NOTA Inservice & Board Meeting

Reminder:  Free CEU Tonight 6-7pm.

NOTA BOARD MEETING TO FOLLOW

Topic/ Title of Presentation: Touro University OTD Students Present Two Wellness Initiatives: How to Implement a Walking Group and Recycling Program in your Practice

Presenters:

TUN Stays Green: Ashley Asuncion, OTD-S, Iris Kwan, OTD-S, Ashley Marquez, OTD-S, Christine Recinto, OTD-S

Walking Wednesday: Brynn Butzman, Hillary Crawford, Danielle Homokay and Jonathan Legarte

Date: 2/20/2019

Time: 6:00PM

Length of Presentation/Contact Hours: 1 hour total

Location: Pima Medical School, OT Department, 3365 E Flamingo Rd, Suite 7, Las Vegas, NV 89121

Objectives: Participants will:

1. Understand how to conduct a needs assessment of your respective facilities in order to best design and implement a meaningful health initiative.
2. Identify all steps needed to implement and run a recycle program.
3. Understand how to use free interactive platforms to make and market program materials.
4. Understand the benefits of physical exercise and social interactions in managing stress.
5. Engage in conversation and social activities with fellow attendees while completing a brief walking route.

As part of a Health and Wellness course OTDV 707, Doctor of Occupational Therapy Students from Touro University implemented a campus-wide health promotion initiative.  Using the Princeton U-Matter Wellness Self Assessment and modified delphi-method, students prioritized two areas of wellness to target: physical and environmental wellness on campus.  The following two initiatives resulted from their identified target areas.  Included in the presentation are ways to implement a similar initiative in other occupational practice settings.

Walking Wednesday

Current literature suggests that a sedentary lifestyle not only influences physical health, but impacts attention, cognitive functioning, and social interactions as well (Chaddock, Pontifex, Hillman, & Kramer, 2011). There are several existing programs to promote walking and increased social participation in Nevada and around the Las Vegas Valley; however, there were no programs like this in place within the Touro University Nevada community. Utilizing the Health Behavior Model (HBM), a health promotion initiative was designed and implemented to combat feelings of stress through physical activity and social interaction. The HBM is appropriate to use to guide the design and implementation of a health promotion initiative at Touro University Nevada because it helps to identify the student and staff’s perceptions regarding their health and environment and how those influence their health behaviors (Reitz et al., 2010).

The Walking Wednesday event comprised of a designated 15-minute walking route. The event took place on January 30th, 2019 at 12 pm. A combination of 11 students and faculty participated in the walking event, with each participant given an information flyer containing the walking route and “talking points” to facilitate social participation during the walking event. Following the Walking Wednesday event, participants reported elevated mood and increased

opportunity for social participation. Furthermore, participants verbalized interest in continuing weekly walking sessions as a means of reducing stress and anxiety associated with school or workplace stressors.

TUN Stays Green

OTD students will present and discuss the needs of a recycling initiative at Touro University Nevada based on the issues related to inefficient waste and recycling habits Southern Nevada.  The OTD students will discuss how, when compared with other states in the U.S., Nevada [residents] produce the highest amount of waste per capita in the nation (Loki, 2016). Furthermore, The Apex Landfill is Southern Nevada’s main landfill, the biggest landfill in the U.S., and also one of the largest landfills in the world (Robison, 2013; Tavares, 2009). Information will be provided on how to identify elements and steps required for creating a needs assessment on this recycling program or similar health initiatives. Participants will apply the Logic Model as a method to assist with program planning and management. The OTD students also will go over marketing resource examples (e.g. flyers and brochures) as well as a brief tutorial on how to navigate free editing software, such as Canva, to create and enhance marketing materials.

Light refreshments will be served.  NOTA Board meeting to follow.