Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Doctor of Occupational Therapy (Dr.OT)

Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

Department

College of Health Care Sciences – Occupational Therapy Department

First Advisor

Mariana D'Amico

Second Advisor

Husny Amerih

Publication Date / Copyright Date

2021

Publisher

Nova Southeastern University

Abstract

Background: Healthy child development is imperative for future success, parents/caregivers are at the helm of guiding children down a path that supports health and wellbeing for future success. When there is a lack of education, information, and resources readily available to families there is a risk for delayed development and lack of engagement. For many of our clients, health literacy is low, vulnerability is high, and they often feel cornered with no other available choices. Making it easier not to engage in certain activities, due to lack of opportunities, resources, and/or education. This lack of participation has a significant impact on performance, if those individuals of lower socio-economic backgrounds are never given the opportunity, how can we expect them to perform to current standards. Against all odds, many individuals make a way, but at what cost to their mental, physical, and social health.

Purpose: The purpose of this capstone sought to fill the gap in parental knowledge surrounding developmental milestones by creating a media-based program to address the identified needs of the community to prevent developmental delays and major impacts to a child’s health and wellbeing.

Methods: The capstone student developed a series of podcasts to educate and engage the community in a high quality, free, easily accessible form of media to promote healthy engagement within the community (through resources) and learning related to healthy child development. This podcast, titled the Developmental Stepping Stones Podcast, provided education on healthy child development for parents, caregivers and local early learning centers of children birth through 5 years of age. Included were strategies to promote healthy engagement with the child, education on healthy child development and easily accessible resources within the community. Each podcast was delivered through various media platforms on a weekly schedule In addition, a six question survey related to the podcast was made available after each episode via a link in the description of the episode.

Results: The Developmental Stepping Stones Podcast received positive feedback from survey respondents/listeners, all survey participants identified that the podcasts were beneficial in increasing their knowledge surrounding healthy child development and provided more ways to engage with their child, increased their awareness about accessible community resources, and was an enjoyable listening experience.

Conclusion: Results affirmed The Developmental Stepping Stones Podcasts evidence-based approach to educating parents and caregivers about healthy child development. Providing brief educational podcasts of 15 minutes or less about healthy child development, strategies for healthy child engagement and community resources are beneficial to parents, caregivers, and teachers.

Disciplines

Occupational Therapy

Keywords

Developmental milestones, Child development, Parental knowledge, Podcast

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