When students make the decision to pursue a career in occupational therapy, they may not have research at the top of their minds. However, research is essential to understanding best practices, and MSOT faculty are leading the way in research and scholarly activity at PNWU. Drs. Fritz and Cutchin are collectively primary investigators or co-investigators on four research grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Fritz’s work in understanding multimorbidity management and provider empathy towards the situations of older Blacks with multimorbidity was the first investigator-initiated NIH research award obtained by PNWU (funded by the National Institute on Aging). The project has resulted in a library of digitized videos highlighting the complexity of multimorbidity management among medically underserved populations. The library will be made available to other educators and researchers to use for educational and research purposes later in 2023.
Drs. Fritz and Cutchin are also co-investigators on the Heart of Detroit study, funded by the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute. In collaboration with colleagues from Wayne State University in Detroit, Fritz and Cutchin will use qualitative methods to elicit how older Blacks who experience stressors, ranging from daily hassles to major life events and structural racism, experience and respond to such stressors. The team’s efforts are part of a larger question of how stressors experienced by Black older adults contribute to cardiovascular health outcomes.
Dr. Fritz is also a co-investigator on an award granted to colleagues at the University of New Hampshire and funded by the National Institute on Aging. The study team aims to develop and pilot test a Smart Home-linked Socially Assistive Robot (SAR) called Mobile Assistive Robot with Smart Sensing (MARSS), to assist caregivers with monitoring and assisting individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease. The goal is to refine the MARSS and evaluate its use in the real world with people with Alzheimer’s Disease and their support persons. Dr. Fritz lends her expertise in behavioral intervention design and qualitative methods to the project.