Dr. Amiya Waldman-Levi, a clinical associate professor and director of scholarship and research in the OT doctorate program, top, simulates a strength-based approach to promoting parent-child play that seeks to overcome adversity and support children's health and development.By Dave DeFusco
As the COVID-19 pandemic and poverty-related stress increase the need for social-emotional support for children and families, a team of specialists led by Katz School professor Amiya Waldman-Levi has created a strength-based intervention program that aims to improve children's development through playful interactions with their parents.
The program, Promoting Health Through Play Opportunities (originally Playing Playfully Teacher Group Training Program but renamed when parents and parent-child OT sessions were added) seeks to foster the ability of parents and children to improve their use of coping skills and overall resilience in the face of adversity. Specifically, the program provides tools for helping parents become change agents in their child鈥檚 life through the promotion of healthy play opportunities within the family.
Dr. Waldman-Levi is a clinical associate professor and director of scholarship and research in the Katz School鈥檚 Occupational Therapy (OT) Doctorate program. With the aid of a $7,500 Provost research grant, she and her team will conduct a series of telehealth group and individual sessions in Spanish and English with parents and children from diverse backgrounds.
鈥淲e鈥檒l look at the parent鈥檚 ability to support their child鈥檚 development through playful interactions,鈥 said Dr. Waldman-Levi, 鈥渁nd we鈥檒l show ways parents can be creative, flexible and adaptable to meet their child鈥檚 needs.鈥
Joining Dr. Waldman-Levi are Dr. Mindy Garfinkel, clinical associate professor and assistant program director in the Katz OT program, Dr. Lola Halperin, an assistant professor at Sacred Heart University, and Dr. Danette L. Brown, an adjunct professor at Mercy College and program director for the federal Head Start program.
鈥淲e think that the program will be effective in improving parent-child relationships,鈥 said Dr. Waldman-Levi, 鈥渁nd children鈥檚 social-emotional functioning.鈥
Research has shown that while children play, they develop the language, cognitive and social skills that contribute to good academic performance. Play can also help children regulate their emotions, give them a sense of control over their lives and ultimately help them feel safe.
Katz Occupational Therapy Doctorate students, who are trained to become scholar-practitioners, will also participate in the project by collecting data, carrying out telehealth-based interventions, evaluating outcomes and helping disseminate the program鈥檚 results.
鈥淭hrough a student-centric, inter-professional and transformative education, our students are engaged in faculty-generated scholarship to build their skills in becoming leaders in the field and their communities,鈥 said Dr. Garfinkel.
Previous research has shown that children from low-income and underserved families are at greater risk for developmental delays compared with children from middle-income families, and that children鈥檚 behavioral problems, executive functioning, literacy and academic skills are related to how effectively they play with their peers. Federally funded intervention programs targeted at improving child-teacher or child-parent relations, children鈥檚 behavior problems or pre-academic performance have yielded favorable results.
鈥淲e want to get across to the parents that it鈥檚 okay to have fun with their children, to be silly, to make mistakes and learn from them,鈥 said Dr. Waldman-Levi. 鈥淭hat isn鈥檛 obvious to many adults because not everyone has the time or the tendency to be playful. We want parents to feel confident in helping their kids grow and to develop the language, social and cognitive skills necessary for constructive engagement with the world.鈥
In June, Dr. Selma Botman, provost and vice president for academic affairs, announced the 2022-2023 grant recipients for the Provost Faculty Research Fund, which provides grants up to $7,500 for material support and academic encouragement. The provost鈥檚 initiative invests over $100,000 annually for new research and to support faculty in innovative intellectual pursuits.
