Efforts to improve patient stress, provide adaptive toys for children, offer a virtual parenting series and pilot a self-care program were the proposals selected when the Munroe-Meyer Guild announced its 2022 grant awards.
The four proposals from the Munroe-Meyer Institute were funded with a total of more than $67,000 in support.
“The grants were very diverse this year,” said Luann Rabe, president of the Munroe-Meyer Guild. “These grants will touch many lives, from clients that receive services within the Institute, at our outreach autism clinics and all the schools in the metro area. All ages will benefit from the grants; from the toys that will be adapted for very young children to the videos produced for middle schoolers and high schoolers.”
Rabe thanked the William and Ruth Scott Family Foundation in partnering with the guild to fulfill the grants.
Funded proposals include:
“Physiological Recordings to Quantify Patient Comfort” (grantee James Gehringer, PhD, MMI Department of Physical Therapy). This team is investigating how to improve patient experience through the measurement of stress/comfort levels. It will use a device similar to a fitness tracker, called a Empatica E4, to measure stress levels. This grant will help purchase 10 devices for use in the study.
“Impact Play: Providing Play Opportunities for All Abilities” (grantee Monica Pleiss, OTD, MMI Department of Occupational Therapy). The project will adapt toys so all children with physical and cognitive disabilities will be able to play with them. A switch will be added to the toys to help the children engage with and operate them. A closet space at MMI will be created to hold the toys, and parents will be able to check the toys out for their child.
“Teaching Acceptance and Building Comfort with Health and Self-Care Routines for Your Children with Autism” (grantee Mary Halbur, PhD, MMI integrated Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders). Many children with developmental disabilities exhibit fear when it comes to health or self-care routines, such as brushing teeth, cutting hair and trimming nails. This project, which will take place at the two ACT Clinic locations, will research the most appropriate and efficient interventions to teach children these routines.
“Virtual Parent Series: Partnering with Parents to Support Youth Development” (grantee Mindy Chadwell, PhD, MMI Department of Psychology). Families face many barriers to accessing behavioral health services, such as waitlists, scheduling difficulties and financial constraints. The project team will develop a virtual parent series in collaboration with the school-based mental health clinics to help parents when dealing with mental health issues in their school age children.
The Munroe-Meyer Guild has funded grants at MMI for 25 years — with the current grant awards, the guild has provided more than $1.1 million to innovative MMI initiatives, including proposals that eventually grew into the MMI Virtual Reality Lab and GoBabyGo Nebraska program.
“The Munroe-Meyer Guild has an eye for innovative programming that makes a measurable impact,” said Melonie Welsh, director of community engagement. “We are excited to see what blossoms from the funded proposals this year. And we are thankful to the guild and the William and Ruth Scott Family Foundation for their generous support of MMI and the families they serve.”