About
Occupational therapy is a profession that empowers individuals, families, and communities to overcome dysfunction, disability, and environmental barriers to healthfully and successfully engage in daily life.
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Empower Occupational Therapy Services began during the founder's doctorate. They wanted to explore how OT could address the needs of families experiencing homelessness. They found that OT can have a significant impact in addressing personal wellness, home management, education, employment, and family wellness, all of which overlap with the key social determinants of health. Today, they're seeking community opportunities where Empower Occupational Therapy Services can empower clients to promote their health in each area of their life through individualized interventions, programming, research, consulting, and advocacy.
Dr. Hannah Kreider-Letterman, Founder
Dr. Hannah Kreider-Letterman, OTD, OTR/L is an occupational therapist with a passion for social justice. This passion began while they lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as a child and they witnessed economic and health disparities at their school. From those years onward, Dr. Kreider-Letterman sought opportunities to walk alongside and empower people experiencing injustice. Dr. Kreider-Letterman has served as a rehabilitation director at the Community Care Clinics Toledo, a free clinic for those in need, and as the Assembly of Student Delegate's representative to the American Occupational Therapy Association, where they demonstrated leadership and advocacy skills.
Dr. Kreider-Letterman founded this company to address health, economic, and wellness disparity for marginalized populations and looks forward to empowering you and your clients to healthfully and successfully engage in everyday life!
Previous Projects
Doctoral Capstone, Publication Pending (Spring 2020)
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Occupational Therapy and Health Promotion for Homeless Families: Advocacy Through a Professional Journal
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During Dr. Kreider-Letterman's capstone, they explored how the profession of occupational therapy could be utilized to promote health and wellness for families experiencing homelessness. They conducted a community needs assessment, interviewing entities such as local homeless shelters, service organizations, and leaders in the non-profit community. The results of the needs assessments demonstrated barriers to engaging in occupations centered around the social determinants of health, namely: personal wellness, home management, employment, education, and family wellness. Occupational therapy can empower families experiencing homelessness to promote their health in each of these areas through programming, staff training, and consulting with organizations.
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Graduate Research Project, Unpublished (2018-2020)
Exploring the Relationship between Psychological Well-Being, Meaningful Occupational Engagement and Time-use; Hannah Kreider-Letterman, Emily Bollin, Laura Schmelzer, PhD, OTR/L
The founder's doctoral research project explored how well-being, meaningful engagement, and time-use were connected for people experiencing poverty. Dr. Kreider-Letterman, their research advisor, and partner utilized a single point in-time survey battery including the World Health Organization Well-being Index-5 (WHO-5), Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey (EMAS), and the Occupational Time-Use Survey (OTUS) based on the American Time-Use Survey (ATUS). Results indicated several connections between each construct. Psychological well-being and meaningful engagement demonstrated a significant correlation for people experiencing poverty. A large part of the sample also demonstrated decreased psychological well-being compared to general population statistics for well-being. This decreased psychological well-being may be tied to decreased access to meaningful and necessary occupations. Implications for future research include exploration of these relationships, as well as how these relationships can be used therapeutically to positively promote psychological well-being through meaningful engagement.