Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

OTD

College

School of Medicine

Department

Occupational Therapy

Committee Chair

Jacob Greenfield

Committee Co-Chair

Zach Brown

Committee Member

Kayleigh Nolan

Abstract

Homelessness disrupts occupational functioning across all domains of daily life, yet individuals in transitional housing frequently lack access to structured life skills programming tailored to their current level of functioning. This doctoral capstone project developed, implemented, and evaluated a life skills and job-readiness curriculum at the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness West Run transitional housing facility in Morgantown, West Virginia. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model of Human Development and the Bridging the Transition from Homeless to Housed framework, the curriculum addressed four domains: personal development, household management, financial literacy, and vocational readiness. A mixed-methods design combined a structured staff survey with two semi-structured participant focus groups. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and qualitative data through thematic analysis. Staff unanimously rated the curriculum as meeting its stated goals, with three trends emerging: client-centered, strength-based delivery; humanization and dignity as preconditions for occupational engagement; and occupational identity restoration. Participant focus groups yielded three corresponding themes: personal growth and confidence, increased autonomy with life skills, and community and social support. Findings converged across data sources, indicating that the curriculum produced meaningful preconditions for housing stability, including enhanced vocational self-efficacy, skill generalization, and reconstruction of occupational identity disrupted by chronic homelessness and trauma. These findings support the integration of occupational therapy into transitional housing programming and underscore the clinical significance of trauma-informed, dignity-affirming delivery. Future research should employ longitudinal designs with standardized occupational performance measures to assess whether proximal gains in confidence, skill, and social connection translate into sustained housing and employment outcomes over time.

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