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

On this hunt you will answer questions about the Foundation’s mission, activities and our impact on evidence-based practice. Completed hunts with all correct answers will be eligible for the prize drawing. 

The raffle drawing will take place on May 1st and winners announced later that day. 

• Open to all occupational therapists and occupational therapy students. Participants must have or be pursuing an OTA, OT, or OTD degree. Please read rules and disclaimer before proceeding.
• Participants can return to the form to pick up where they left off and/or edit previous responses until they click the "Done" button (if they use the same device and web browser) they used to start the hunt). 
• Good Luck!

Submit by April 29th! Winners will be announced May 1st. at 1p.m. ET on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank You to Our Sponsor:

With a robust library of affordable, evidence-based continuing education courses, OccupationalTherapy.com encourages lifelong learning and helps occupational therapists stay up-to-date on the latest research. 

AOTA and AOTF are pleased to announce the selected students to attend the fifth annual Summer Institute of Future Scientists in Occupational Therapy. The program will introduce students to a career in research, connect them with mentors in the occupational therapy scientific community, and immerse them in a research-focused professional experience.

Austin Cunningham, Winston-Salem State University
Chelsea Steffens, Drake University
Ashley Rigas, Pacific University
Kyra Barillier, Saint Louis University

Tara Hood, Eastern Kentucky University

Jessica Golding , Towson University
Taylor Wienkes, Creighton University
Molly Nadeau, Kean University
Brooke Ellis, Western New England University
Kelsey Hadsall, Misericordia University
William Librizzi, University of the Sciences
Grace Hellier, James Madison University
Ellery Lockwood, Stanbridge University
Lorelei Hoover, University of Findlay
Braxton Willoughby, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Mollyanne Tessler, Long Island UniversityBrooklyn
Taylor Keahilani Kenui/Fong, Rocky Mountain College

Kathleen Ann Melei, Huntington University
Elizabeth Stevens, The College of St. Scholastica
Allison Pfleghaar, Florida Gulf Coast University
Shannon Myers, Midwestern University Downers Grove
Samantha Holzschu, Western Michigan University
Natalie (NJ) Phillips, Eastern Michigan University
Emma Kinsey, University of Central Arkansas
Melissa Dale, East Carolina University
Tennille Lambert, Mercy College
Emily Yuen, Dominican University of California
Alleya James, Methodist University
Catherine Arora, Mercy College

Jared Southwick, Arkansas State University
Rowan Wallace, University of Southern Maine
Karla Morel, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Science Campus

Dr. Fleming is 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.

Congratulations to our 2020 Intervention Research Grant Recipients:

Namrata Grampurohit, PhD, OTR/L
Thomas Jefferson University
Post-Discharge Support for Caregivers of Adults with Stroke Through Telehealth Coaching-in-Context
Mentor: Mary Jane Mulcahey

Danbi Lee, PhD, OTD, OTR/L
University of Washington
Return to Life After Stroke: Motivational Interviewing and Self-Management Support in Early Stroke Rehabilitation
Mentor: Chuck Bombardier 

Janet Njelesani, PhD, OTR/L
New York University
An Occupation-Based Intervention to Address Bullying Against Students with Disabilities
Mentor: Kristie Koenig 

Emily Somerville, OTD, OTR/L
Washington University- St. Louis
A Tailored Medication Management Intervention for Older Adults
Mentor: Susan Stark

Alex Wong, PhD, DPhil, BSOT
Washington University- St. Louis
Feasibility of Mobile Self-Management Intervention for Mild Stroke
Mentor: Carolyn Baum 

The purpose of this grant program is to lay the necessary groundwork for larger intervention studies and for larger implementation studies and support the profession’s Vision 2025 of occupational therapy as an evidence-based profession. The intent of the IRG program is to provide seed funding for the development of new and/or novel ideas in order to generate preliminary data as proof of concept. Most larger funders, including federal sources and most of the major nonprofit foundations, require this data in order to apply to them, yet sources to fund this preliminary work are limited at best. The AOTF IRG occupies a very important niche and fills a critical gap by investing in the development of ideas and data in the early state of the occupational therapy research enterprise. 

The Intervention Research Grant program receives major funding from The National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT®), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and the St. Catherine Challenge.