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Occupational Therapy Transition and Integration Services

Occupational Therapy Transition and Integration Services at Saint Louis University facilitates the development of healthy habits, roles and routines in daily activities to promote increased opportunities for personal, educational, and vocational engagement using an evidence-informed interprofessional model.

OTTIS

Our mission is to provide transformational experiences to facilitate supportive transitions and lifelong community integration.

What We Do

Occupational therapists facilitate participation in meaningful activities that individuals want, need, and/or are expected to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities (occupations). At the core of occupational therapy is a belief that 鈥渄oing鈥 promotes health. This action of 鈥渄oing鈥 encompasses participating in practical and leisure activities, realizing goals, empathizing and managing emotions.

Occupational therapists assist the individual with the development of skill sets for:

  • Planning for transition
  • Seeking and managing employment
  • Attaining housing and sustaining tenancy
  • Connecting with supportive networks
  • Managing personal finances
  • Community mobility
  • Coping and parenting skills
  • Regulating emotions and resiliency
  • Managing mental and physical health
  • Engaging in healthy leisure activities

View Our Brochure

What Drives Our Work

Mass Incarceration

  • 2.3 million individuals reside in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile facilities, 3,163 local jails (11 million people cycle through jails each year), and other types of detention facilities across the United States. ()
  • An additional 3.7 million people are on probation. ()
  • 97% of the incarcerated population will be released to their communities. ()
  • 67% of those released reoffend and are rearrested within three years of their release. ()

Employment

  • Individuals in transition face more adverse labor market outcomes, including less employment and lower wages. ()
  • Employee turnover is high and is a burden to employers.

Success

OTTIS addresses the challenges of mass incarceration and employment to aid individuals in their transition after incarceration. Success stories of participants within the program drive the continued effort of the occupational therapy team.

How We Do This Work

Individual Evaluation and Interventions

  • Assessment: We use a variety of occupational performance and health screening tools to provide baseline awareness of individual needs for supporting activities of daily living.
  • Goals: Tailored goals and a vision plan are developed together with individuals to ensure occupational therapy focuses on their interests and needs.
  • Interventions: Applied activities facilitated by occupational therapy occur in real situations to support individual goals.

Occupational therapists work with individuals pre-release, helping connect them with employers and community service providers. We work with both individuals and employers to identify potential challenges due to a record of incarceration and/or social and environmental barriers to maximize occupational performance and reduce turnover. Community service providers help ease these challenges by providing additional resources.

Occupational therapists with OTTIS can also address workplace health and workforce development needs at the organization level. Informed by the Total Worker Health approach, a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health strategy, the holistic process involves needs assessment, evidence-informed interventions, and program evaluation.

Meet Our Team

In addition to the co-founders and the community occupational therapists, OTTIS utilizes the skills of:

  • Clinical Trainees: Doctoral, master's, and associate degree students in occupational therapy, social work and public health.
  • SLU Departments: The Office of Mission and Identity, School of Law, Family and Community Medicine, The Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, Career Services, Workforce Development Center, the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, the School of Social Work, and the criminology and criminal justice program.
  • Collaborative Network: Includes a wide variety of community service providers, local and state government agencies, and volunteers to support housing, employment and community engagement.

Students and Volunteers

Applicants work on practice and research activities with the OTTIS team. Our clients include individuals affected by the criminal justice system and jail and prison workplaces.

We accept applications on a rolling basis for the following

  • Level II occupational therapy (OT and OTA) fieldwork
  • Master's and doctoral capstones (related fields)
  • Dissertation research (related fields)
  • Volunteer experiences

Application materials include the following:

  • Cover Letter - Brief essay describing your interest and experience (if any) related to this work
  • Resume
  • Two references
  • Time frame of your learning experience
  • Area of interest, if any (e.g. workplace health, transition programming)

Submit application materials by October to be considered for placement in the following year. Interviews occur via Zoom in November. Students will be notified of our decision in December.

Email inquiries and/or your application to: Program Director, Lisa Jaegers, Ph.D., OTR/L at lisa.jaegers@health.slu.edu.

Events, Training and Education

Meetings and Conferences

  • 鈥 Local St. Louis reentry network with year-round events.
    Find news on the conference on Twitter by following and following the #stlreentry hashtag.
  • Justice-based Occupational Therapy (JBOT) events
    Follow on Twitter and Facebook @JusticeOT1, Instagram @Justice_OT

  • Annual conference in March or April of each year. Follow on Twitter or Instagram: @aotainc

  • The next congress will take place in 2025.

  • Annual research conference in the fall
    Follow on Twitter and the hashtag #SSOUSA.

Continuing Education

SLU Justice-based Occupational Therapy Transition and Integration Services (OTTIS) Training

Learn about the history of mass incarceration and utilizing principles of public health and occupational science to inform your practice in JBOT. At the end of this training, practitioners will be able to articulate the distinct value of JBOT, perform assessments, identify interventions, and implement program evaluation. We welcome OT and OTA practitioners and students to participate in this training.

Proceeds from the course go directly back to the SLU OT Transition and Integration Services (OTTIS) program to support the development and delivery of our services. Participants will receive their certificate and badge directly from us after completing the course.

Contact Lisa Jaegers at lisa.jaegers@health.slu.edu to learn more.

Visit the Continuing Education Course Information