By Erin Jester
The UF College of Public Health and Health Professions’ occupational therapy students’ fundraising efforts for the American Occupational Therapy Foundation’s St. Catherine Challenge are in full swing.
The St. Catherine Challenge, launched in 2013, is a national student-led fundraising initiative supporting AOTF research grants, which typically fund early-stage research studies. Members of the Student Occupational Therapy Association organize fundraising efforts for UF, typically raising between $3,000 and $4,000 a year.
The 2024 challenge began October 1 and ends December 31, with the biggest fundraising push around Giving Tuesday.
The one-year, $50,000 Intervention Research Grants disbursed though the program allow researchers to collect data for pilot studies, publish findings and “advance the science of everyday living,” according to AOTF’s website.
While these grants are small compared to some others, they fill a critical gap. Some occupational therapy research is funded solely through AOTF grants, said Linda Struckmeyer, Ph.D., OTR/L, a clinical associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and SOTA’s former faculty adviser of 11 years.
The current faculty co-advisors are Rebecca Piazza, O.T.D., OTR/L, and Lindsay Telg, M.O.T., OTR/L, both assistant professors in the Department of Occupational Therapy.
Struckmeyer said it can be difficult to secure grant funding specifically for occupational therapy research. Larger grants typically go to multidisciplinary teams.
“This is a way to focus specifically on evidence-based interventions for occupational therapy,” she said. AOTF grant funding can lead to opportunities for larger grants through the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
Chiung-ju Liu, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, received an AOTF Implementation Research Grant in 2020 to investigate the feasibility of implementing an exercise program by home health therapists to improve patients’ ability to achieve activities of daily living.
Based on the outcome of that trial, Liu was able to develop an activity program for home health patients and subsequently received funding from the National Institute on Aging to pilot the program.
Part of AOTF’s mission is identifying research priorities and sending pilot funds to promising researchers who can bring attention to emerging issues. To that end, donating to the St. Catherine Challenge supports the entire field of occupational therapy.
“It has been challenging to conduct clinical research in a health care setting,” Liu said. “Often these clinical trials are drug studies, and we’re using non-pharmacological interventions, so those kinds of funding mechanisms are very important to advance the practice of our profession.”
In the past, students have used penny jars, pizza sales, fliers and social media blasts to raise money for the annual challenge. This year, SOTA is selling merch and encouraging buyers to donate an additional $5 that will go directly to the challenge.
Lauren Krumbholz, who co-coordinates SOTA’s participation in the St. Catherine Challenge with Anushka Pandya, both third-year Doctor of Occupational Therapy students, said the group encourages donations from students as well as faculty. This year, SOTA is seeking 100 percent participation among department faculty.
To learn more, visit www.aotf.org/support.