May 2020 | College of Applied Health Sciences

Illini students making masks for people with spinal cord injuries

May 22, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

The students collaborated on a grant application to make protective masks for people with spinal cord injuries

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused people to pause plans, change directions and pivot to new careers. For two Illinois students, it means becoming inventors and distributors.

Joey Peters, a Ph.D. candidate in Kinesiology and Community Health, and Gies College of Business alum Arielle Rausin collaborated on a grant application to make protective masks for people with spinal cord injuries, and found out this week that the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation—which focuses on funding projects for people with an SCI—awarded them a $10,000 grant.

The funding is provided through the Neilsen Emergency grants, which are intended to directly support the provision of services to those living with SCI and their caretakers to relieve the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. People with SCI have above-average risk in the COVID-19 pandemic due to the prevalence of comorbidities that could complicate any SARS-CoV-2 infection. Also, obtaining effective masks for people with SCI has proven challenging.

Peters and Rausin will help make 750 masks, using 3D printers located at Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES), and the company Rausin started, Ingenium Manufacturing.

It’s fitting that DRES is involved since that is where Peters and Rausin met. Peters was a renowned gymnast when he got to Urbana-Champaign in 2013, as a two-year American junior national team member. He quickly established himself as a star athlete on campus, however, he sustained a left rotator cuff injury before his senior year and could not compete that season.

The time away from competing allowed him to reflect on what was next and he decided to pursue a master’s degree in Kinesiology. His advisor, Laura Rice, is married to Ian Rice, another member of the KCH faculty and a former gymnast himself.

“Dr. Ian Rice had a research project looking at pressure, like preventing pressure ulcers and adapted sport equipment,” Peters said. “And so it seemed kind of interesting. So I wanted to get involved in it, so I got involved in that project and did my masters with that. And with that, I kind of got involved with the racing team here, doing research on them. And then, next thing you know, I’m volunteering, going out on the road with them, and kind of fell in love with the sport. And that was about four years ago, four or five years ago, and I’m still here.”

Peters became the grad assistant for the wheelchair track team, and that’s how he met Rausin, one of the athletes. Rausin herself has a spinal cord injury.

Since Peters plans to focus on SCI research and preventing secondary complications with SCI, working with Rausin made perfect sense.

“Arielle has an amazing 3D printing company, and it just seemed like a really good fit for the whole sort of COVID relief kind of plan to action,” Peters said. “We thought it could be a really cool idea to help people in need in the SCI community.”

This grant won’t be the first time Rausin has put her skill to good use for a good cause.

In a class during her junior year, she was tasked with creating a prototype of a useable product. Thanks to her passion for wheelchair racing, and a challenge from her coach, she decided to make wheelchair racing gloves. A good pair of wheelchair racing gloves is as important as good shoes for a marathon runner, but they’re very costly, going for as much as $250 a pair. Rausin decided to create a more durable, more affordable solution.

From that idea was born her company, Ingenium Manufacturing, in 2016, currently the only business in the country which offers wheelchair racing products using 3D scanning and printing technology.

In the grant application, Peters and Rausin said they could begin production on the masks within a week of securing funding. Rausin said logistics of distribution haven’t been worked out yet, but they’ll be working with DRES partners, and they plan to mail some to Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA), a youth organization in Chicago that promotes physical activities for people with a physical or visual disability.

The masks have been approved by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), but they’re not taking supplies from N95 masks that are meant for first responders and hospitals, Rausin said.

“The 3D printed mask that we’re going to be distributing, it’s meant for community use,” she said. “It’s going to protect people better than the cloth masks or bandannas or whatever that they have around their home. And so this is just an opportunity for us to give them a free mask that’s going to be better than their own, but still not taking away from the need that doctors and hospitals have.

“This was a perfect opportunity for us to be able to donate the use of the printers towards a good cause, and use them to help people.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

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Tags: Arielle Rausin, Ian Rice, Joey Peters, Laura Rice

Alumni Spotlight: Lynn Bielski

June 01, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Alumni of the College of Applied Health Sciences have myriad career options thanks to the tremendous diversity of programs. We periodically will put the spotlight on an alum to find out what they’re doing now, what experiences they had and what AHS means to them. This week, we talk to Lynn Bielski, who got her B.S. in Speech and Hearing Science in 2001, Master of Arts in Audiology in 2003 and Ph.D. in Audiology in 2013. She is now an assistant professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Ball State University.

Q: Why did you pick AHS?

A: I selected AHS because the Department of Speech and Hearing Science was part of it and had the major I selected. When I began my undergrad degree I wanted to become a speech-language pathologist. Later, I changed focus to audiology after taking a Hearing Science course with Dr. David Gooler.

Q: Which professors had the most impact on you?

A: I was very fortunate to work with many wonderful professors and clinical supervisors including Drs. Charissa Lansing, Ron Chambers, Cynthia Johnson, David Gooler, Lou Echols-Chambers and Carol Parker.

Q: What course did you most enjoy?/Did you enter AHS knowing your career path, or did AHS help you decide?

A: I began as an undergrad thinking I wanted to become an speech-language pathologist. Then I took a hearing science course with Dr. David Gooler, and I changed my mind. I learned more about audiology and realized the blend of anatomy/physiology, physics, neuroscience and clinical practice was perfect for me.

Q: Did your AHS experience lead to your current job?

A: Yes, the mentorship, training and experience I received from AHS and Speech and Hearing Science led me to my current position.

Q: What was your favorite on-campus experience?

A: This is so hard to answer! One of the most exciting experiences was watching the Illini beat No. 1 Wake Forest at Assembly Hall (Dec. 1, 2004). The energy was electric!

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

Tags: alumni, Alumni Spotlight

AHS researchers get grant to study social engagement over video technology

May 12, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

*OneClick’s software is similar to Zoom, but easier to use, says Wendy Rogers (Photo provided)*

Never has there been a more important time to help older adults stay connected. A grant awarded to two University of Illinois researchers aims to advance that goal.

Kinesiology and Community Health professor Wendy Rogers and Speech and Hearing Science associate professor Raksha Mudar are the principal investigators of a National Institute on Aging (National Institutes of Health) Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant.

The researchers are collaborating with OneClick.chat co-founder Dillon Myers on a study entitled, “Enhancing Quality of Life for Older Adults with and without MCI through Social Engagement over Video Technology.” MCI refers to Mild Cognitive Impairment, which affects millions of older Americans.

The technology in question is OneClick video communication software along the lines of Zoom and Skype, but easier to use, Rogers said.

“So, by definition, OneClick, you don’t have to download any software,” Rogers said. “If I want to engage somebody to participate in a meeting with me—I can send them a link. And they just click on that link, and they’re automatically into the system. And one of the things we did in our first phase was to optimize it for older adults, making sure that the icons and the language and the information that was presented was easy to understand by older adults with and without cognitive impairment.”

Myers and Rogers connected in a serendipitous manner.

“I was interviewed on (National Public Radio) about a project we were doing,” Rogers said. “It was early stages on tele-health. And one of the comments I made was we may be able to connect people who are living alone or are at risk for social isolation to have conversations and to be engaged socially with other individuals. And Dillon Myers heard the interview on NPR and called me.”

It took about a year—“luckily he was very persistent,” Rogers said—but the two decided to work together. The original idea, which was funded by a Phase I SBIR grant, was to connect older people with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Mudar got involved because of her expertise with mild cognitive impairment, and she was the lead investigator on an additional seed grant from Discovery Partners Institute that explored the use of OneClick for older adults of low socioeconomic status.

The Phase I SBIR included a small pilot study to make sure older adults with and without MCI could use OneClick on their own in their homes.

However, Phase II will be a much larger assessment, Rogers said.

“We’ll be doing a clinical trial to determine whether it actually improves social engagement and reduces feelings of loneliness for older adults, assessed for 120 participants, including people with and without MCI. Another component of the Phase II is partnering with agencies. We have three partners—Clark-Lindsey Village, CRIS Healthy-Aging Center, both in the Champaign and Vermilion County areas, and then CJE SeniorLife up in the Chicago area.”

Rogers said the work with community partners will focus on how agencies that support older adults can integrate OneClick to provide support services, and how they might find it helpful for serving their clients.

“It’s great that we have these community partners located in urban and micro-urban areas,” Mudar said. For example, within the greater Chicago area, the CJE allows us to capture the population, which is really diverse in terms of ethnic and cultural diversity. These three partners allow us to reach out to a really wide audience or a purpose-built group.”

The grant award totals approximately $1.8 million, with approximately $850,000 earmarked for the University of Illinois. The funding runs from May 1 of 2020 through March 31 of 2022.

According to research from the National Institutes of Health, social isolation and loneliness have been linked to higher risks for a variety of physical and mental conditions: high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, a weakened immune system, anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and even death.

OneClick’s goal is to connect people with shared interests in an accessible way, thereby stimulating social connectedness, which has been found beneficial to health and quality-of-life outcomes for older adults.

Connectedness is more important than ever now as most of the globe is forced to shelter in place in the wake of COVID-19. OneClick is enabling people to sign up right now and use OneClick for free, during the pandemic, Rogers said, adding that the timeliness of this study could not be more apparent.

“Raksha and I have been interested in social engagement for older adults for quite a long time already,” she said. “And we recognize the importance of that for older adults and even more so, given today’s situation. And this technology is designed with their needs and capabilities in mind. We only wish we were even further along in some of this research so that more older adults could be using it right now.

Mudar said one of the participants in the first study summed up OneClick perfectly.

The participant said “it’s like having a friend at the touch of a button.”

About OneClick.chat
OneClick.chat is a web-based video chat platform based in Philadelphia. The platform, designed by a cross-generational team, makes it easy for people of any age to join and participate in video-based meetings and events. No downloads, and no more logins. Just a single click from a computer/tablet/smartphone, and you’re in!

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

Tags: OneClick, Raksha Mudar, Wendy Rogers

Alumni Spotlight: Tiffany Wilkinson

May 13, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Alumni of the College of Applied Health Sciences have myriad career options thanks to the tremendous diversity of programs. We periodically will put the spotlight on an alum to find out what they’re doing now, what experiences they had and what AHS means to them. This week, we talk to Tiffany Wilkinson, who got her bachelor of science in 2011 in Community Health and is now Senior Public Health Research Associate with Arizona-based Empowerment Research, LLC.

Q: Why did you pick AHS?

A: The University of Illinois became a collegiate option when I was approached and offered a scholarship from the Wheelchair Basketball Program at the university. I am originally from Arizona, born and raised, and the thought of going out of state hadn’t crossed my mind until I was recruited to the program. I knew I had an area of focus I wanted to get into and when I did my research into the university it was very clear that the College of Applied Health Sciences was where I needed to be. I wanted to stay in the realm of health education and public health, as my goal transitioning out after college was to get back into the nonprofit sector because I believed in working with communities and helping to improve the quality of life of those who benefited from such organizations and services. After careful consideration and debate I knew I wanted to get into AHS and get my degree in Community Health because it closely matched what I wanted to pursue as a career after college.

Q: Which professors had the most impact on you?

A: This is a tough question as I loved all my classes, professors, and experiences at Illinois. But if I had to name a couple people here who had the most impact on me I would have to say for one, Professor (David) Strauser. I loved his courses and the enthusiasm, dedication, and passion he brought resonated with me. I conducted a research project with two other students under his supervision for one of our courses. I love research, data analysis, and statistics, and conducting our project, and getting to present it at the Symposium on campus, was one of the highlights while I was there. He supported what we wanted to do, what areas we wanted to focus on, and guided us to do our work and due diligence during the whole process. It was a valuable learning experience but it was also fun at the same time. And that research project, which was based in the disability community, helped provide another lense to what I was doing and where I wanted to go. His courses truly helped shape the path I wanted to continue on and I am forever grateful for those experiences. He was definitely one of my favorite professors on campus. To this day I work within the disability community, and have been for several years, and I have to thank him for what I learned in his courses but for also grounding even deeper my passion for wanting to work within the disability community as well.

I also want to make mention of two other amazing people, my academic advisors, Christopher Cosat and Carol Firkins, as they probably were two of the most hands-on and supportive people on campus. I cannot express enough gratitude for those two advisors in the College of Applied Health Sciences. They were fantastic at supporting me, keeping me on track for graduation, advising what classes I should take and what semester, advice on professors, you name it. Besides them being extraordinary at their job, they were both kind, caring, and compassionate. They went above and beyond to help students and showed me such heart and warmth during my time there that I can’t say enough about them. There were several occasions where I struggled, lost two grandparents in the same year and was away from family, and I could turn to them, no questions asked, and they would listen to my struggle and offer as much help as they could. It isn’t just doing the job, but also caring about the human being who is a student, but also someone’s daughter or son, niece, brother, sister, whatever. And that is the side that made them two very influential people during my time at Illinois.

I would also like to add that I had an incredible experience in one of my classes that has stayed with me since that day in class. It was Community Health 100, I believe, an entry-level course. And one day we had a guest speaker who came in to talk with us about cancer (that was the section we were on in the course). She was 35 years old, a wife, mother, daughter, and she had breast cancer. She was there to tell us her story and what she was going through. I remember it like it was yesterday and I will never forget it. She shared how her goal was to see her son’s fifth birthday, as the cancer she had was very aggressive. To see him get to five, I couldn’t even fathom that. Her strength, conviction, life experiences, all of that touched my heart. I don’t remember there being a dry eye in the classroom that day after she shared her story. And at the end she said she was leaving us and going to get a double mastectomy at the hospital right after. I was just blown away that this brave woman took the time out of her life to come talk to us, share her story, right before having a life changing surgery. That to me was one of the most incredible experiences I had on campus in that sense and forever grateful to my professor (I can’t remember his name) that he did that for us.

These are the reasons why Illinois stands out to me and why I know deep down I made the right choice going to the university and choosing the College of Applied Health Sciences. It was these experiences, and individuals that still shape who I am today since I graduated. And as I have said, I am forever grateful for them and my time at Illinois.

Q: What course did you most enjoy?

A: It is really tough choosing just one course that I enjoyed the most. In response to a previous question I did make mention of one day in a course that has stayed with me, the guest speaker we had. But it is hard to choose just one course overall as each one taught me something different and my experiences were also unique in each one as well. But one course that did stand out the most for me was REHB 402: medical aspects of disability with Professor Strauser. During the semester we had the opportunity to study and become more familiar with various physical, mental, and cognitive disabilities and what they look like for those individuals in the community who have them. I found the class very fascinating and highly educational. Plus it was a special area of interest for me as well. One part of the class I thoroughly enjoyed was when we got to work in small groups where we were given case studies and we had to diagnose (and) figure out what the disability was. The ones I found the most intriguing were disabilities that fell under mental health. The psychological side of those disabilities and how someone’s mind and brain manifests and changes was so intriguing. To this day I remember working on those case studies and it was one of my best learning experiences in a class. I am a hands on, experience, kinesthetic learner so when we got to work in groups and on projects like that it helped me turn what I learned knowledge wise into something applicable, by working on case studies and real-life experiences.

I also thoroughly enjoyed all of my other health education courses, as well as a couple of the kinesiology courses I had to take as well. I have always been fascinated by how the body and mind work, so when I had the opportunity to take all these courses related to that, and disability as a part of, I just dove right in. I do have to add that one course I took outside the College of Applied Health Sciences was Sociology. That course also aided in my career path because I got to take a bigger look outside us as individuals and look at the community level and how we as humans fit into that. With my career goals post graduation of going to work in the nonprofit sector I knew that this course would also better prepare me on how to look not just at the individual but also the whole of the community and how we interact and intersect. To choose just one course is really hard as I could look back over my career at Illinois and give hundreds of examples of educational experiences I had in each course and what they taught me. But the ones mentioned above would have to be at the top of my list and most impactful courses I took.

Q: Did you enter AHS knowing your career path, or did AHS help you decide?

A: As mentioned above, I had an idea of my career path going into AHS. I had some life/work experience under my belt prior to attending the university. I knew I wanted to stay in the area of community/public health with an emphasis on health education. But it did help me decide what I wanted my future to look like. I would also have to add that my internship at the Women’s Resource Center on campus also helped shape my future as well. (I am) grateful for that experience and what it taught me that semester in college. I had a passion for service, for helping others, and doing what I could to make this world a better place, one person at a time. And I found my passion within the disability community, but also within violence education and prevention as well. AHS helped foster that, along with my many other wonderful and educational experiences on campus.

Q: Did your AHS experience lead to your current job?

A: I would say AHS did in fact help get me better prepared for the career path I have gone down. What I learned while attending the university gave me the tools, resources, and education to back up some of my previous experiences in the career force before attending the university. It also validated that I was on the right path and pursuing the right degree for what I wanted to do. Every position I have held post graduation has been supported by my academic success at the university but also my internship as part of my degree as well. Everything I learned from AHS, my professors, academic advisors, peers, has benefited me in some shape or form during my journey.

Q: What is your current job?

A: My current job is Senior Public Health Research Associate with the company Empowerment Research, LLC based in Arizona. Dr. Susan Wolf and I provide training, education, and technical assistance to the community on brain injury and neuro-impairment. The courses and trainings we offer cover a variety of topics related to brain injury and how to support individuals in school, the workplace, and community. On top of those annual events we also do program evaluation and curriculum development, and consulting on other various projects.

Q: What was your favorite on-campus experience?

A: I do not know how I can choose just one on-campus experience but since I have to, I would have to say my career being a wheelchair basketball player for the university would definitely be one of my highlights. Nothing beats playing a tournament on your home court. Teammates by your side, coaches supporting from the sidelines, the competition, the adrenaline, playing against a tough opponent, and that feeling of a big win. I was proud to be a student at the university, but I was even more honored to be a student-athlete and play the game I love. Those experiences from tournaments, to practices, watching film, developing a game plan, weight training program, all of it was incredible and made me feel even more part of the university. I cherish those moments and my time there and hands down some of my most memorable experiences were on that basketball court wearing orange and blue to represent the university. I would also like to add that I am incredibly grateful on so many levels for the staff, coaches, athletes, student volunteers, athletic trainers, and overall support from the University and the Wheelchair Basketball Program. DRES was a second home for me and the love and support from everyone involved with the program was incredible. One person that always went above and beyond for every single athlete and student was Maureen Gilbert, and I want to say a special thank you to her for everything she did for me while I was there but for every other student as well. I am beyond grateful for her and the program is very lucky to have her, along with the amazing other staff and coaches.

Q: What does AHS mean to you?

A: AHS means family, community, and a lifelong belonging to something bigger than us individually. I am proud to be a graduate of the University of Illinois but I am also incredibly proud to be a graduate from the College of Applied Health Sciences. The adventure I embarked upon by becoming a Fighting Illini is one of the best adventures in my life so far. I feel a humbling honor to be a part of a community of individuals that is out there doing their part to make this world a better place. I feel everything does happen for a reason, and the reason I ended up at Illinois was to help guide me to where I am today but also to where I am going tomorrow.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

Boppart awarded Beckman’s Vision and Spirit Award

May 7, 2020 | AHS Staff

Marni Boppart, an associate professor of kinesiology and community health, is the 2020 winner of the Beckman Institute Vision and Spirit Award. Boppart is also a faculty member in the Carle Illinois College of Medicine and at the Carle R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.

Tags: Beckman Institute, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Marni Boppart

AHS well represented in Undergrad Research Symposium

May 7, 2020 | Anna Flanagan

See the research projects our undergraduates presented at the Undergraduate Research Symposium

The signature event of Undergraduate Research Week, the Undergraduate Research Symposium has been held on the University of Illinois campus since 2008. The number of undergraduate students participating has grown from a few hundred in its inaugural year to well over 800 students. Over the course of the day, students present their work in concurrent oral and poster presentations (including creative performances), the breadth and scope of which reflect not only the wide range of academic disciplines at the University of Illinois, but also speak to the caliber of our undergraduates. Our students are innovative and engaged, eager to learn from their advisors and mentors. Their projects also demonstrate the ongoing institutional commitment to supporting and expanding research opportunities at the U of I and beyond. For more information, please visit our website.

In 2020, 72 students from the College of Applied Health Sciences presented at URS. They are listed below, with the title of their presentation.

COMMUNITY HEALTH

Rhea Nambiar, Aerobic Fitness as a Predictor for Performance in Cognitive Flexibility Tasks
Brielle Ross, Medical Cannabis Usage in Older Veterans
Siyao Zhang, Research Experience in HFA Labortory on Maximizing the Benefits of Participatory Design for Human Robot Interaction Research with Older Adults
Summer Jett, Supports and Barriers when Integrating Play in the Classroom
Josh Silvestre, The Impacts of Food and Temperature on Culex pipiens Development
Sam Asher, The Power of Parents : Exploring the Influence of Maternal Food Modeling on Children’s Picky Eating Behaviors
Carla Ortiz, The Role of Assistive Devices on Worry about Falling and Leisure Self-Efficacy among Older Adults
Karen Hernandez Patricio, Validation of Mealtime Assessment Survey

INTERDISCIPLINARY HEALTH SCIENCES

Wallis Peterson, Age-related Difference of Head Acceleration During Unexpected Perturbations
Maria Derrig, An Investigation of the Impact of Breastfeeding on Childhood Adiposity
Samantha Sample, Are Young Children Getting Enough Sleep? Understanding The Impact Of Poor Sleep Habits On Childhood Obesity
Mackenzie Wiegers, Conservation Farming: A Viable Way of Life
Hyder Khan, Does Distance make a difference? Impact of Food Access to reported MyPlate ratings
Alyse Bondarowicz, Exercise and Technology Intervention Strategies to Support Successful Aging in Older Adults with Mobility Disability
Selena Wang, The Dietary Effects of Inulin on Lipid Metabolism in Aged Mice
Michelle Cheung, The Effect on Dietary Fiber Diets and Microglia Hypersensitivity
Ashley Garcia, The Influence of Inflammation on Lutein Activity and Cognitive Variables
Josette Orlevitch, The Role of Assistive Devices on Worry about Falling and Leisure Self-Efficacy among Older Adults
Olivia Kupiec, Understanding Healthcare Challenges and Needs for Older Adults with and without Mobility and Sensory Disabilities
Jennifer Lee, Understanding the Challenges and Solutions of Adults Aging with a Hearing Disability
Alexandra Trekas, Young Adults’ Sexual Attitudes in Tourism vs. Everyday Life
Jessica Escutia-Calderon, Young Adults’ Attitudes Toward Elderly Sexuality

KINESIOLOGY

Alyssa Rose Masangkay, Analysis of Knee Flexion Characteristics and how they Alter with the Onset of Knee Osteoarthritis in Step Down Task
Allison Morettini, Are Young Children Getting Enough Sleep? Understanding The Impact Of Poor Sleep Habits On Childhood Obesity
Jackalyn Geraty, Benefits of Low Sodium Meals for Patients With End-stage Kidney Disease on Dialysis
Julia Gulanczyk, Gender-Related Differences in Range of Motion and Neck Strength Among Different Age Groups
Liam Gasser, Gender-Related Differences in Range of Motion and Neck Strength Among Different Age Groups
Carson Smith, Healthcare Technology in Older Adults
Amber Lopez, Measles Reprogramming Vectors with Improved Efficiency and Safety for Regenerative Medicine
Lina Hawari, Peak Force of Falling Out of a Wheelchair in Relation to BMI
Makylah Allen, The Effect of Rapamycin and Metformin Treatment on Primary Osteoarthritis
Madison Catalano, Yoga and Cancer Survivorship: A Systematic Review of Yoga Interventions to Reduce Fatigue

RECREATION, SPORT AND TOURISM

Jaesung An, The Role of Assistive Devices on Worry about Falling and Leisure Self-Efficacy among Older Adults
Damien Cavanaugh, The Role of Assistive Devices on Worry about Falling and Leisure Self-Efficacy among Older Adults

SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCE

Suhyun Lee, Vocal Injury Among Professional Voice Users in College.
Leah Demas, An Analysis of Feminism in Fairy Tales
Grace Rochford, Behavioral and Neural Measures of Inhibition in Age-Related Hearing Loss
Christiana Allen, Behaviors Associated with Comorbid Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children with Down Syndrome
Diana Morales, Can the MIND Diet Affect the Psychosocial Outcomes of Middle-Aged Latinos?
Chloe Maghinang, Differences Between the Perception and Production of Sung Melodies
Cori Dahl, Differences Between the Perception and Production of Sung Melodies
Amber Dorn, Effects of Extended High Frequency Cues on Speech Recognition In School-Age Children
Kelsey Libert, Effects of Extended High Frequency Cues on Speech Recognition In School-Age Children
Katrina Blum, Exploring Stress Levels in Mothers of Children with Down Syndrome
Allison Rush, Exploring Stress Levels in Mothers of Children with Down Syndrome
Christiana Allen, Exploring Stress Levels in Mothers of Children with Down Syndrome
Paige Valente, Fetal Sound Exposures and ABR Responses at Three Months of Age
Ana Sabic, Fetal Sound Exposures and ABR Responses at Three Months of Age
Kelin Mendoza, It Takes Two: The Association Between Maternal Depression and Childhood Obesity
Jessica Philipp, It’s Like Face to Face Talking: Thematic Analysis of the Feasibility of a Video Chat Social Engagement Intervention for Older Adults With and Without MCI
Brianna Legner, Lombard Effect, Ambient Noise and Willingness to Spend Time and Money in a Restaurant Within the Elderly Population
Alyse Ruda, Lombard Effect, Ambient Noise and Willingness to Spend Time and Money in a Restaurant Within the Elderly Population
Eleena Ahmed, Null Objects in Basque Spanish
Isabella Russell, Promoting Ongoing Participation in Group Fitness Among Older Adults: An Application of the Psychological Continuum Model
Kathleen Dowling, The Effect of Speech and Voice Techniques on Speech Intelligibility Under the Influence of Noise: A Comparative Study with Expert Speakers
Sarah Jones, The Effects of Age-Related Hearing Loss on Executive Function
Veronica Lane, The Perception of Corner Vowel Intelligibility on Dysphonic Speech
Katherine Weber, The Perception of Corner Vowel Intelligibility on Dysphonic Speech
Jenna Lachman, The Perception of Corner Vowel Intelligibility on Dysphonic Speech
Tamaryn Tran, The Power of Parents : Exploring the Influence of Maternal Food Modeling on Children’s Picky Eating Behaviors
Jenna Crean, The Role of Gestures in Facilitating Everyday Communication Interactions: An Analysis of Dysarthric Speakers
Angela Medrano, The Role of Gestures in Facilitating Everyday Communication Interactions: An Analysis of Dysarthric Speakers
Maya Balachander, The Role of Gestures in Facilitating Everyday Communication Interactions: An Analysis of Dysarthric Speakers
Celia Rodriguez, The Use of Landmark-Based Approach for Differentiating Healthy, Dysphonic, and Spasmodic Dysphonia Speech
Mary Buchheit, The Use of Landmark-Based Approach for Differentiating Healthy, Dysphonic, and Spasmodic Dysphonia Speech
Emily Klipstein, Using LENA to Identify Early Words
Paige Valente, Using LENA to Identify Early Words
Allison Wells, Using LENA to Identify Early Words
Grace Kim, Using LENA to Identify Early Words
Claire Inskeep, Video Technology-Based Social Engagement Intervention For Older Adults With and Without Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Feasibility Study
Malinda Mullet, Vocal Injury Among Professional Voice Users in College
Arianna Bastys, Vocal Injury Among Professional Voice Users in College

Tags: College of Applied Health Sciences, Undergraduate Research Symposium

Expert Q&A: RST’s Laura Payne on COVID-19 and Recreation

May 18, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

The College of Applied Health Sciences has experts in many areas that have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Periodically we will ask these experts about how their areas of expertise have been impacted and what we can expect in a post-COVID-19 world. Today, we ask Laura Payne, professor and director of graduate studies in Recreation, Sport and Tourism, about how COVID-19 affects local parks and recreation.

Q: Which parts of the recreation industry are feeling the most pain now, and which will be the ones that are slowest to come back online when social distancing guidelines are eased or lifted?

A: Community recreation and parks agencies have been hit hard by COVID-19. Summer is the busy season for parks and recreation, and with the ongoing threat posed by the pandemic, many agencies have had to cancel or postpone programs and events such as sport leagues, fitness and arts programs, camps, and special events. Many agencies have moved to online fitness, arts, and e-sports programs. Youth and adult sports programs are likely to come back most slowly—this is due to the fact that many sport programs involve contact. Also, it is hard to say when playgrounds will be open again. A positive trend is that more, now than ever, people are drawn to parks for their physical, social and mental health benefits. Maintaining six feet of distance is vital for safe park use and as observed by my colleague Dr. Kim Shinew, this is difficult to practice consistently, especially on nice days when more people are outside.

Q: What will be the probable impact of COVID-19 on park and recreation agencies?

A: Some agencies have postponed capital projects such as construction of new and remodeled facilities and others have decided to continue some of their programming online, even after restrictions start easing. I have also heard of some agencies furloughing staff and re-organizing.

Q: What steps should agencies and employees be taking now?

A: Most agencies have pivoted to limited online programming. Much of this programming is free, with some more extensive programs being fee-based such as e-learning pre-school programs. They should also start planning for re-opening some of their facilities, but with different use guidelines. For example, when fitness and recreation centers re-open, they will clean and disinfect their facilities several times per day.

Q: What resources are available for agencies to utilize now?

A: The Illinois Park and Recreation Association is hosting Virtual Community Talks once per week—this is an online forum where professionals can share resources, ask and answer questions, and support each other. Each call is recorded so they can be played back. They can be accessed here. Also, the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) provides guidance for parks and recreation spaces, facilities and programs. They offer specific guidance and links to additional information.

Q: What measures can recreation sites, such as parks, take that allow them to re-open in a modified fashion but still assure the public?

A: Many parks never closed—and agencies have placed signs in parks with guidance for maintaining six-foot distance and remind people that courts and playgrounds are not available for use. When facilities re-open, they will follow capacity guidelines, which means only the facility can be occupied up to 50 percent of its capacity and staff and patrons will wear masks. The facilities will also be cleaned and disinfected regularly.

Q: How does COVID-19 compare to other recent events such as SARS and 9/11 in terms of economic impact upon the recreation industry?

A: SARS was nothing compared to COVID-19; Also, 9/11 impacted the travel and tourism industry more than the local parks and recreation industry. If anything, community recreation and parks probably benefitted from 9/11 in that more people planned stay-cations and used their local parks and recreation agencies even more because it was comfortable and familiar.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

Tags: COVID-19, Expert Q&A, Laura Payne

COVID-19 has brought telepractice into forefront of SLP, AUD treatment

May 01, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Free telepractice services in speech‑audiology advanced during COVID‑19 pandemic

*Telepractice was an effective option during the lockdown phase of COVID. (Stock image)*

The COVID-19 outbreak has radically altered life in the United States. It changed how we work, communicate, spend time with families, exercise and shop. It has also forced students to change how they learn and how they go about fulfilling the requirements of preparing for life after school.

Students in the Speech and Hearing Science Department of the College of Applied Health Sciences at Illinois have had to alter how they can complete internships, a necessary part of their coursework. Fortunately, the state of Illinois recently granted a temporary variance to allow speech-language pathology and audiology students to count telepractice hours even if the student and supervisor are not in the same room.

That decision has given students such as Nina Iraci, a first-year graduate student in the speech-language pathology program, a chance to work with clients, even if it’s via phone or video conference.

“We’ve had to be adaptable and creative in how we deliver our services,” Iraci said. “I found (telepractice) has been more of a tool than we thought. Telepractice is a great option. It’s very convenient. It’s surprised us.”

Caitlyn Boni is a second-year master’s student in SLP and her externship at an elementary school was altered by the virus outbreak, forcing her to quickly adapt to telepractice. That has allowed her to learn something about herself and her future work.

“I have learned that it is important to be a flexible clinician and be willing and prepared to improvise if needed,” she said. “Much of my service delivery was individual or one-on-one in the classroom. However, since switching to teletherapy, I have participated in more large group (classroom-level) meetings where I provide general language support to parents. The biggest change I would say is that there is much more parent involvement than would be typical in my school placement. Typically, parent collaboration is limited to IEP meetings. However, due to the extended school closures, many of the children’s’ devices have been sent home with them, and parents are becoming more oriented with their child’s device as well as how to support their child in using it to communicate.”

For Taylor Mekus, a first-year audiology grad student who has been working to create educational videos about audiology and hearing health during the shelter-in-place order, has also found telepractice to be surprisingly effective.

“I did not realize how expansive telepractice can be, but being faced with this scenario the field of Audiology seems to be coming up with new and exciting ways to deliver services via telepractice,” she said. “We always have to be adaptive to change and find new ways to help our patients.”

Monique Dang is a second-year audiology grad student, and she has been working closely with Clark-Lindsay Village, focusing on hearing loss in adults, whether it’s noise-induced or age-related hearing loss. Last semester—also known as BC (Before COVID-19)—she worked to get the Audiology Clinic service into Clark-Lindsey to perform monthly cleanings and checks of the residents’ hearing aids. That’s been put on hold, forcing the clinic to “to move to alternative avenues of care,” she said.

“We have worked to connect with our hearing aid patients and express our availability virtually in this difficult time,” Dang said. The clinic—which is offering its services free—is troubleshooting hearing aids, walking through care and maintenance and offering other adjustments, Dang said. “I’m learning this transition to telepractice is a learning curve,” she said.

CHANGE AND CHALLENGES

As Dang mentioned, the transition to telepractice doesn’t come without its challenges. For one, the students miss working directly with their clients. “It goes without saying that I just miss human interaction in general,” Iraci said, “but another thing that’s a challenge is if we need to do any sort of manual manipulation, any sort of oral mechanism examination, that’s pretty difficult.”

Hannah Smith, a second-year audiology grad student, said the main obstacle was lack of prep time.

“As students, teaching assistants, research assistants, and clinicians, we had approximately one week to prepare for an online transition for the remainder of the semester,” she said. “This proved to be very difficult and time consuming for the first few weeks and required a lot of creative problem-solving skills to navigate these unknown waters.”

Dang agreed.

“(Telepractice) requires trial and error, and a lot of planning and collaborative efforts. Simply put, it’s not at all the same as providing traditional face-to-face services,” she said. Technology is part of the problem, she said, as well as trying to set up group appointments at a time when that is being discouraged.

“Our elderly patients seem reluctant to use technology,” Taylor added, “so we are facing the challenge of helping patients to step out of their comfort zone and utilize technology.”

Still, Taylor said, patience was vital.

“We need to consider that working with technology in order to utilize telepractice may be more of a learning curve for them. We have to remember since our patients have hearing loss, communicating via video call may be more difficult and we will have to adapt to each individual circumstance.”

The obstacles are not only associated with the elderly. For Boni, working with children has had its share of issues.

“It can be difficult to provide therapy in a way that will keep the child engaged and willing to participate in the session,” she said. “It is very helpful to have a parent nearby to provide behavior management since it is nearly impossible for me to do via teletherapy. For example, after five minutes of therapy a child said to me, ‘OK, I’m done with speech. BYE!’ and ran away from the screen. Luckily, her mom intervened and brought her back to the session.”

TELEPRACTICE HERE TO STAY?

Despite the trials of telepractice, the budding practitioners see the advantages in a post-COVID-19 world.

“Telepractice is a great thing, especially during this time and when it comes to trying to provide appropriate access to care to those in rural communities,” Dang said.

Boni said patience and understanding is needed, but she definitely sees the benefits.

“Telepractice can provide unique opportunities that may not be possible with typical face-to-face sessions,” she said. “Some things are difficult, but with a little creativity it is possible to find a work-around to most challenges and I do believe my clients are benefiting from teletherapy.”

Smith agreed.

“Telepractice initially may seem rather intimidating, however, from my personal experience, patients have really enjoyed the convenience and quick turnaround of services,” she said. “We are moving into an ever-changing technology-centered society so patients who are interested in that are embracing telepractice services from the comfort of their own home. Telepractice will continue to develop and improve so it is very exciting to see how this will impact the way in which we serve our patients.”

An added benefit is that the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Clinic is not charging clients for its telepractice service through Aug. 6.

Iraci believes telepractice has a place, even after the COVID-19 threat is extinguished.

“Telepractice is a great option, especially for adults, because they’re typically very busy and only have time for a moment of teletherapy, in their car, or on a break at any time. It’s very convenient.

“It would be a great service for our clinic to provide, regardless of the stay-home order.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

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