For Rachel Proffitt, OTD, OTR/L, it has been rewarding to research her family history and where they come from.  

According to the American Immigration Council, nearly a quarter of New York residents are immigrants.  

“I’m one of those typical New York families where you can go back maybe one or two generations and then it’s immigrants coming here in the 1800s or so,” said Proffitt. 

Through that exploration, she discovered something important about her genealogy.  

“My mother’s side she grew up in Kansas City, and that’s where the hearing loss gene comes from,” she said. “My mother, a couple of her siblings, my cousin and I have bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.”  

Having this disability has taught Proffitt about problem-solving and inspires her to help others.  

“There isn’t always just one way to tackle a problem,” she said. “I know how technology can benefit people and help them be as functional as they can be.”

Research that matters

Proffitt is an associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy within the College of Health Sciences. She spends most of her time exploring novel technologies for post-stroke and post-traumatic brain injury rehabilitation among older adults.  

Proffit’s interest in this topic was piqued while completing her clinical training at Washington University in St. Louis.  

“A woman from computer science came into the lab one day when I happened to be working,” Proffitt said. “She said she would love to use games they built for an actual purpose. I spun around in my chair, and I asked if I could do this for my doctoral research.”  

Since that encounter in the lab, Proffitt has gone from the developmental stage to testing these technologies in real life. Her work analyzes using fun technologies such as games, to measure how well someone uses their body in everyday life. 

“After having a stroke, some people may not be able to use their arms as well and reach up to that high cabinet,” she said.”We use these technologies to either help them reach up to that shelf or we need to figure out that they’re only able to reach up to a certain height and we move things around in their kitchen.”

A benefit to society  

Proffitt believes in what technology can do for society.  

“Technology isn’t going anywhere,” she said. “How do we in the health care field capitalize on this and use it for the greater good?”

She believes technology can help clinicians become more efficient in delivering care while making health care more personalized to individuals.  

“Being able to do remote assessments and telehealth with people opens the scope of who we can and where we can work with people that need care, especially here in Missouri,” she said.

Proffitt’s current research study focuses on rural Missouri and expanding novel technologies into those communities.   

“If we could use things like what I’m doing to help supplement where insurance doesn’t pick up, that would be fabulous,” she said.

Proffitt appreciates her network at Mizzou and finds commonalities in how to solve problems.

“Being able to work with colleagues from other disciplines and departments has been a lot of fun,” she said. “What I have found is we have similar approaches to problem-solving and ultimately, we share the desire to tackle the challenges facing the health care industry and society.”

Read the full story from the Office of the Provost.