Latest NICU News from Renowned Clinician and Research Scientist Bobbi Pineda

Neonatal therapist week - Education Resources We would like to share this newsletter from our popular speaker; Bobbi Pineda. Her work in the Washington University OT NICU lab centers around bridging the gap in services from NICU to home, so that infants can continue to receive quality and continuous therapy services to improve health and well-being. The OT NICU lab is part of Washington University, where she mentors OT graduate students on neonatal therapy and aids them in conducting clinical research that can impact the lives of those who start their lives in the NICU.

NICU LAB SPRING 2017 Newsletter

Currently, the lab is working on the pilot phase of the Supporting and
Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE) Project and looking to jump
straight into the randomized control trial. This project involves providing positive
sensory experiences for infants in the NICU as well as educating parents on how
to provide for their child’s sensory needs every day of NICU hospitalization.
When parents do not engage in the NICU, a sensory support team addresses the
infant’s sensory needs. The sensory support team is made up of OT graduate
students who provide positive sensory exposures to infants in the NICU at the
bedside. We thank the University Research Strategic Alliance and the Betty and
Gordon Moore Foundation for their support of the SENSE project.

We are excited to have been awarded an SBIR grant from NIH for the
development of a new bottle technology, the Preemie Pacer. The goal of this
bottle is safe oral feeding through paced feedings during a time when suckswallow-
breathe coordination is suboptimal. The first phase of the grant involves
prototype development, laboratory testing, and focus groups.

Baby Bridge started as a pilot program in January of 2016 in order to address a
gap in therapy services for infants following discharge from the NICU. Since the
onset of the program, Baby Bridge has seen 70 infants in the NICU and in their
homes. Baby Bridge has seen many changes in the past year and now provides
treatment for infants born preterm as well as others who are eligible for First
Steps early intervention programming and live in the immediate St. Louis area
and surrounding counties. We welcome Elizabeth Heiny as our newest
occupational therapist in the OT NICU lab, who serves as the Baby Bridge
therapist.

The development of the Neonatal Eating Outcome (NEO) assessment was
completed September 2016, and now the tool is available to the public for
research and clinical practice. The NEO is a developmental feeding assessment
of oral motor and feeding skills, designed for preterm infants prior to and at term
equivalent age. It attempts to gauge normal versus abnormal progression of
feeding across differing postmenstrual ages (PMA). It can be used with breast or
bottle-fed infants. Reliability and validity have been assessed. RASCH analysis
and other psychometrics continue.

READ COMPLETE NICU LAB NEWSLETTER HERE

Education Resources is offering multiple opportunities to hear Bobbi speak in 2017 and 2018

Assessment and Intervention with the High Risk Infant in the NICU and During the Transition to Home
October 7-8, 2017 – St. Louis, MO
November 18-19, 2017 – Portland, OR
January 27-28, 2016 – TBA
February 10-11, 2018 – Temple, TX
June 9-10, 2018 – Hollywood, FL
July 28-29, 2018 – TBA
October 6-7, 2018 – TBA
November 16-17, 2018 – Robbinsdale, MN
Please click her for detailed information to download a brochure or to register

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Welcoming Amber Valentine – Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Specialist

Amber Valentine[/caption]

Amber Valentine is a Speech-Language Pathologist who graduated from the University of Kentucky with her MS in Communication Disorders. She is a Board Certified Specialist in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She worked for Baptist Health Systems, Inc for 8 years before moving to Florida where she worked for Wolfsons Children’s Hospital and Mayo Florida. She is now back in Kentucky working for Baptist Health Lexington. She has experience in adults and pediatrics with feeding and swallowing difficulties including: bedside swallow evaluations, Modified Barium Swallow studies, FEES, and pediatric feeding evaluations including NICU. She has provided guest lectures for the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville on feeding and swallowing topics. She has presented at the hospital level, local, state, national, and international levels on pediatric feeding/swallowing and breastfeeding

We are excited to offer her course:

Treating Complex Feeding Problems: Infants, Toddlers, Preschooler
This course will focus on clinical decision making and treatment strategies to manage complex feeding and swallowing disorders in infants, toddlers and preschoolers across multiple settings including the NICU, Early Intervention/home, and outpatient settings. Participants will enhance their skills in assessment and integration of medical history when developing and implementing a plan of care. Focus will include specific treatment interventions as well as how to develop realistic programs for parents and for generalization across settings. Clinical reasoning skills will take into consideration current research, knowledge of outcomes and priority setting. Detailed discussions of medically fragile infants including treatment strategies for specific etiologies such as lip/tongue tie, Down Syndrome, IDM, cleft lip/palate, neurologic diagnoses will also be involved. Infant feeding information will include evaluation and treatment for both breast and bottle fed infants. Discussions of more complex case histories will be provided during course to allow participants brainstorming and practice.

October 14-15, 2017 – Brideville, PA
December 9-10, 2017 – Las Vegas, NV

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION, TO DOWNLOAD A BROCHURE OR TO REGISTER

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Education Resources, Inc. eligible to offer Category A CEUs for Athletic Trainers

Education Resources is proud to announce that we are offering Category A CEUs for Athletic Trainers for both live and online programs. This continued participation in the BOC Approved Provider Program means that athletic trainers can participate in our courses and receive CEUs.

We offer live courses on concussion management, vestibular and balance issues, taping, TBI, and other outpatient and rehab diagnoses.
Please click here for a listing of our relevant courses

We will be launching an online concussion course shortly!

If you are an athletic trainer we want to hear from you!

Please call or e-mail us to request a particular topic and/or location for a course.

We can list any of our courses in the BOC directory and thus provide AT attendees with CEUs.

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How do you deal with Professional Burnout?

GUEST BLOGGER: Emily A. Zeman, OTD, MS, OTR/L

Now more than ever is the time for us to invest in strategies to combat professional burnout and stress and take care of ourselves. Healthy living and self-care are popular with not only millennials but also older generations of working health professionals.

The question is: What are you doing for self-care and what else can you do to remain client-centered and compassionate at the same time? It’s time to invest in yourself so you can keep doing what you are good at- taking care of others!

Tips

Personal: Self-awareness & Presence

Spend time with family & friends
Jump on the mindfulness train: Take up yoga, meditation, or prayer (Go with a buddy!) Check out tips on getting started here: Getting started with mindfulness
Add more recreation & time-off to your calendar
Exercise, especially out in nature! Here’s why!
Participate in support groups & engage in health self-talk
Laugh

Work: Professional Resilience & Enrichment

Maintain professional identity- attend conferences!
Ask questions – be curious!
Use humor
Seek case consultation & dialogue with peers
Eat lunch with colleagues or walk outside for breaks during the day (That nature thing again…)
Diversify work load & responsibilities
Set good boundaries with everyone It’s important!

Moving Forward

Questions to ask yourself:

How do I restore my energy when away from work?
What do I already do in terms of self-care?

There are many ways to incorporate a few strategies to avoid burnout and practice self-care- even one will get you started on the right track! Try one a week and see which one fits you best. You and your patients will both benefit.

References:

Lawson, G. & Myers, J.E. (2011). Wellness, professional quality of life, and career-sustaining behaviors: What keeps us well? Journal of Counseling & Development, 89(2), 163-171.
Wicks, R.J. (2008).The Resilient Clinician. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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Speaker Spotlight – Jessica Minahan

Jessica Minahan[/caption]

We are thrilled to announce that Jessica Minahan M.Ed, BCBA will be one of our keynote speakers at our Annual Therapies in the School Conference coming up in November.

Jessica is a licensed and board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA), author, special educator, and consultant to schools internationally. Since 2000 she has worked with students who struggle with mental health issues and challenging behavior in public school systems. She specializes in training staff and creating behavior intervention plans for students who demonstrate explosive and unsafe behavior. She also works with students who have emotional and behavioral disabilities, anxiety disorders, or high-functioning Autism. Her particular interest is to serve these students by combining behavioral interventions with a comprehensive knowledge of best practices for those with complex mental health profiles and learning needs.

She is a blogger on The Huffington Post, the author of The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students, with Nancy Rappaport (Harvard Education Press, 2012), and author of The Behavior Code Companion: Strategies, Tools, and Interventions for Supporting Students with Anxiety-Related or Oppositional Behaviors (Harvard Education Press, 2014).

She holds a BS in Intensive Special Education from Boston University and a dual master’s degree in Special Education and Elementary Education from Wheelock College. She has a certificate of graduate study (CGS) in teaching children with Autism from the University of Albany and received her BCBA training from Northeastern University in Boston. She is sought-after internationally to speak on subjects ranging from effective interventions for students with anxiety to supporting hard-to-reach students in full-inclusion public school settings.

Jessica’s sessions are titled:

Reducing Anxiety in the classroom
With up to one in four children struggling with anxiety in this country, overwhelmed adults are in need of a new approach as well as an effective and easy-to-implement toolkit of strategies that work.
Through the use of case studies, humorous stories, and examples of common challenging situations, participants will learn easy to implement preventive tools, strategies, and interventions for reducing anxiety, increasing self-regulation, work engagement, and self-monitoring.

AND

Strategies to Reduce Anxiety and Related Problem Behaviors in the Classroom
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that one in four thirteen to eighteen year olds have had an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Without intervention, these children are at risk for poor performance, diminished learning, and social/behavior problems in school.
As a result of this workshop participants will be able to easily implement preventive tools, strategies, and interventions for increasing work engagement, initiation, persistence, and self-monitoring, as well as ways to reduce oppositional moments in students.

Find out more details here. A full schedule will be posted shortly

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