Faculty

Chronic Pain, Virtual Reality, Musculoskeletal Health, Ergonomics Nancy Baker's research focuses on ways to mitigate musculoskeletal pain, so people with chronic pain can increase their participation in everyday life. She focuses on three pain mitigation pathways: 1) workstation ergonomics to address work environment properties that propagate pain; 2) improving care delivery in CTS; and 3) virtual reality (VR) as a therapeutic medium for pain. Baker's research is eclectic and uses a variety of tools and techniques to answer her research questions. A new area for her, her current research examines how to implement VR into clinical practice. Here pilot work has looked at what types and dosages of VR are most effective, how different diagnoses, such as chronic back pain or osteoarthritis, respond to VR, and she has partnered with rehabilitation centers to trial different implementation practices. So far, her research consistently demonstrates that VR has a significant effect on pain and that it can be feasibly done by practicing therapists. Some results found a carryover of effect past the immediate VR session. Baker is also working with colleagues to examine new paradigms in carpal tunnel treatment and is completing a trial looking at dosage for standing desk use.

Group Theory & Practice; Functional Group Model; Occupational Therapy Fieldwork, Mentoring My current and ongoing scholarship focus is on development of an instrument to measure outcomes of group leader training related to common leader behaviors. I continue to participate in research projects regarding occupational therapy fieldwork and community based program evaluation.

Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation Science; Activity Performance and Participation of Children, Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities; Measurement and Intervention Development and Testing The ultimate aim of my research is to promote activity performance and participation of children, youth, and young adults with disabilities across the lifespan. I am particularly interested in assessment and intervention approaches that identify and build upon what individuals already know and do to manage their daily life routines and participate in meaningful activities. I have developed a number of measures as primary author such as the Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation (CASP) and as co-author such as the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY). My most recent project (Social participation And Navigation or SPAN) involves the development and testing of an app-based coaching intervention to promote social participation of teenagers and transition-age young adults with acquired brain injuries and other conditions. (See personal website for current and past work and resources).

Current research interests include the use of tele-health technologies and patient participation in healthcare outcomes. Other interests include the use of social media to enhance engagement and communication within the profession as well as with patients.

Rehabilitation Management, Evaluation and Treatment of physical dysfunctions, Evaluation and Treatment of Orthopedic Dysfunctions in the Athlete, Concussion Management and Education, Adaptive Sports as a Rehabilitation Tool Adaptive Sports, Concussion Management of the Athlete and Student, Professional development of the Health-Care Manager

Keren Ladin teaches courses in health policy, research methods, public health ethics, health disparities, and medical ethics. Professor Ladin incorporates quantitative, qualitative, and normative approaches to study how systemic disadvantage affects health and the ability of individuals to make and pursue lifeplans. Specifically, her research examines socioeconomic and racial disparities in transplantation, mental health treatment, aging, and immigrant health. She aims to better understand how social networks impact health disparities, acute medical decision-making, and resilience in major life transitions. Her research aims to: (1) understand the role of social networks in complex medical decision-making, (2) evaluate the impact of public policies on the health of vulnerable populations, and (3) identify barriers and interventions to improve health care utilization among vulnerable populations. Professor Ladin is also the Director of the Lab for Research on Ethics, Aging, and Community Health (REACH Lab) at Tufts University.

Health outcomes measurement development, work disability, productive aging, health policy

Board Certification in Pediatrics (BCP) 2012-2022, American Occupational Therapy Association Occupational therapy evaluation and intervention in pediatrics, particularly contextual and strengths-based services Pediatrics Evaluation, including strengths-based evaluation, occupation-based evaluation, context & environment Intervention, including models of occupation-based service provision, contextual services, collaboration, strengths-based, least restrictive environment Program development, including systems approaches, strengths-based, mindfulness, social-emotional regulation, physical literacy Teaching and Learning Models of professional development, andragogy, self-regulated learning Project-based learning, technology in teaching and learning, using visual analog scales in course evaluation, concept mapping Online teaching and learning, course design (F2F, hybrid, online)

Professional communication, fieldwork education, professional development of emerging occupational therapists, interprofessional collaboration, complex medical pediatric occupational therapy, community-based practice