Partnership With Point Motion Will Help WSSU Occupational Therapy Students Engage With Patients Virtually
Winston-Salem State University’s Occupational Therapy Program has added a partnership that will help its graduates reach more people in an easier, virtual fashion.
WSSU and Point Motion have agreed to a partnership that will allow the school’s occupational therapy program to provide virtual therapy sessions. Typically, occupational therapy sessions required in-person visits, which has been practically impossible during the pandemic.
But with the help of Point Motion, WSSU students will be trained in new technology for virtual therapy sessions, faculty will engage in research and have help with their program library.
Point Motion, which moved its headquarters to Winston-Salem in 2019, develops technology specific to a partner’s need that enables health and education specialists quantify evaluations and help clients who cannot regularly attend in-person session. The technology utilizes motion captured software based in music creation and interaction.
“Due to COVID-19 many occupational therapy programs had to pivot to be able to provide virtual or telehealth related occupational therapy services,” said Dr. Cynthia Bell, professor and chair of the WSSU occupational therapy department. “We felt this new technology provided us with a unique opportunity to work to provide training to our OT students on virtual, sensor less motion capture while being able to address various aspects of movement, coordination and socialization and view the data collected by the program for tracking of progress, compliance, and goals for clients.”
Patients undergoing therapy via the Point Motion program benefit from the movement required to make the platform work, and from the music therapy inherent in the program. The clinicians benefit by tracking the data recorded by the device regarding the patient’s physical and cognitive development over time.
Bell said four or five faculty members will soon begin utilizing the platform for training and research. It will be introduced to first-year occupational therapy students in a course title Movement Components of Occupation.
While WSSU was introduced to Point Motion’s unique new program during the pandemic, Bell says it will remain a valuable tool when normalcy returns.
“I would like to think that being introduced to this novel and unique platform and our interest in providing transformative education to our occupational therapy students would have led us to this collaborative partnership regardless of the pandemic,” Bell said.
In addition to using the Point Motion platform in classrooms, it will be used for clinical research by WSSU faculty. Also, there is a possibility of offering virtual camps for children during the summer where occupational therapy students would serve as ‘virtual camp counselors.”
Visit WSSU’s Occupational Therapy Program to learn more.
