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Evaluating the Effectiveness Of An Occupation-Based Universal Design Toolkit Among Occupational Therapy Students

Atkinson, Ella
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Abstract

While specialized design approaches are increasingly gaining popularity in the realm of home design and modification, there is less of an emphasis being placed on universally-designed environments or, alternatively, these terms are mistakenly being used synonymously. There is not only a gap in the literature surrounding universal design, but also a lack of educational resources, which may hinder understanding and application. Thus, there is an evident need to further promote the understanding and implementation of universal design within occupational therapy. This capstone project seeks to address this by developing and disseminating a universal design toolkit intended for occupational therapy student use. 34 occupational therapy students reviewed and utilized the universal design toolkit during a case study exercise and provided both quantitative and qualitative feedback regarding the toolkit’s usability, usefulness, and knowledge acquisition. Findings reveal that participants demonstrated statistically significant gains in knowledge. Additionally, significantly more participants yielded positive perceptions of the toolkit’s usability and usefulness, compared to those with neutral to negative perceptions. This illuminates the fact that many occupational therapy students are demonstrating an emerging understanding and application of universal design, which can be enhanced through targeted educational resources.

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2026-05-05
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Universal design, occupational therapy, home modification
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