OT Potential Podcast | Occupational Therapy CEUs

As OTs, we believe that creating a therapeutic alliance is one of the most powerful vehicles to change.  But, we also know that there are many barriers that exist to building transformational relationships with our clients  Telehealth can feel like another such barrier—but it doesn’t have to be! The article we are looking at in this 1 hour podcast-based CE course is a qualitative study exploring t...

From pregnancy to age 2 is arguably the most important developmental window of our lifetimes.  This makes the work of OTs who work with this age incredibly important. And, for the rest of us, we should be using our professional knowledge to advocate for the proper support for families at this critically important window. In this one hour podcast course, we are looking at a broad systematic review...

The use of sensory-based interventions (SBIs) and environmental modification are common OT treatments.  But, what is the evidence behind these treatments?  In this episode, we’ll look at an influential systematic review that explores that question. The authors lay out the evidence behind specific sensory techniques and environmental modifications for children with sensory integration (SI) differen...

Whether or not you are personally a fan of virtually reality—all OTs should be following the developing research on this technology.  In this episode, we’ll discuss an article where the authors explore the use of virtual reality (VR) systems that are built specifically for rehab versus general-use VR, like the Nintendo Wii and Xbox.  The authors really focus on the active ingredients that seem to...

It is so easy to get caught in the minutiae of our daily work.  And, sometimes it is incredibly helpful to zoom out and take a big picture look at the incredible changes we have seen in healthcare over the past decades.  The journal article we are looking at this week gives us a bird’s-eye view of the past, present, and future of managing rheumatic and musculoskeletal (MSK) diseases.  In the artic...

We need some of our OTs with the biggest hearts and brightest minds to consider specializing in burn therapy. But, no matter what setting you work in, you will likely have someone with a burn patient on your caseload at some point. Burns are the 4th most common type of trauma worldwide (behind traffic accidents, falls, and interpersonal violence.) 90% of burns occur in low- to middle-income countr...

Helping people change their habits to change their health is one of the main mechanisms that makes OT effective.  But, I don’t think we spend enough time thinking about how HARD it is to change our habits.  The article we are looking at today focuses on changing lifestyle habits for adults at high risk of a cardiovascular incident, like a stroke. The author’s aim is to conceptualize how engaging o...

Constraint-induced Movement Therapy has the reputation for being an intervention that is only for specialized OTs in some far-away speciality clinic.  But, trust me: no matter what population you work with, OTs should be following this research.  Today, on the podcast we are looking at a Cochrane review of all the evidence that undergirds this treatment. CIMT is perhaps the most-studied OT interve...

The change from “caseload” to “workload” may not seem that dramatic, but make no mistake it is a quiet revolution that is happening in school-based OT.  It fundamentally shifts how we deliver care.  The article we are discussing on the podcast encourages a  shifting away from an individualist, medical model “caseload” based approach. And, encourages us to embrace a “workload” approach, which hypot...

Many of us were not taught about the economics of OT in occupational therapy school. And, part of that reason is that the research base on the economic value of our work is just emerging.  In this episode we will look at an article on the economic effects of OT in the acute and subacute setting.  The good news in this article is that there is a growing amount of research about the economic value o...

The research we are reviewing in this course showcases how far we’ve come in the prevention, early detection, and treatment of cerebral palsy (CP) in children . The authors also explore the strength of the evidence behind 182 interventions for CP, organizing them into an “evidence traffic light.” This is an important paper for all OTs to read—not just because CP is one of the most common physical...

The term cultural competence can feel too soft and narrow to really push our profession towards equity and justice.  But, the article we are reviewing today from the top 100 OT-related articles , brings up several essential points for discussion.  The mention of OT in the article is grim. The article highlights “culturally blind” attitudes of OTs that failed to change after cultural competence tra...

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) weaves together multiple concepts that OTs are already familiar with and often use in practice. On a personal level, it provides helpful tools we can utilize as we navigate complex situations in our work.  But, not only is it personally helpful, the research we’re looking at today shows us why we need to be aware of it as a therapy professional:  Research su...

This prestigious guideline on Parkinson’s Disease (PD) treatment, that we’ll be covering in this podcast episode, recommends that rehab therapies are started at the time of diagnosis and continued throughout the disease course.  This article will update you on key information about the PD disease process, the pervasiveness of non-motor symptoms, and the effectiveness of different treatments.  The...

How we understand our role as occupational therapy practitioners makes a huge difference in how we show up for our clients.  But, unfortunately, some theories of OT practice fail to aid us in practical clinical reasoning that focuses on occupation.  Luckily, the theories of OT practice that are emerging are getting closer to capturing the care we aspire to deliver—and provide more useful framework...

Our spinal cord injury clients stay in our hearts and minds. After all, we help them and their families navigate tremendous life changes. This week’s article gives us a solid big-picture review of what we know (and don’t  know) about spinal cord injury rehab. You’ll learn about commonly used assessments, as well as which treatments are gaining traction (and which ones aren’t.) And, most importantl...

In this 1 hour course, we will be diving into an incredibly helpful journal article that summarizes the evidence behind pediatric OT interventions .  The authors take 52 pediatric OT interventions for children with disabilities and rate the evidence behind them.  They organize the evidence into a traffic light infographic—where green means “the evidence supports this intervention.”  This alone mak...

Spending time in research can deliver the humbling, but needed, reminder that not all therapy leads to clear value for our clients.  For example, in the United States, we can now see that in the 2010s therapy was being delivered in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs)—beyond what was helpful for clients.  Part of the problem was the fee-for-service payment model that incentivized skilled nursing faci...

It can feel like everyone is discussing the benefits of mindfulness. Yet, with all this fanfare, we must ask: does the evidence justify incorporating mindfulness into occupational therapy?  The systematic review we will look at in this one hour course says, “YES!” (At least for specific chronic pain conditions.) The authors provide a great overview of the problem of pain—and they also discuss vari...

Research is backing up what many of us are experiencing in our communities: the pandemic is exacerbating mental health issues.  And, one can imagine how this would be true for new mothers—so many families’ birth experiences have been drastically impacted by COVID protocols, followed by increased isolation once the family arrives home. The article we will be discussing in this one-hour podcast cour...

In this one hour episode of the OT Potential podcast, you will be introduced to the Kawa model and how it can be used to foster collaboration for a rehab team.   The Kawa Model uses the metaphor of a river to depict one’s life journey. In this mental model, occupational therapists enable, restore, and/or maximize their client’s life flow.  The model can be used with individual clients and groups....

What is the future of OT? How will your own OT career look over the next decade? How will our profession change and evolve? The journal article we explore in this podcast is very concise, but it certainly packs a punch. It lays out a vision set by the American Occupational Therapy Association for where they would like to see the occupational therapy profession by 2025.  We’ll kick off the podcast...

If you haven’t been following the exciting research behind the CO-OP Approach™, this episode is for you.  CO-OP stands for Cognitive Orientation to (Daily) Occupational Performance. This is a trademarked approach with a formal certification program, so we won’t be teaching the actual method. However, we’ll be discussing the research behind the CO-OP Approach™ , as well as some ways it can impact y...

The research we explore in this podcast calls pelvic floor dysfunction a significant and neglected public health issue. The authors share a discouraging statistic: despite pelvic floor dysfunction impacting around 25% of women in the US, there is a profound lack of understanding of the disorder and how to treat it. The good news is that OTs are perfectly poised to help meet the needs of pelvic hea...

The research we discuss on the OT Potential Podcast has a recurring theme: therapy goals should always support what is meaningful to the client. But, lurking behind this best practice is an important question: what do we do when a patient is not of sound mind? We’ll explore an article that hits the question head on, looking at client-centered care for patients with psychosis. It’s an especially he...