OT Equal Access Clinic

Today is the LAST DAY for our Spring/Summer merch fundraiser! Head to bit.ly/eacmerch and place your order before 11:59pm.

🐊Not in town for in-person pickup? Not a problem! Have a friend pick up your merch for you, get it shipped, or have us hold on to it until you return.
🧡 All proceeds go towards client equipment and clinic supplies for treatment sessions. Thank you support!

OT month may have come to an end, but our 10 year celebration is still going strong! Our board member spOTlight features former students throughout the years that have impacted the clinic and the community through their involvement with the EAC. Go Gators! 🐊

💙 Fun fact: though the EAC started seeing clients in Spring 2014, the founding board started the behind-the-scenes work in Fall 2013!
🧡 Head to bit.ly/eacmerch to fill out an order form for our Spring/Summer Merch! Orders close this Sunday, May 12 at 11:59pm. All proceeds go towards purchasing client equipment and clinic supplies for treatment sessions.

To celebrate the end of OT month and our 10 year anniversary, our spring/summer merch drop is now live! Visit bit.ly/eacmerch for more details and to place an order. Order form closes Sunday, May 12 at 11:59pm.

🐊 Our 10 Year Anniversary Special Edition T-Shirt ($25) is inspired by the community of OTs and clients who all have helped shaped the clinic over the past decade to be where it’s at today.

💙 Our UF OT EAC T-Shirt ($15) and tote bag ($13) design is inspired by the iconic “thank you” bags as our way to say thank you to clients for their trust as we continue to provide free OT services.

🎟 Our raffle will be open until Friday, May 3rd at 11:59pm. Enter for a chance to win a T-shirt of your choice, tote bag, goodies, and a $20 gift card to Amazon, Target, or Publix!

100% of proceeds go towards purchasing clinic supplies go to purchasing equipment for clients and clinic supplies for treatment sessions. We sincerely appreciate your support!

Our OT Month/10 Year Anniversary raffle is now LIVE! This raffle is open to friends, family, and the community - anyone is welcome to join, and all proceeds go directly to the clinic and clients! We will be shipping the prizes to the winners.

🔗 Head to bit.ly/spring24raffle for more details and to fill out a raffle ticket
🗓 Stay tuned for our merch drop next week!
🐊 Coming soon: spOTlights from student boards across the decade

Our first spOTlights shine the light on some of the incredible faculty and volunteer clinicians that have worked with the EAC over the last 10 years. Thank you to all of the faculty and volunteer clinicians over the years who have dedicated their time, efforts, and mentorship to the EAC! The clinic would not be where it is today without your support and guidance.

🐊 Interested in being a volunteer clinician? Send us an email at [email protected]!
🐊 Stay tuned on our social media for more exciting OT month events starting next week 👀

Happy OT month from the UF OT EAC! 🐊

This month, we are also celebrating 10 years since the clinic was established. Thank you to the OTs throughout the decade who have served the Gainesville community through the provision of free OT services, and for the clients who have trusted us with their care. 🧡💙

Stay tuned on our social media for more OT month and 10 year anniversary festivities! 🥳

Thank you for your continued support and interest in the OT EAC this semester 💙 Swipe to see how you can stay connected! ➡️

T-SHIRT FUNDRAISER UPDATE:

We would like to extend a sincere thank you those who purchased a T-shirt as part of our Fall Fundraiser! We reached our T-shirt fundraising goal, and we would not have been able to do so without your support. We expect the T-shirts to be ready for pick up or shipping by the end of the month, and we will send out an update via email with specific pick up dates/times.

Please contact us via direct message or email [email protected] if you have specific questions regarding the status of the order. Thank you for your patience and continued support!

Today is the LAST DAY to order our Fall 2023 T-Shirt! Head over to bit.ly/ufoteac to fill out an order form if you are interested. Thank you to everyone who has supported us this semester!

Stay tuned here or on our Instagram page () for upcoming events and more information about the clinic.

There are 5 days left to order our Fall 2023 T-shirt! We would like to thank everyone who has supported us so far by ordering a shirt or sharing our fundraiser - we sincerely appreciate it. 🧡💙

ONE WEEK LEFT to order our Fall 2023 T-shirt! Thank you to everyone who has purchased a shirt or shared our fundraiser with friends, family, and coworkers - we sincerely appreciate it! Below are some FAQs regarding our fundraiser.

Q: Is the EAC able to ship shirts?
A: Yes! We are asking for an additional $5 to cover potential shipping costs; once we finalize the order and receive the shirts, we will be able to provide you with a more accurate number. If shipping ends up being less than $5, we will return the difference to you via Venmo.

Q: Can I donate without getting a shirt?
A: Yes! You are welcome to donate to the UF OT EAC at any time through our offical donation page, which can be found on
https://ot.phhp.ufl.edu/service/equal-access-clinic or via Venmo . Thank you for your contribution!

Q: I am unable to get a shirt/donate at this time. Are there other ways I can support?
A: Yes! There are many ways to support without donating, including:
• Sharing our fundraiser with people who may be interested
• Referring people in the Gainesville area to the UF OT EAC
• Engaging with our social media posts to boost interaction

Our T-shirt fundraiser is LIVE! Head over to bit.ly/ufoteac or scan the QR code to fill out an order form. Pre-orders close Sunday, October 1 at 11:59pm. 100% of the proceeds will go towards purchasing clinic supplies, durable medical equipment, and assistive devices for our clients. We thank you for your support and generosity!

Swipe to meet the 2023-2024 EAC board!

We are grateful for the learning experience that we have had so far. We especially appreciate the collaborative support and guidance from clinicians, as well as the trust we receive from clients!

Upcoming Events:
- Drop by our info session next Thursday, September 28, from 11:45 AM-12:15 PM to learn how to get involved and more!
- Our T-shirt fundraiser closes next Sunday, October 1.
Please consider supporting the EAC through the purchase
of a shirt or sharing the flyer! Visit bit.ly/ufoteac to fill out an order form.

Our T-shirt fundraiser is LIVE! Head over to bit.ly/ufoteac or scan the QR code to fill out an order form. Pre-orders close Sunday, October 1 at 11:59pm. 100% of the proceeds will go towards purchasing clinic supplies, durable medical equipment, and assistive devices for our clients. We thank you for your support and generosity!

Happy Occupational Therapy Month! 💙🧡

In celebration of our wonderful profession, the UF OT EAC will be hosting a coffee fundriaser on Tuesday, April 25th from 9am-12pm!

All of the money raised goes directly towards supporting our client’s participation in meaningful occupations through purchasing necessary durable medical equipment, assistive devices, and clinic supplies!

We appreciate all of your support! If you want to support our clinic and are not able to attend this fundraiser, you can donate to our online link!
https://www.uff.ufl.edu/giving-opportunities/025935-occupational-therapy-equal-access-clinic-fund/

The OT EAC is having a winter merchandise fundraiser! All profits made from the sale goes directly towards buying adaptive equipment and DME for our clients, and supports purchasing clinic supplies! This pre-sale ends Friday, January 27th at 11:59 pm. See the attached flyer for more information and click the Google Form link to submit your order. Your support means so much to us!

https://forms.gle/9T1y74kRfwwZc4ma9

Our annual T-shirt fundraiser is currently on until October 14th at 11:59pm! Please see the flyer for details and the Google Form to place your order. https://forms.gle/GBSj572aPL6CHBBE7

This is the last post in the series introducing our organzation's mission, vision, and values. Lastly, we are introducing our values! These values are ingrained within our organization's principles and beliefs, and they are used to guide us in every decision we make. Standing by these values ensures we are acting upon our mission and consistently moving towards our vision.

[alt text] Multiple slides with an orange, navy, and blue design are utalized to describe University of Florida equal access clinic values. These values include that we are:
Collaborative: We will partner with clients, caregivers, students, faculty, and other professionals to provide high quality care.
Service-oriented: We will prioritize the needs of the community through fundraising and community-needs based assessments and will support equipment acquisition for clients and families.
Equality-focused: We will bridge the gap in disparity by providing services to those who are underinsured or uninsured in need of individualized care.
Invested: We will develop intentional, personalized, and quality care plans. We are committed to supporting our clients’ well being and quality of life and finding resources to support their (re)engagement.
Dynamic: We are constantly evolving with the needs of the community and adapting programming to address these gaps in services in our area.We will continually evaluate and update the clinic processes to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of care.

The OT EAC would like to share our mission statement! Our mission statement defines our purpose as a clinic and guides our daily operations.

[alt text] This is a post with a navy background, with a blue and orange design and University of Florida Occupational Therapy Speciality Clinic Logo that states the organization’s mission: To achieve our vision of improving the well-being and quality of life of underserved community members by providing equitable, client-centered care through (re)engagement in meaningful activities, the OT EAC will provide equitable care by integrating feedback from clients, faculty, clinicians, and community members. Provide equitable care by integrating feedback from clients, faculty, clinicians, and community members. Deliver client-centered care by understanding the client’s unique lived experience while evaluating and adapting our service approach to meet the individual needs of each client and/or family. Facilitate (re)engagement in meaningful activities through student service-learning opportunities focusing on prevention, promotion, education, maintenance, adaptation, and restoration of clients’ wellness.

As the Occupational Therapy Equal Access Clinic experiences continued growth, we would like to share our vision with the community. Our vision is to improve the well-being and quality of life of underserved community members by providing equitable, client-centered care through (re)engagement in meaningful activities.

This vision is our clinic’s unconditional goal we will always strive for, currently and in the future.

Our vision is used to inform the overall mission of our organization.

[alt text] The photo includes the University of Florida Occupational Therapy Speciality Clinic logo, along text reading: Our vision- to improve the well-being and quality of life of underserved community members by providing equitable, client-centered care through (re)engagement in meaningful activities.

These past two semesters have been a period of great growth for the Occupational Therapy Equal Access Clinic. We began the process of ​restructuring the clinic by developing a mission, vision, and list of values, which allowed us to refocus our priorities and purpose for volunteering with this organization. We aim to provide quality, client-centered, equitable care to members of the Gainesville community who are uninsured or underinsured. Additionally, we have streamlined operational processes, increased board efficiency and organization, and reorganized the clinic structure to better align with the OTD curriculum and best support the volunteers in providing quality OT services. All these changes have allowed us to improve patient care and adapt to the evolving needs of the community we serve. The driving force behind these changes is our incredible faculty advisor, Dr. Anna Galloway.

Dr. Galloway has gone above and beyond the role of a typical faculty advisor. She has devoted countless hours to facilitating these changes, as well as mentoring and teaching high level clinical reasoning skills to each one of us board members. She has shown true leadership and helped us grow as future clinicians. We have not only learned how to operate a clinic, but also gained the interpersonal skills needed to provide quality, client-centered care. Dr. Galloway has elevated the clinic to new heights, and she will continue to do so with the new board. While we are sad to be ending this chapter, we are eager to see the future successes for the clinic due to her invaluable contributions. It has been an honor to work with and learn from Dr. Galloway, and we will forever be grateful for the lessons she has taught us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

With Gratitude,

Your 2021-2022 OT EAC Board
Olivia Morand, Cara Steinberg, Leah Knight, Avery Ferguson, Lindsey Berkowitz, Ana Ghislandi, Kayla Ramos, and Melinda Shaw

As the Spring semester comes to an end, we would like to recognize 2 of our faculty volunteers with our Clinician/Faculty SpOTlight! Last semester, we began highlighting volunteers to show our appreciation and recognize their skills and dedication to our clinic. This semester, our board members nominated Dr. Carolyn Hanson and Dr. Heidi Horwitz with the following praises:

Dr. Hanson has been a consistent volunteer at the OT EAC, specifically helping with the Spanish-speaking clients the past 2 semesters. She has devoted her time and experience to helping these clients with their needs ranging from pain management, regaining strength, and preventing future injury. She has shown so much support and dedication to the OT EAC, and her positivity and kindness shines through every week she is there. Her warm, amiable personality has helped student volunteers feel more comfortable and calm while leading therapy sessions in Spanish. Dr. Hanson has been eager to volunteer to help provide equitable care to our clients. It has been a pleasure to work with and learn from her!

Dr. Horwitz has been a great faculty volunteer every semester and has helped board members relate information that we've learned from her courses to our clinical experiences at the OT EAC. Her presence during OT EAC treatment sessions is comforting and reassuring. Dr. Horwitz encourages students to speak their mind and demonstrates how to navigate conversations in a natural way. She sets a great example of client-centered, evidence-based, and occupation-based care!

We are so grateful for Dr. Horwitz's and Dr. Hanson's dedication to assist OT students in providing free occupational therapy services for the community!

Last week, the OT EAC board planned to host a group session for our clients recovering from a stroke and their caregivers at the on-site clinic. During the treatment planning process, board members were challenged with creating interventions that would allow clients with varying physical and communicative abilities participate together while also addressing their individual needs. Like most things in the real world, our stroke group session night did not go according to plan. We had some cancellations, it was pouring rain, the elevator at the clinic wasn’t working, and ultimately, none of our clients were able to come due to various reasons. The day turned into a great lesson of adaptability—a critical skill for occupational therapists.

Upon arrival at the clinic, the board and our faculty advisor, Dr. Galloway, quickly brainstormed a new plan for a client who would not be able to walk up the stairs where treatment sessions are held. With the limited space on the first floor and the rain, Dr. Galloway and Sherry-Lynne Bredy (our local clinician volunteer for the night) taught the board how to safely bump a wheelchair up and down stairs in case we needed to for our client. After the rain stopped, we were able to practice interventions we had planned for the night: car transfers and community mobility. With Sherry-Lynne acting as a client, board members worked on wheelchair to car transfers and problem-solved together how to best handle certain situations.

Although last week’s clinic night didn’t go according to plan, the board was privileged to experience hands-on learning outside of class, gaining important clinical skills just in time for our upcoming level 2 fieldwork rotations! We are so grateful for Dr. Galloway and Sherry-Lynne for providing us with an invaluable learning experience!

Check out our newest blog post to learn about our experience providing on-site and telehealth services this semester! Thank you to all of the student, faculty, and clinician volunteers for helping us provide equitable OT services to the Gainesville community!

https://oteac2.wixsite.com/blogsite/post/providing-on-site-and-telehealth-services

Providing On-site and Telehealth Services The OT Equal Access Clinic made enormous strides during the fall 2021 semester, managing on-site and telehealth services simultaneously. The beauty of the on-site clinic reopening was being able to witness carryover of skills from the telehealth clinic. Second year students collaborated with a super...

The 2nd Student SpOTlight this semester goes to 2nd-year, Camille Nichols!

Camille did a great job when volunteering with the Telehealth clinic this semester. She demonstrated high quality, emotionally intelligent care with the clients by using summary statements and reflective listening to build rapport and keep the session on track. Her contributions to the session did not go unnoticed!

Congratulations, Camille!

Our 2nd Faculty/Clinician SpOTlight this semester goes to Dr. Piazza! Here’s what our executive board members had to say about Dr. Piazza as a faculty volunteer:

Dr. Piazza was extremely personable with the clients and student volunteers. She facilitated group thinking by prompting student volunteers to think about the clinical reasoning behind the interventions and the interpersonal skills used during sessions. It’s such a privilege learning from Dr. Piazza in and out of the classroom!

Thank you for your continued support Dr. Piazza!

Happy World Occupational Therapy Day!
We are so grateful to be a part of the amazing profession of occupational therapy to help people do the things they need to do and want to do!

CLINICIAN SPOTLIGHT

Our first clinician spotlight goes to Sherry-Lynne Bredy!

Nomination praises include the following:

Sherry-Lynne has volunteered with both Telehealth and In-Person OT services. She has been instrumental in reaching our Spanish speaking clients, and has taught us so much about how to treat stroke patients and work with clients with lower extremity issues. She consistently devotes her time to the EAC, and we are so grateful for her expertise!

She’s done both telehealth and in person clinic and she is always SO willing to volunteer with us, even when it’s last minute. During sessions she is very helpful, super knowledgeable. We learn as much from her as our clients do and she is so supportive and encouraging of students developing their skills through EAC.

Sherry-Lynne demonstrates her dedication to the OT EAC by regularly volunteering and often filling last-minute needs for a clinician. She is so encouraging to student volunteers and provides a therapeutic environment (both in-person and on Telehealth) for the clients!

As always, we are so grateful to have you as a volunteer!

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

We would like to start recognizing student and clinician volunteers twice a semester to show our appreciation for our amazing volunteers who demonstrate professionalism and outstanding clinical and interpersonal skills!

Our first Student Spotlight goes to Kristina Kobza!

Kristina has volunteered with Telehealth and the in-person clinic, and she has done a wonderful job educating the clients on mindfulness techniques and asking insightful questions to gain more information about the client. She offers wonderful ideas when planning the interventions and has been an asset to the team both times she has volunteered with the EAC. Thank you, Kristina!