therapists to address the ―obesity epidemic‖ in the schools, and overcome barriers preventing OT involvement in wellness programming.
Research Bulletin 2011
293