The following was submitted by the IHP Occupational Therapy Department in honor of Occupational Therapy Month.

Dr. Cathy Leslie, assistant professor of Occupational Therapy, is leading a Community-Academic Partnership project at the Kennedy Center in Charlestown. This project is being funded through the generous support of RSM US in Charlestown. 

Dr. Leslie’s three spring semester Advanced Doctoral Experience (ADE) students - Katie Kesler, Neelam Patel, and Stefanie Johnston (all in the Class of 2022) – were integral to the success of several projects at the Kennedy Center as part of their experiential portion of their ADE. In collaboration with IHP CSD faculty Jenn Mackey and students Sadie Cheng and Stephanie Milillo, these projects included implementation of 22 sessions of a literacy/language enrichment program for 4-year-olds, as well as working with OT Clinical Instructor Jenny Cleary, MS, OT, OTR to provide OT services to toddlers and preschoolers in the classrooms at the Kennedy Center.

Katie, Neelam, and Stefanie’s ADE research projects were also tied to the Kennedy Center: 

  • 1 research survey project at the state level to identify families' perceptions of barriers to accessing early intervention services because so many eligible families at the Center don’t access early intervention;
  • 1 program development project to design a gross motor program specific to the Kennedy Center to address the large percentage of Kennedy Center children with low gross motor scores on school assessments; and 
  • 1 research project assessing the accessibility and usability of Head Start materials for parents to address the fact that so few underserved families access Head Start services even though they are eligible and need services.

Dr. Emily Eddy’s OT research students from the Class of 2022 -- Kylie Nee, Meghan Costello, and Haley Willis -- have offered yoga programming to the toddlers and after-school-aged youth at the Kennedy Center at the NEW Health building, every Monday and Wednesday since late January. Upon collaboration with Crystal Galvin, the Kennedy Center Director, and Corinne Kielbasa, Kennedy Center Parent liaison, the IHP students guided children ages 2 and up in yoga programming for wellness offering.

Additionally, with IRB-approved studies, Haley Willis collaborated with Msawti Hanks, LMHC, and Sarah Coughlin, Charlestown Coalition Director, to serve the youth in the Charlestown Coalition’s Healthy Alternatives program from Charlestown High School with mindfulness and stress-relieving yoga for 6 weeks, while Kylie Nee offered stress-relief and mindfulness interventions for children with asthma from Charlestown at the IMPACT Practice Center. 

Both studies aimed to improve overall health of the youth, coping strategies, and self-management in order to support participation in everyday and meaningful occupations in the school, community, and home contexts. In a separate study, Meghan Costello served youth at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown with mindfulness while on their inpatient stays.