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Description
The purpose of this doctoral ALE/Capstone project was to develop a pediatric mental health toolkit for clinicians to utilize at my site, the Georgetown Pediatric Therapy Center in Georgetown, Kentucky. The primary ACOTE areas of focus were education, advocacy, and program development. I collaborated with the two occupational therapists at the site to achieve the goals of 1) developing a pediatric mental health toolkit grounded in evidence, clinical use, and clinician feedback, 2) supporting clinician consistency and confidence when addressing mental health in sessions, and 3) providing accessible caregiver resources to support strategy carryover at home. A needs assessment was first conducted via informal interviews, as well as through pre- and post- toolkit use surveys. I reviewed current literature on pediatric mental health and associated factors, and incorporated therapist insight to select, create and organize the toolkit components. The clinicians utilized the toolkit within sessions over the course of 6 weeks with pediatric clients of various ages and mental health needs to determine the usability and effectiveness. The deliverable of my project was a digital/printable toolkit that provides a variety of resources including screening tools, sensory and emotional regulation activities, co-regulation and calming strategies, engaging regulation visuals, reflection tools, and printable caregiver handouts. Feedback from clinicians indicated that the toolkit improved their ability to address mental health more intentionally and efficiently. Overall, this project highlighted occupational therapy’s unique role in addressing pediatric mental health, and provided a resource that was effective, convenient, and resourceful for the clinicians to implement within their clinic.
Graduation Date
2025
Keywords
pediatric mental health, program development, emotional regulation, clinician education
Disciplines
Occupational Therapy
Degree Type
Open Access Capstone
Document Type
Poster
Degree Name
Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)
Department
Occupational Therapy
Site Mentor
Brandi Ray, OTR/L
Comments
Link to presentation: https://youtu.be/W28IJauTj0s