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occupational therapy faculty and students provide services
in Guatemala
2/29/08
Dr. O
Jayne Bowman and Amy DeYoung, occupational therapist for the
School of New Life, adjust a standing board in the home of
a visually impaired child in Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala.
HOUSTON – Texas Woman’s University occupational
therapy graduate students Sheryn Fox and Stephanie Bieniarz,
along with TWU faculty Dr. O Jayne Bowman, recently traveled
to Guatemala to provide occupational therapy services to children
in need.
The group evaluated
and treated students who attend the School of New Life in
Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala — a private, non-profit
school for children with disabilities. According to Dr. Bowman,
the children had a variety of issues requiring treatment,
including visual and motor development deficits, failure-to-thrive
problems and general developmental delays.
“The experiences
of the occupational therapy students in Guatemala allowed
students to use techniques they had learned in the classroom
and to learn new clinical evaluation and treatment techniques,”
said Dr. Bowman, Ph.D., LOT, associate professor of occupational
therapy at the TWU Institute of Health Sciences-Houston Center,
who led the students on the trip in August. “Most importantly,
their experiences made them more sensitive to the therapeutic
needs of individuals in developing countries and broadened
their perspective of occupational therapy.”
Fox said the trip
gave her experience in evaluation and treatment that she would
not have had otherwise.
“The people
of Santa Maria de Jesus have a difficult life, but the difficulty
for the disabled children is impossible to describe,”
Fox said. “Wheelchairs are a luxury — most often
well worn and afforded only to a lucky few — there are
no sidewalks and the streets are cobblestone, making maneuvering
around in a wheelchair virtually impossible.”
“The trip offered me the opportunity to see occupational
therapy as it was in the beginning and is still today,”
she continued. “For example, Dr. Bowman, Stephanie,
the school’s occupational therapist and I turned a water
barrel into a piece of sensory integration equipment for the
clinic. We helped modify a standing table to help a child
with severe cerebral palsy stand in preparation for learning
to walk. These experiences are invaluable and will help me
be a better occupational therapist.”
Bieniarz said,
“This trip was a realization of a dream to help developing
countries as an occupational therapist and to open doors for
the possibility of future trips for students. If a student
has the opportunity to view the world and their profession
in the light of such need, I believe they will have a greater
knowledge of service and humility only found in experience.”
Dr. Bowman said
that she, Fox and Bieniarz planned the trip after hearing
the School of New Life’s founder Judy Kershner, a former
nurse for the Shriner’s Hospital in the Texas Medical
Center, speak about the school and its needs.
“After hearing
Judy speak and learning that the school had an occupational
therapist, which is rare for the area, I knew that my students
and I should go to Guatemala and help,” Dr. Bowman said.
During the trip,
Dr. Bowman presented a workshop on improving behavior management
to the teachers and staff at the school. Dr. Bowman, Fox and
Bieniarz also made home visits and helped infants and pre-school
students in the village.
“With more
hospitals in the medical center and Texas treating an international
clientele, it is critical that occupational therapists are
sensitive to cultural differences and open to alternative
treatment methods in order to provide the best care possible,”
Dr. Bowman said. “Experiences like this trip are vital
to students so that they are better prepared to practice in
today’s complex global world.”
###
Media Contact:
Amanda Simpson
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: asimpson1@twu.edu |
