MiOTA Member Spotlight:
CHRISTINE NAZARETH-HAUPT, MOT, OTRL, SCCE
 
Christine is the Site Coordinator of Clinical Education Rehabilitation Services with Beaumont Health System, Troy Hospital. Her role as educator includes onboarding OT students and OTs that are new to their facility. She enjoys mentoring and guiding occupational therapists as they begin a new journey in their career path. She asserts, “The skills I have learned in my seven years as an OT easily transcend from patient care to training new employees.” 

She graduated from Baker College Center for Graduate Studies in Flint, MI in 2012. She also completed the AOTA Fieldwork Educator certificate program. Outside work, Christine loves spending time with her family: her husband, Bob, and her 3 children (Bobby, 2; Cora, 4; and Cayden, 13). Christine says, “My kids are at an age where they are constantly learning with every experience they have. I also teach them a lot through stories of patients I work with. When I have a tad bit of “me time” I enjoy watching Friends, doing yoga, and crafting.” As a family, they enjoy playing games, playing outside, and traveling.
 
Christine states, “I realized I wanted to be an occupational therapist when I was working as an occupational therapy tech at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. I thought I wanted to be a physical therapist throughout undergraduate school, but then I discovered the occupational therapy profession and knew right away it was meant for me. Occupational therapy concepts are the way my mind work and I am enjoying continually learning the many different facets of our profession.”
 
Christine is constantly innovating and works on several projects at Troy Beaumont. Her primary interest is in the area of fall prevention. Christine states, “At Beaumont, we incorporate the aging-in-place philosophy.” She is a member of the interdisciplinary fall prevention committee at Troy Beaumont. She is raising awareness among her colleagues and the community about fall prevention. They examine different factors that contribute fall prevention. She has developed resources and educational handouts to facilitate a safe discharge home for their patients. She is also incorporating sensory intervention techniques used to assist in fall prevention. “If patients are displaying sensory processing issues that are affecting their safety and increasing their fall risk, I am researching how occupational therapy interventions can assist with decreasing fall risk”, states Christine.
 
Christine values the relationships and networks she was able to build by being a MiOTA member. She says, “Last year I attended my first MiOTA conference, it was great to be at and network with so many wonderful occupational therapists that had so many different levels of experience and backgrounds. I want to continue building these relationships and grow to be a strong advocate for the occupational therapy profession. I like that MiOTA focuses on not only the OT profession, but also advocates for the issues that arise for our profession in Michigan. They keep me informed, supported and connected to the OT community in Michigan.”

If you would like to be highlighted or would like to nominate a MiOTA member, please email us at website@miota.org
 

The MiOTA Conference Planning Committee is excited to announce that the 2020 conference will be virtual. MiOTA is committed to offering continuing education opportunities to its members and given the state of the COVID situation and the amount of unrest in our communities it is vital we plan accordingly. The conference planning committee is busy planning for the change in format which still occur September 24-26, 2020. Sessions will occur “synchronous”. The sessions will be recorded for viewing “asynchronous” at a later time period. Speakers will be contacted formally in the next few weeks. We have modified the exhibitor opportunities as well.    Dear MiOTA members, First of all, we celebrate and recognize the distinct value each of you bring to the consumers you serve through treatment, education of students, and advocacy of the profession. Establishing an individualized occupational profile to create client-centered, occupation-based interventions contributes to the ability to create treatment plans that are meaningful and directed toward valued occupations. The theme for this year’s OT celebration is so pertinent to what the pandemic has posed to our profession various venues providing occupational therapy. As a profession we need to embrace challenging circumstances as our clients are embracing challenges in their day to day lives and thriving through OT interventions. Thank you for your ongoing engagement in MiOTA; your membership allows us to be informed professionals through advocacy and networking. Sincerely, The Executive Committee and Association Assembly of MiOTA

MiOTA is aware of the concerns many of you have regarding the impact of COVID-19 on your personal and professional life.  Since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Michigan, many questions and concerns have been submitted to our association. This is a difficult time for all of us and rest assured your professional association volunteer leadership in collaboration with our lobbyist, Bret Marr and the AOTA Regulatory Affairs committee have been collaborating to answer questions and provide resources.

We are actively working with AOTA and our state legislators to support our profession and, by extension, our clients during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Information is frequently changing so our volunteer team is doing our best to fully review all of it for accuracy before we share it with you. 

Additional COVID-19 resources are located for MiOTA members and non-members alike under the Advocacy Updates webpage.

General information on professional responses to COVID-19 can be found on AOTA’s website for members and non-members alike: https://www.aota.org/Practice/Health-Wellness/COVID19.aspx.

The American Congress for Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) is offering a series of free educational webinar resources featuring "experts from the Tele-Medicine industry to provide clear and up-to-date information regarding telemedicine and remote monitoring in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation during the COVID-19 crisis": https://acrm.org/resources/coronavirus-pandemic/acrm-pandemic-webinar-series/?fbclid=IwAR06yrGS5RSIAimR3zBakDXwpOFRsRJEpJnfrrIHyNHwmlp-ld2mRTFZAis

If you are currently practicing or transitioning to telehealth therapies, please make sure to verify telehealth benefits with each insurance providers.    

For additional information on telehealth, please log into your MiOTA account and visit the COVID-19 & Telehealth webpage.