In this special episode, we will learn from Quinn Tyminski, OTD, OTR/L, BCMH & Serena Blank, MOT, OTR/L, two occupational therapists working with Individuals experiencing homelessness.  

Quinn Tyminski, OTD, OTR/L, BCMH currently serves as an instructor in the Program in Occupational Therapy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Tyminski earned her master's degree in occupational therapy from Washington University in 2012 and her Clinical Doctorate of Occupational Therapy in 2017 from Saint Louis University. Her clinical practice experience is in the area of community-based mental health practice, where she served as the occupational therapist for a transitional housing program for men experiencing severe and persistent mental illness and homelessness and spent a year as the clinical director coordinating occupational therapy services and students. As part of her doctoral work, Dr. Tyminski introduced occupational therapy services to a local homeless shelter through the use of Level II fieldwork students. Following the success of the program, Dr. Tyminski opened an outpatient student experiential learning clinic in collaboration with St. Patrick Center in downtown St. Louis in 2018. The Community Independence Occupational Therapy Clinic continues to provide occupational therapy services to individuals experiencing homelessness. Dr. Tyminski's research focuses on improving occupational participation and quality of life for populations experiencing marginalization through providing occupation-based services targeted at improving life skills and community reintegration. She collaborates with local community agencies to provide programming to address concerns of occupational justice related to increased participation in survival occupations among those experiencing mental illness, homelessness, or recent return to the community from incarceration. She is also currently in the process of obtaining her PhD in Education at Washington University in St. Louis.

Serena Blank, MOT, OTR/L is an Occupational Therapist at the St. Patrick Center, an organization that works to increase access to sustainable housing, employment, and healthcare in the St. Louis region. In prior roles, she completed a Fellowship in psychosocial rehabilitation at the VA in Durham, NC. The program assisted Veterans experiencing serious mental illness. Upon returning to St. Louis, she worked for Saint Louis University’s Transformative Justice Initiative. She provided occupational therapy services to people incarcerated and supported their reentry back into the community. Her unique lens of occupations in marginalized populations helps her advocate for change in health and human service systems. She holds two degrees from Saint Louis University including a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Science and Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy.

Contact & Resources:

Email:

Quinn at [email protected]

Serena at [email protected]

LinkedIn:

www.linkedin.com/in/serena-blank-a33183156

https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinn-tyminski-574621254/ 

Occupational Therapy for the Homeless

https://www.ted.com/talks/quinn_tyminski_occupational_therapy_for_the_homeless 

Quinn’s Medbridge course on working with individuals experiencing homelessness https://www.medbridge.com/course-catalog/details/homelessness-health-care-practitioners-quinn-tyminski/

The Development of a Role-Emerging Fieldwork Placement in a Homeless Shelter

https://encompass.eku.edu/jote/vol2/iss2/7/

Occupational Therapy Student-Run Free Clinic: Mutual Benefits in Expanded Homeless and Health Services and Clinical Skills Development”, Journal of Student-Run Clinics, 7(1). doi: 10.59586/jsrc.v7i1.248. Drummond, R., Koziol, C., Yeats, H. and Tyminski, Q. (2021)

https://journalsrc.org/index.php/jsrc/article/view/248 

St. Patrick Center

https://www.stpatrickcenter.org/

Washington University, St Louis – Program in Occupational Therapy

https://www.ot.wustl.edu/education/directed-scholarship/community-independence-occupational-therapy-program-569

Another inspiring episode, as always, I welcome any feedback from you or if you are interested in being a guest on future episodes, please do not hesitate to contact Patricia Motus at [email protected] or DM via Instagram @transitionsot

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