In every issue, the bOLDer Bulletin features a student who has had some interaction with the GWEP. The featured student this issue is Graduate Assistant Baylie Peter. Baylie is currently in her second year of USI’s Master’s in Occupational Therapy program. She has been working with USI’s Center for Healthy Aging and Wellness for three years, and her duties include drafting and support in publications, data entry and coordination.
Baylie first began working for USI as a student worker where she supported technology and training. During this time, Baylie became certified in the Positive Approach® to Care (PAC) training, which has allowed her to train others to be certified as well, particularly workers in nursing homes and assisted living communities. She also helped coordinate the University’s unconscious bias training.
When asked what drew her to occupational therapy as her field of study, Baylie stated that she first learned about occupational therapists in USI’s introductory gerontology class. When she began the class, Baylie knew about physical therapy, but she was less familiar with occupational therapy. The difference lies in what each branch of therapy focuses on. Physical therapy is focused solely on aspects of a person’s body, such as a broken limb. Occupational therapy, on the other hand, focuses on other aspects of a person’s life that affects a person’s ability to perform everyday activities of life. She was drawn to the field because of its focus on personalized patient-centered care.
Baylie plans on using many innovations she has seen and helped implement during her time at the GWEP in her future career as an occupational therapist in either a pediatric or geriatric setting. Baylie says that one of the main roles of an occupational therapist is to educate people. One topic she is planning on educating people about is the smart-home technology she has seen implemented in USI’s MINKA house. According to Baylie, such technologies, such as the AI programs and the smart pill dispenser, are of great benefit to independent aging in place, a particularly important goal as occupational therapist.
