University of Saint Francis (Fort
Wayne, IN)
Occupational
Therapy and a Homeless Shelter
Summary
“Occupation” is the core premise of occupational therapy.
Humans are occupational beings in that all activities performed revolve
around the life roles and the occupational tasks required to maintain
them. Thus, all of the activities we are involved in or organizations
we are a part of demonstrate occupational wholeness. Since the University
of Saint Francis Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) Program’s
inception in 1998, we have been active in the community via student group
activities. In 2001, we developed a partnership with a local homeless
shelter that focuses on families, Vincent House, so that our students
could have experiential learning while providing a community service.
This occupational therapy lens of “occupational wholeness”
prompts us to view the residents in the homeless shelter as being in a
state of occupational dysfunction. Our involvement at the shelter is to
utilize the scholarship of application to enhance the residents’
occupational performance with the intent of breaking the individual and
population cycle of homelessness.
The students’ primary goal is to apply occupational therapy practice
concepts in an effort to assist the agency in meeting the needs of their
clients, that is, to uncover and address the missing, dysfunctional, or
inadequate life skills needed to embrace independent living and be successful.
The development and implementation of life skills groups is the primary
modality used with this endeavor.
The mission of the University of Saint Francis (USF) fits in well with
this endeavor. USF exists to challenge and engage a diverse student body
by facilitating learning, personal growth, and professional development
in an environment permeated by Franciscan Values. Values we focus on in
particular include reverencing the unique dignity of each individual,
serving with joy, and fostering peace and justice on all levels.
The Practice
The faculty prepared for this experiential learning by meeting with the
Vincent House staff and residents to establish rapport and determine initial
needs. A contract was established with the agency in similar fashion to
other clinical fieldwork contracts. The OTA faculty developed a needs
survey used to determine current resident needs at the onset of each student
group intervention.
In the third semester of the four-semester curriculum, students begin
preparation for this experiential learning. Students are prepared in the
classroom regarding group dynamics, therapueutic relationships training,
and group design to address specific needs. During the semester, students
also gain awareness of race, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity and its
impact on occupational performance.
The faculty and students administer the faculty-prepared survey to the
residents prior to the first group session. Group design and topic are
developed based on the surveys’ outcome. Students, with faculty
guidance, design and implement the groups at two separate site visits,
two weeks apart. This structure allows the follow-up group topic to be
carried forward and addressed at a deeper level. Half the students prepare
and implement a group for the children at the shelter and the other half
creates a group based on the adult residents’ needs. In the past,
nutrition education has been a recurrent outcome of surveyed needs with
emphasis on shopping on a budget, integrating the basic nutrition knowledge
into meal preparation, and maintaining these skills over the long term.
In the fourth semester of the curriculum, students may choose to further
their experience by peforming an intensive internship at the site with
faculty serving as guide in similar fashion to the previous coursework.
In this case, the group work is continued over an entire semester with
the opportunity to address the same residents with in-depth topic information
developed by the students to specifically address current resident need.
Reflection on the experience takes place with students via faculty-guided
relfection and discussion and includes comparison between didactic &
experiential learning. Additionally, students in the fourth semester complete
a journal reflecting on their experiences. Internship concerns brought
forward are discussed and processed with the student group as a whole
with faculty guidance.
Evaluation occurs during the experiential learning process as faculty
observes students' application of group concepts and provides feedback
to the students. This creates an opportunity for refinement of application
at the next sessions. Evaluation of the experience also occurs among the
faculty with student input as needed to determine if the experience met
the educational goals. The agency is consulted to determine if surveyed
needs were indeed met.
Effectiveness
The transient nature of the population makes long-term behavioral changes
difficult to assess. From the university standpoint, student learning
is enhanced through the experience as seen by focus groups following involvement
in the hands-on learning process. Focus group content documents a broadened
student knowledge base through spontaneous processing and application
of strategies learned in the classroom. Focus group content also demonstrates
enhanced self-awareness on the part of the student as well as awareness
of this population and its unique characteristics.
Resources
Useful websites and publications related to the homeless population include:
National Coalition
for the Homeless
University
of Illinois at Chicago
Tryssenaar, J., Jones, E.J., & Lee, D. Occupational performance needs
of a shelter population. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66,
188-96.
Pediatrics, October 1996, Part 1 of 2, Vol. 98, Issue 4, p. 789, 3P.
Health needs of Homeless Children and Families.
Contact Information
Theresa Leto
Program Director
Occupational Therapy Assistant Program
University of Saint Francis
2701 Spring Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46808
Phone: (260) 434-7674
tleto@sf.edu
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