Karen M. Keptner PhD, OTR/L
Occupational therapy with college students
An emerging practice
The rate of mental health concerns in university students has skyrocketed over recent years. As a way to address this in my own little way, I started providing OT services to undergraduate university students focused on health and wellness. Since then, I have done research on the struggles of college students during their daily routine. Students are very concerned with social participation and belonging and this has an impact on college and career success. In addition, students with lower satisfaction in daily activities showed less adjustment and feelings of belonging in college. You can find out more details about this research below! If you are an OT interested in working with post-secondary students, check out my blog and other services at https://keptnerot.com/.
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Occupation-based groups
My journey with students started with a short 5 week group to address common concerns among university students - using occupation as a guide. The topics that we covered: time management for daily routines, social participation, leisure exploration, budgeting within social and leisure pursuits, and sleep. The students who participated showed significant, positive improvements in occupational performance.
Publications
Keptner, K. M. (2017). Long-term follow up of an occupation-based group addressing occupational performance and satisfaction in university freshmen. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 33(4), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/0164212X.2017.1331150
Keptner, K. M. (2019). Relationship between occupational performance measures and adjustment in a sample of university students. Journal of Occupational Science, 26(1), 6-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2018.1539409
Keptner, K.M., Fitzgibbon, C., & O’Sullivan, J. (2020). Effectiveness of anxiety reduction interventions on state anxiety: A comparison of four techniques incorporating sensory modulation. British Journal of Occupational Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308022620935061
Keptner, K. M., Harris,A., Mellyn,J., Neff,N., Rassie,N., & Thompson,K. (2016) Occupational therapy services to promote occupational performance, performance satisfaction, and quality of life in university freshmen: A pilot study. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 32(2), 185-202. https://doi.org/10.1080/0164212X.2015.1135094
Keptner, K.M. & Klein, S.M. (2019). Collaborative learning in a faculty-led occupational therapy level I fieldwork: A case study. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 8(8). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2019.030308
Keptner, K. M. & Rogers, R. (2019). Competence and satisfaction in occupational performance among a sample of university students: An exploratory study. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research: Occupation, Participation, and Health, 39(4). 204-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/1539449218813702
Keptner, K.M., & McCarthy, K. (2020). Mapping occupational therapy with post-secondary students: A scoping review. Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 8(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1617
Keptner, K.M. & McCarthy, K. (2020). College students and COVID-19: Implications for mental health. World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, 76(2),78-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/14473828.2020.1822575