Kristie Patten Koenig, PhD, OT/L, FAOTA, Associate Professor, New York University, Department of Occupational Therapy, Vice Chair AOTF Board of Trustees, coordinated with NYU Steidhardt OT students who were eager to support OT's on the COVID-19 frontlines. This new NYU COVID “OuTreach” Team started by gathering feedback from New York City’s hospitals to find out how to best offer support. Their first initiative raised over $4,000 via social media for lunches supplied to OT's at Bellevue Hospital in Manhatten. They also collaborated with students and faculty throughout the NYU OT department to create and send Thank You videos and digital cards. Their collaboration between the hospital and NYU OT also led to donated tablets to help Bellevue patients feel more connected to their families. To show their appreciation, Bellevue’s OTs created a virtual session for the students to share their valuable and unique experiences working with COVID-19 patients. Read more

In addition, Dr. Koenig is a PI of a team at the NYU ASD Nest Support Project that put together resources for families and educators working with students in the NYCDOE’s ASD Nest Program in the transition to remote learning.

We're proud of our 2020 Pi Theta Epsilon (PTE) graduates! Please keep in touch as you contribute to the advancement of the field of occupational therapy.

Although your graduation celebrations may not be quite as you envisioned, we have some PTE gear to help make it special:

• PTE pin bearing the logo of Pi Theta Epsilon Honor Society
• Honor cord

Best Wishes!

AOTF 

In celebration of OT Month, the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF) announced a new iPad® raffle. Completed AOTF Scavenger Hunts between April 24-29 were entered to win one of three Apple iPads®, sponsored by OccupationalTherapy.com.

And the winners are...

Thanks to everybody that participated!

Winners will be emailed for their address to send their iPads to.

Established in 1983, the AOTF Academy of Research in Occupational Therapy recognizes individuals who have made exemplary and distinguished contributions toward the science of occupational therapy. Our 2020 inductee is Jennifer Fleming, PhD, OTR/L, FOTARA, Professor and Head of Occupational Therapy at The University of Queensland. Her research aims to improve the lives of people with brain impairment by understanding psychosocial and cognitive limitations arising from neurological injury and discovering effective occupation-based rehabilitation methods. She is a Fellow of the Occupational Therapy Australia Research Academy and Fellow of the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI), and co-Editor of the journal, Brain Impairment.

Identify three words that others have used to describe you: Open-minded, supportive, capable

How do you hope to make a difference in the world through research? I hope that my research helps occupational therapists and other members of the multidisciplinary team to develop better ways to work with people with brain injury.

What is one piece of advice you have for individuals considering a career in science and research?  Never miss the conference dinner!

Beside your own areas of inquiry, what is one research priority that you believe is important for the future of occupational science and occupational therapy?  The relationship between mental health and occupation.

Describe the most important role that mentors played in your professional journey: Encouraging me to apply for things that I would not have dreamt of going for.

Identify a favorite occupation that renews you outside of your work: Walking on the beach.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspects of a career in science and research? Most rewarding is seeing the excellence that is developing in the next generation of occupational therapy researchers.

Selected references:

Ownsworth, T., Fleming, J., Tate, R., Beadle, E., Griffin, J., Kendall, E., Schmidt, J., Lane-Brown, A., Chevingnard, M., & Shum, D. (2017). Do people with severe traumatic brain injury benefit from making errors? A randomized controlled trial of error-based and errorless learning. Journal of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 31 (12) 1072-1082.

Schmidt, J., Fleming, J., Ownsworth, T., & Lannin, N. (2013). Video-feedback on functional task performance improves self-awareness after traumatic brain injury: A randomised controlled trial. NeuroRehabilitation and Neural Repair, 27, 316-324. doi: 10.1177/1545968312469838

Fleming, J., Nalder, N., Alves-Stein, S., & Cornwell, P. (2014). The effect of environmental barriers on community integration for individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 29(2), 125-135.

Fleming, J., Sampson, J., Cornwell, P., Turner, B., & Griffin, J. (2012). Brain injury rehabilitation: The lived experience of inpatients and their family caregivers. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 19, 184-193.

Fleming, J.M., Strong, J. & Ashton, R. (1996). Self-awareness of deficits in adults with traumatic brain injury.  How best to measure? Brain Injury, 10, 1-15.