Join us for the first event in this year's NYSOTA CE Series for Occupational Therapy Educators.

Enroll in a variety of sessions to discover best practices and resources for occupational therapy education.

Date:  Monday, January 13, 2025

Time:  7:00 - 8:30 PM

Cost:  $10 for NYSOTA members; $20 for non-members

CE Credit:  1.5 CCH

Capacity Building With Community Partners: A Discussion on Mutually Beneficial Service Learning Experiences
Hannah Mercier, PhD, OTR/L

For several years, the Stony Brook University OT program has refined a capstone course where students serve as consultants to local communities. Communities served have included staff and visitors to a wildlife refuge center and community farm, a town police force, Spanish-speaking library patrons with young children, staff at a forest school, an institute of lifelong learners, cyclists with disabilities, teen neurodivergent exergamers, participants in fall prevention and long COVID programs, and the OT academic program itself.

This course will describe capacity building outcomes from a service learning capstone course, via student and community organization perspectives. A timely discussion addresses the process to build sustainable partnerships and equip occupational therapy students to navigate the consultant role.

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:

• discuss realistic benefits for students and community partners Masters-level semester-long consultant projects
  
• identify strategies to create and sustain mutually beneficial community partnerships for service-learning, on both the student preparation and institutional management sides