Ergonomics work assessment in rural industrial settings: A student occupational therapy project

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Bowman, Peter J.

Affiliations: Division of Occupational Therapy, College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina, 151 Rutledge Ave, MSC 965, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. Tel.: +1 843 792 3942; Fax: +1 843 792 0710; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: This case study describes a student occupational therapy (OT) program, the creation of a worksite assessment project as a part of a Community Connections: Partners for Learning and Service grant funded by Health Resources and Services Administration. The primary goals were to design occupation-based community learning experiences in a variety of rural community settings, so that students might benefit from participating in the community based learning and: based on the results, embed occupation-based learning into existing occupational therapy curriculum. The components of the project and the ergonomics content of the OT education program are described; details of the work assessment are presented with analysis of data from the student evaluation of this project.

Keywords: Community, worksite, surveys, evaluation, curriculum innervation

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2012-1367

Journal: Work, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 323-329, 2012