Doing It Together

There’s a growing interest in interdisciplinary work in many academic fields (see story, page 20). Here in HS&HP we have many exciting interdisciplinary programs and practices in classrooms, research laboratories, and fieldwork.

Among them is a two-course program in physical therapy and occupational therapy in which students learn the basics of planning a rehabilitation clinic from the ground up. Professors Winifred Mauser (PT), Diane Long (OT), and Marilyn Kane (OT) provide the structure for these courses, which challenge students to work collaboratively and think critically. In the first semester, Clinical Administration I, PT and OT students work together in groups to develop floor plans, marketing strategies, fee schedules, and staffing plans for hypothetical therapy clinics --- from a women’s health clinic in Manhattan to a private geriatrics practice in Arizona to a performing arts clinic in Dallas. The clinics must offer services that fully integrate the disciplines of physical and occupational therapy, rather than offering them as two distinct services.

"We give them a clinic scenario," explains Long, "and they have to do a mock marketing plan for it, deciding which client population they’re going to focus on. They get a floor plan of a clinic space that’s not working, and they have to make it work. They also do financial figuring to get a feel for how much it would cost them to operate." This semester-long project is followed up by a spring semester course taught by Mauser and Kane that again uses mixed-discipline teams, this time to study cases in clinical administration and addressing "people relationships" --- staff as well as client issues. Students have presented their research (photo) at the New York State Occupational Therapy Association annual conference, among other places.

An added value of the team approach is that students learn from each other about their respective disciplines. Students begin with preconceived notions about the nature of the other discipline, reports Mauser, but come to a much greater understanding through the course projects. Erin Clarke, a senior PT student, concurs: "Getting to hear input on what an OT would want in a clinic helped me see a whole different aspect of treatment that I wouldn’t have thought about. The combination of PT and OT provides a much more complete rehab program."

Professors Kinsuk Maitra (OT) and Kal Telage (speech-language pathology and audiology) have been working with students to study factors, including aging, that influence the quality of arm movements during functional tasks. Their early work revealed that older subjects had slower and less smooth arm movements than young adults in tasks like reaching for a glass. Follow-up research investigated how short "vocalizations" affect functional movements. In sport or exercise or when performing quick actions, adults sometimes grunt with exertion, and babies often gurgle or laugh when performing rhythmic activities like kicking. Maitra and Telage wondered whether making such noises provides some type of "internal cuing" that might help improve the quality of movement during functional tasks. For this project, researchers measured arm movements during reaching tasks when subjects "vocalized" and when they did not. The results indicate that making a noise while doing the task improves the speed and quality of movement for young subjects and that even greater improvements are seen in older adults. This research project was presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions and won the outstanding poster award.

Graduate students from OT and SLPA work together in all aspects of the research, from posing the questions to developing the methods. Students collect and analyze data, determine results, and evaluate how their findings might impact rehabilitation programs. The research collaborations have been very exciting for students and faculty alike, and opportunities for future work abound: Recent studies have shown improved movement patterns for people with Parkinson’s disease when using vocalizations, and the research team has begun using virtual reality to enhance the research methods.

When students in allied health care professions graduate, they are often expected to work in interdisciplinary ways. Yet they seldom have opportunities to learn about other health care disciplines or acquire the skills necessary for effective collaboration. Project CARE (Communication and Recreation Enhancement), codirected by professors Linda Heyne (therapeutic recreation and leisure studies) and Susan Durnford (SLPA), seeks to solve this problem by giving students an opportunity to work together to serve older adults who live at Longview, an adult home near the College.

As a transdisciplinary team, students conduct joint assessments and design individualized programs that address the communication and recreation needs of Longview residents. For example, baking a cake in the communal kitchen can increase a resident’s socialization, decrease depression, stimulate cognition, strengthen fine motor skills, and encourage involvement in a meaningful leisure activity. Through their collaboration, students learn about another discipline, gain firsthand knowledge about older adults, and develop team skills such as listening, staying flexible, and fulfilling one’s obligations. Therapeutic recreation major Carol Buer ’02 sums up her experience: "I think this program has really helped me to grow as an individual. It has not only taught me things about therapeutic recreation, but it has also taught me about patience, adaptability, leadership, friendship, and dependability."

Photo by Diane Long