Lewis University COTAD Interview

Hello readers! This month I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with the Lewis University COTAD Chapter. Miranda, Jay, and Dr. Susan Charnley, DrOT, OTR/L, CHT, joined me for an interview about their recent COTAD events and what their goals are for the rest of the year. I hope you all enjoy hearing about their experiences with COTAD!

Samantha 

So how about you to go ahead and start off by introducing yourselves. What year you are in graduate school and maybe an interest or two that you all take part in.

Miranda

I'm Miranda and we're from Lewis University. I’m interested in the aging population and working in home health, assisted, or independent living facilities.

Jay

I'm Jay and I’m interested in hand therapy and driver's rehab.

Samantha 

Okay, great. So, what year in school are you all if you don't mind me asking?

Miranda 

This is the second year of our Master’s Program.

Samantha

Can you to talk about what COTAD is and what it means to you.

Jay  

I'd say that COTAD is an organization that works towards spreading its core values of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, to help facilitate everyone's ability to serve a diverse population that keeps on growing. Specifically, to me, being a first-generation college student, and having parents that moved from Mexico to the US, I was always the family translator being the oldest son. So having to explain all the cultural differences to medical professionals and within other settings, is what drove me to be one of the COTAD co-chairs, and motivates me to spread the values of justice, equity, and inclusion while helping break down barriers to health care that are commonly seen with cultural differences.

Samantha

That's great. Thank you for sharing that with me.

Miranda

COTAD is an important organization because it allows OT students and practitioners to become educated and get involved in promoting JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) so that we can provide the most effective care as occupational therapy practitioners.

Dr. Susan Charnley

COTAD is a very important organization for our program. It provides an opportunity for students to come together to explore ideas, values and cultures that may be different from their own. Developing an understanding of a client’s personal culture is important part of the OT process, and a way to ensure that interventions are relevant and best fit to each specific client.  Understanding the personal culture of coworkers and other members of our team is also important for OTs. COTAD is a way to connect to one another and to gain an appreciation and understanding for one another as human beings.

Samantha 

Okay, great. And again, thank you for sharing that explanation with me, I think it really covers what OT and COTAD mean to you on a personal level, and what it means to be part of COTAD as an organization. So why do you believe the COTAD is important?

Jay

COTAD is important as the population keeps growing in diversity, we want to be able to serve different populations and truly understand their lived experience, and how they may perform occupations differently from us in order to establish the client-therapist relationship.

Miranda

I think that it's important because the world is a very diverse place and every individual spends their time differently and experiences their life differently, so it's important for occupational therapists to promote the mission of COTAD and stay informed to establish a good relationship with each client.

Dr. Susan Charnley

Occupational therapists need to be able to relate and connect with their clients as well as their coworkers and other stakeholders. COTAD provides dedicated time and space for students to explore beliefs, introduce ideas and learn about one another.  This knowledge and understanding serves to strengthen our ability to help our clients achieve their goals.

Samantha

Can you expand a little bit more on how you see COTAD and OT aligning with each other in the future?

Miranda

COTAD aligns with the OT profession in many ways, but more specifically, with the OT’s distinct value of improving a client’s quality of life and health through participation or engagement in necessary and preferred occupations. With that, we provide services that are client-centered, cost-effective, and that achieve positive outcomes for our clients. To be client-centered as an occupational therapist, we have to be aware of the client’s lived experiences and cultural differences to achieve these positive outcomes that we strive for.

Jay

Just to summarize, OT’s overall goal is to promote the client's health, well-being, and quality of life through participation in meaningful occupations. But in order to do so as OTs, we must understand cultural differences and how other factors such as age, ethnicity, and race, also influence their occupations. By being culturally aware we’re better able to serve everyone and promote their ability to participate in their meaningful occupations.

Samantha

Okay, great. As you guys have participated in COTAD, can you talk to me about some of the recent events that you've held?

Miranda

The last event that we held was a gender and identity presentation, with educational information on what this population experiences in healthcare and how it affects their mental health. We also discussed how little gender and identity are discussed in OT school education. We provided recommendations and resources to increase competency and understanding about identity and ways to advocate for this group. We also had another event last year where we met over zoom and talked about everyone's holiday traditions over the holiday season. Another thing that we did within our time as COTAD co-chairs was an educational handout, which was a resource sheet for what was currently happening in Ukraine and how OTs can play a role with refugees.

Samantha

So sounds like that you're hosting for COTAD really aligned with what's happening currently in the world?

Miranda

Yes, very much.

Jay

Yes, we like to include current events that are going on in the world.

Samantha 

Okay, um, so what kind of events do you plan on having in the future?

Jay

We would like to continue the cultural holiday traditions discussion that we did last year and build upon that. This event consists of having professors and students share their holiday traditions while also educating on the value of culture within OT. Another event that we plan on doing is a cultural potluck. For this event, we hope everyone can everyone bring a dish that's meaningful to them and explain why they brought it in. Lastly, we hope to do a cultural ADL discussion. The focus of this event would be to discuss how ADLs may differ from culture to culture and discuss how we may perceive something to be normal in our eyes, but for someone else, a certain ADL may be vastly different. So those are the main events we're planning on having within this next semester.

Dr. Susan Charnley

We have discussed trips to high schools in the area which have a more diverse student body to educate them about the profession of occupational therapy

Our chapter hosted a lunchtime meeting to discuss transgender and gender related topics in occupational therapy. Students found it to be very informative and also enjoyed the Mean Girls trivia game that was a part of the event.

Samantha

Yeah, all those topics sound incredibly interesting. And to build off what you mentioned that Jay, so my next question would be how can others get involved in COTAD, even if they have like a limited time availability?

Jay

Yes, as first years, it could be tough transitioning into grad school, especially in an OT program, but we try to offer different events, whether it be in person or through zoom, just to make it a little bit more accessible. Another way to be involved is by staying up to date with social media and emails. Every once in a while, we'd like to send something out that's shorter, just to make sure everyone is able to be involved in some manner.

Miranda

I think that a great way for COTAD chairs to get everyone involved is to send short emails that everyone can read within their busy schedule. This way students are able to stay aware of relevant topics even when they don’t have the time to physically go somewhere.

Samantha

So even if they can't participate in the events, just being in the know and having that knowledge can be enough to increase inclusivity is what I'm hearing from you guys. So, I know that with Midwestern University, which is the university that I'm affiliated with, our COTAD chapters already start to transition their roles to the OT ones. What are the new goals for COTAD going to look like for the OT-I’s coming in?

Jay

We would like to continue creating events that are fun but most importantly connect to the mission of COTAD. Here at Lewis, I believe we start transitioning the next COTAD chairs in the spring. I hope the next COTAD chairs get to build upon stuff that we've previously done, as well as introduce new events. One thing that we were planning for the future was the Disability Pride Parade which is held in July. So we hope that we're able to set that up for the incoming COTAD chairs.

Samantha

That sounds great. It already sounds like you guys are preparing for the new OT students that want to come in to carry on the projects that you've that you've started. What are the projects that you and your chapter are the most proud of?

Miranda

I’m really proud of the gender and identity presentation that we held because it's something that isn't often discussed in education and should be within the OT profession.

Jay

I'm definitely proud of the Ukrainian resource sheet that was made. Haley, the previous COTAD chair, helped create the resource sheet explaining the events occurring in Ukraine and educating on OT’s role among different populations such as refugees.

Samantha

Okay, um, do you guys have any plans to collaborate with other organizations? Maybe ones that are outside of Louis University.

Miranda

Yes, we want to collaborate with other OT programs in the area. As Jay mentioned, we've been in contact with Midwestern University's OT program. Their program often attends the Disability Pride Parade each summer. We are hoping to collaborate for this event to network and better understand the disability community. We also want to do community service work with a marginalized group or population in our community, such as the homeless population.

Samantha

Okay, any other organizations besides ones that are affiliated with OT programs?

Jay

Another idea that we had in mind is going to different schools and explaining what OT is. When I was in high school there were not many opportunities to learn about different career paths. By going to various schools we can spread awareness about the role and importance of OT.

Samantha

Yeah, it's definitely about encouraging people to know what OT is and maybe even get them to come into our own field. What would you both like to say to incoming students about being involved during grad school

Jay

One thing I would like to say is that it may be very stressful at first but coming to these events allows time to relax, and take your mind off schoolwork for a little bit while also participating in something meaningful, so it's definitely something worth considering.

Miranda

I'd like to say that grad school can seem pretty overwhelming at first with assignments and a busy schedule, but I found what makes it the most meaningful is getting to know the people around you and just enjoying the process. You can find a great sense of community and support in that.

Samantha

Yeah, that all sounded great. I believe that was my last question for you all. Well, thank you both for your really insightful answers. It's really great to hear what you all are doing and the events that you're holding for COTAD. I really wish you guys the best of luck for all your future goals for this chapter.

Miranda

Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Thank you again to the Lewis University COTAD chapter for this amazing interview! If you know of a COTAD chapter that is doing great work in your school or community and you would like to see them recognized on the blog, suggest them in the comments below or send an email to [email protected].