Professor Shares Experiences with Navajo Nation and Native Alaskans to Promote Cultural Understanding in PT Education, 交付

十大靠谱赌博下载首页 Assistant Professor of 物理治疗 Cathron Donaldson, DPT, builds  her pediatrics courses around the concept of family-centered care. 

“家庭的经历, 父母的经历, 包括文化和贫困的影响, 这些都会影响孩子的发展,”她说。. “We need to be cognizant and understanding of culture and other influences.”

“我一直在编织例子，”她补充说.

在她于2021年加入Sage之前, Donaldson directed the Growing in Beauty Partnership Program at Northern Arizona University’s Institute for Human Development. 她是提供物理治疗的团队的一员, 职业治疗, and other early intervention services to children and families on the Navajo Nation. She also traveled to remote areas in Alaska to work with Alaska Native children. 

早期干预指的是健康的集合, 教育, and social services provided to infants and children with disabilities and their families.

“他们邀请我去他们家, 他们对我的信任让我感到谦卑,唐纳森谈到她遇到的纳瓦霍人和阿拉斯加原住民时说, describing how homes are ideal for early intervention services because it is where children are most comfortable. “They wanted to do it so I could better help other families in their cultures.” 

在纳瓦霍人家里工作的时候, Donaldson observed traditional cradleboards and modern baby walkers were among the most commonly used pieces of baby equipment.

摇篮板是婴儿背带, made of two side-by-side wooden planks representing the Earth and sky. A swaddled baby is secured to the cradleboard with straps that represent lightning, 而一个叫做彩虹的木箍则保护着婴儿的头部. 

“纳瓦霍人有一个说法, “美丽漫步”,’ which refers to harmony with the world and part of it is exhibiting physical strength and grace,唐纳森说. “They believe cradleboards and baby walkers help legs and backs to be straight and strong.摇篮板还有更深层次的精神意义.

Donaldson’s work led her to co-author “Understanding Navajo 父母’ Beliefs About Cradling and Early Mobility,这句话出现在 Practices in 父母 and Caregivers Across Cultures: Positive Development from Infancy Through 成人hood, b施普林格发布. The qualitative study emphasizes the need for early intervention providers, 比如理疗师, to understand the values that influence Navajo parents’ decisions to use traditional cradleboards and modern baby walkers. 

Donaldson then collaborated with Navajo educators on brochures that promoted safer use of cradleboards and baby walkers in concert with Navajo values, as well as suggestions for  activities like floor play and tummy time that support babies’ development.

“It was an honor and a privilege to work with Navajo families and Alaskan Native families,”她说。. “我不会假装自己是他们文化方面的专家, but I’m trying to make myself open and to help students understand that they need to be open.”

In addition to teaching pediatric physical therapy and motor learning in Sage’s DPT程序, Donaldson guides student research in areas related to underserved populations. 她和助理教授Katrin Ramsey, DSc, recently mentored three students during a study of the physical effects of gender-affirming hormone therapy and its implications for physical therapists, which the students presented at the 2023 American 物理治疗 Association’s New York Conference. 

She’s preparing to lead another group of graduate students in a study to learn of the impact of short-term service learning experiences.

And she’s joined a statewide project affiliated with Binghamton University, to help improve access to early intervention services in rural areas across New York.

除了促进对文化敏感的护理, Donaldson wants to build a more inclusive physical therapy profession. She is pursuing a second doctoral degree and planning her dissertation.

“I am interested in finding out more about how we can include individuals with physical disabilities in PT and other health care professions so we can be more representative of the populations that we treat,”她说。.