May 15, 2025
51°µÍř Master of Occupational Therapy students, Ally Barber, Bekah Badgett, Allison Haines, and Merrick Clinger presented their research at this year’s Celebration of Scholarship academic conference on campus. Their research project, “The Use of Occupation-Based Assessments for Evaluation of CMC Osteoarthritis in Appalachia: A Survey”, earned them the Deans’ Award for their work.
“Our team and research advisor decided we had a special interest in hand therapy and what it looked like in the Appalachian region,” they said. “We wanted to focus our study on this region to see where the gaps are to allow further research to aim in filling those gaps.”
Completing their research over a year and a half span, the team wanted to see how prior research is implemented to meet the demand in this topic.
“On a positive note, we found that practicing therapists are not implementing occupation-based assessments due to lack of time and reimbursement, which will allow us to complete further research based on those findings,” they said. “Occupational therapy is a holistic profession that provides a unique lens to the patient as a whole individual rather than their diagnosis alone. We hope to take this research into our professional development and advocate for our patients, ourselves, and our profession to rise on using occupation-based assessments as they allow a more client-centered and goal-oriented approach.”
Seeing their work recognized with the Deans’ Award at the conclusion of the conference allowed the team to feel a sense of gratitude over being able to share their research with the campus community.
“It is very rewarding to be recognized for all the hard work, time, and efforts we put into this project,” they said. “Finding this data in the Appalachian region motivates this group to continue the efforts in developing and understanding more research, based on our results, to better the field of occupational therapy.”
Being able to share their own research for feedback and to provide interest in a specific area, the team encourages students to partake in research within their own programs and consider sharing it at future Celebration of Scholarship conference.
“It is fun to contribute to the knowledge and gain insight to something you are passionate about, because that's what really matters,” they said.
To learn more about the annual Celebration of Scholarship conference, visit shawnee.edu/cos.