Therapeutic riding camp promotes leisure skills for children in rural communities

Wilmington College (WC) in Ohio welcomed their inaugural class of occupational therapy students in the rural-focused Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) program in 2022. Occupational therapy faculty and staff at WC, which is located in an area designated by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA, n.d.) as both a Health Provider Shortage Area (HPSA) and a medically underserved area (MUA), aim to prepare occupational therapy practitioners to help fill the workforce gap in rural health care. HPSAs are “geographic areas, populations, or facilities … [with] a shortage of primary, dental, and mental health services” (HRSA, n.d., para. 5). Likewise, MUAs are “geographic areas and populations with a lack of access to primary care services” (HRSA, n.d., para. 23). WC’s MSOT program educates students about social determinants of health, such as the lack of access to health services that commonly affects rural populations. Students in the program are challenged to plan, develop, and implement community-based health and wellness programs for the local area to mitigate poor health outcomes commonly associated with rural HPSAs.