Christine Kivlen

Phone

313-577-1390

Department

Occupational Therapy

Degrees and Certifications

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy in Occupational Therapy, Nova Southeastern University
• Master of Occupational Therapy, Wayne State University
• Bachelor of Health Science, Wayne State University

Licensure

• State of MI OT License: 03/2011 – Present

Positions and Employment

Academic

• Wayne State University, Assistant Professor (Clinical), 10/2018 – Present
• Lenoir Rhyne University, Assistant Professor, 08/2017 – 10/2018
• Ithaca College, Assistant Professor, 08/2015 – 08/2017
• American International College, Instructor & Fieldwork Coordinator, 08/2014 – 08/2015

Awards and Honors

• Wayne State University Online Course Quality Faculty Fellows program, 2023
• WSU Applebaum Health Sciences Division Clinical Award, 3/2023
• WSU Applebaum Faculty Research Award Program funding, 6/2023
• Phi Kappa Phi, 01/2018 – Present  
• Schlomer Endowed Scholarship, 4/2011
• President of WSU Occupation Therapy Class, 9/2009 – 12/2011

Professional Memberships

• American Occupational Therapy Association
• Michigan Occupational Therapy Association
• International Society of Anthrozoology (ISAZ)
• Animal Assisted Intervention International (AAII)
• Association of Animal-Assisted Intervention Professionals (AAAIP)
• Pi Theta Epsilon, Eta Chapter
• Pi Kappa Phi

Primary Research Interest

• STELLA lab (STudent Education: Learning aLongside Animals): Drop-in therapy dog clinic open to students at posted days and times in room 1336 of the Applebaum Building
• Dissertation: Effects of Animal Assisted Activity (AAA) on College Graduate Students: An Occupational Therapy Perspective
• Kivlen, C. (2021, September 22). Therapy dogs help students cope with the stress of college life. The Conversation. 

Recent Publications

Articles

1. Starkweather, M., Germain, A. E., Kivlen, C.* (In-press). Pawsitive purpose: The impact of autism assistance dogs on the occupations of autistic children. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy
2. Kivlen, C., Chargo, A., & DiZazzo-Miller, R. (2023). Animal-assisted intervention on college campuses: Graduate student perspectives regarding the need, benefits, and availability of programming. American Journal of Health Education, 54(5) doi:10.1080/19325037.2023.2232836
3. Stewart, B., Saad., Schiller., Abbasi, H., Nigma, E., Kivlen, C.* (2023). A qualitative analysis of community participants’ experiences with a virtual interprofessional team visit (vIPTV) with healthcare students. Journal of Patient Experience. doi:10.1177/23743735231179
4. White R, Walczybock A, Mendez, J, Reed, A., Maloney, S., Malik, M., & Kivlen, C.* (2023). Retrospective study of healthcare resources developed for patients by interprofessional teams. Cureus 15(1): e33840. doi:10.7759/cureus.33840
5. Kivlen, C., Winston, K., Mills, D., DiZazzo-Miller, R., Davenport, R., & Binfet, J.-T. (2022). Canine-assisted intervention effects on the well-being of health science graduate students: A randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 76(6), doi:10.5014/ajot.2022.049508
6. Howell, T. J., Nieforth, L., Thomas-Pino, C., Samet, L., Agbonika, S., Cuevas-Pavincich, F., Fry, N. E., et al. (2022). Defining terms used for animals working in support roles for people with support needs. Animals, 12(15), 1975. MDPI AG. Retrieved from doi:10.3390/ani12151975
7. Kivlen, C., Quevillon, A., & Pasquarelli, D. (2022). Should dogs have a aeat in the classroom? The effects of canine assisted education on college student Mental health. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 10(1), 1-14. doi:10.15453/2168-6408.1816

Book chapters

1. Kivlen, C. & Heffron, J. (2023). Tier 2 Elementary School Case #5: Amena. In occupational therapy groups for addressing mental health challenges in school-aged populations. Thorofare, NJ: SLACK Inc.
2. Kivlen, C. & Heffron, J. (2023). Group #9: Spreading our wings: Caterpillars to CAN-DO-pillars. In occupational therapy groups for addressing mental health challenges in school-aged populations. Thorofare, NJ: SLACK Inc.
3. Winkle, M. & Kivlen, C. (2020). Canine online training. In Alternatives to traditional animal assisted interventions: Expanding our Toolkit: E-Book ISBN: 978100522943
4. Johnson, C., Maher, S., & DiZazzo-Miller, R. (2016). Sensation, range of motion, strength, and coordination. In R. DiZazzo-Miller & F. D. Pociask (Eds.), Preparing for the occupational therapy national board exam, (pp. 51-64). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers

Presentations

1. Kivlen, C. (2022). College students’ perceptions of the impact of pets on their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic [Conference Presentation]. International Society of Anthrozoology Conference.
2. Kivlen, C., Binfet, J. T. (2021). Graduate students’ perceptions of a canine-assisted stress-reduction intervention [Conference Presentation]. International Society of Anthrozoology Conference.
3. Kivlen, C., Winston, K., Mills, D., DiZazzo-Miller, R., Davenport, R., Binfet, J. T. (2020). The effect of an animal assisted intervention (AAI) on graduate students’ wellbeing: Insights from occupational therapy [Conference Presentation]. International Society of Anthrozoology Conference.
4. Kivlen, C. & DiZazzo-Miller, R. (2020). Animal assisted intervention programming on a college campus: Insights from graduate students [Conference Presentation]. American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Conference.
5. Winchester, E., Shannahan, A., Williamson, E., Wenderlich, E., Samuel, S., Johnson, C., Mendez, J., Malek, M. (2020). Impact of interprofessional exposure [Conference Presentation]. Midwest Interprofessional Practice, Education, and Research Center (MIPERC) Conference
6. Allen, N., Kivlen, C., Mendez, J. (2020). Applying an Interprofessional lens to Veteran’s Health Care [Conference Presentation]. Midwest Interprofessional Practice, Education, and Research Center (MIPERC) Conference:
7. Reightler, L. & Johnson, C. (2019). The effects of guide dog use on occupational performance: A qualitative study [Conference Presentation]. American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Conference.
8. Egan, B. E., Friguglietti, S., Johnson, C., Oakes, T., James, L., Sears, C. (2018). Developing a distance cohort: Lessons learned [Conference Presentation]. American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Conference
9. Johnson, C. (2016). Animal assisted therapy: A practical demonstration [Conference Presentation]. Occupational Therapy Student Conclave Conference
10. Johnson, C. (2015). The occupational benefits associated with persons caring for a pet [Conference Presentation]. Society for the Study of Occupation (SSO) Conference
11. Johnson, C., Musgrove, H., Walt, M., Ross, E., Bamford, S., Kotoor, J., Cagle, M., Dziurda, P. (2014). Interprofessional approach to early mobility in a medical progressive care unit [Conference Presentation]. Midwest Interprofessional Practice, Education, and Research Center Conference.

DO NOT EDIT: Experts guide blurb

Christine Kivlen is studying animal assisted interventions (AAI) with the help of her Leonberger, Stella. Her current focus is the affects of AAI on mental health and learning outcomes in the graduate student population.

Research Description

Affiliated Departments

• Occupational Therapy Program