M. Carolyn Baum, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA

Dr. Baum is a professor and Elias Michael Director of the Program in Occupational Therapy and professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. She is president of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Dr. Baum received a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, a master’s degree in health management from Webster University in St. Louis, and a doctorate in social work with a concentration in social policy and aging from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. In addition to directing the Program in Occupational Therapy at Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. Baum teaches in the MSOT and OTD Programs.

Since 1996, Dr. Baum has been the principal investigator of a grant supporting the CRRG, an interdisciplinary group organized to better understand the relationship among brain function, behavior, and performance in persons following stroke. The goal of this research program is to design interventions that maximize recovery of individuals following stroke.

Dr. Baum has held many professional leadership positions. She served as president of the National Board of Certification of Occupational Therapy and has been involved in two major rehabilitation policy initiatives. She served on the National Institutes of Health committee that wrote the rehabilitation plan for the U.S. Congress implementing the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research. She also served on The Institute of Medicine committee that wrote the report for Congress Enabling America, which subsequently was published as a book. She served as editor of the professional journal OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health from 1997-2003 and currently serves on the executive board for The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis.

Dr. Baum received the top two honors of the American Occupational Therapy Association. In 1981, she delivered the Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship and, in 1983, she received the Award of Merit.

Dr. Baum, with her colleague and friend Dr. Charles Christiansen, authored and edited the text Occupational Therapy: Enabling Participation and Well-Being. Their book is used in occupational therapy curricula all over the world. Dr. Baum recently co-authored a text, Measuring Occupational Performance, with Dr. Mary Law (McMaster University, Canada) and Winifred Dunn (University of Kansas). Her work is included in major texts focusing on disability issues, client-centered care, measurement, and occupation-based practice fostering performance and participation.

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Dr. Baum's research focuses on enabling older adults to live independently. Rather than focusing on people's deficits, she seeks to understand what a person with chronic disease or disability can do. Her work has been recognized by funding from the National Institutes of Health, the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the Social Security Administration, and OASIS (the Older Adult Service and Information System).

Older adults are living longer; some have retained good health while others are experiencing the consequences of sensory, motor, physiological, and cognitive changes that threaten their potential to live independently. Most measurement models seek to describe the problems that older adults experience. Dr. Baum and her colleagues Dr. Dorothy Edwards and Monica Perlmutter have built a measurement model that demonstrates the capacity of a person to engage in activities, tasks, and roles. By understanding the capacities of the person, it is possible to minimize unnecessary disability. Understanding capacities also helps both the person and the family acquire skills to maximize the person's performance, while minimizing stress on the family that has chosen to care for their loved one.

Dr. Baum is the principal investigator of two projects, one funded by the McDonnell Center for Higher Brain Function, Enhanced Image Archiving and Web-based Data Access. This project is building a Web-based image archive to house the clinical images of persons who are entered into the CRRG project (patients admitted to Barnes-Jewish hospital with stroke) and is constructing Web access to behavioral, performance, and outcome data generated through the projects included in the CRRG. Dr. Baum also serves as the principal investigator for the project Linking Neuroscience to Everyday Life. This interdisciplinary study aims to strengthen rehabilitation approaches to improve the lives of persons with cognitive loss. This project includes scientists from neurobiology, neuroradiology, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, neurology, and occupational therapy.

Other projects include studying the occupational performance needs of persons with Parkinson's disease and those with mild visual impairments that limit their performance in everyday life.

Link to Germany Workshop Documents
Link to Publications
Link to Research Lab Description: Occupational Performance Laboratory