OT Potential Podcast | Occupational Therapy CEUs

The world has changed drastically in a week’s time—and we are being asked to change with it. I know this has meant long, exhausting days. And, that we have been left scrambling trying to figure out what a “new normal” will look like in the weeks ahead.  For many of you, telehealth will be part of this new normal. This is why I wanted to spend this week discussing AOTA’s Position Paper on Telehealt...

Across the globe, our priority has shifted to quelling the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes the illness dubbed COVID-19. The community in the OT Potential Club was created so OT professionals could collaborate on tough issues. This is exactly the time to share what is working in our healthcare settings—and what isn't. This week, we will be looking at care delivery guidelines rele...

In this podcast, we discuss an article on transgender health that makes a very specific recommendation for the role occupational therapy professionals can play in providing care to the transgender community We'll also discuss some general recommendations and considerations to keep in mind next time you find a transgender client on your caseload. Finally, we'll wrap up by talking about so...

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is one of those topics that we need to be keeping up with as OT practitioners, in part because there are some very compelling stories about its use that our patients may be encountering.  This week's article gives us a helpful update on what we know (and don't know) about FES, and its use in a comprehensive stroke program. To join the conversation,...

This week, the podcast tackles a topic that can be confusing: sensory processing interventions for kids with autism. We look at a systematic review that tries to categorize different types of these interventions, then examine the evidence around each category. To join in the conversation, join the OT Potential Club ! Case-Smith, J., Weaver, L. L., & Fristad, M. A. (2014). A systematic review o...

I’m sure most of us have experienced aspects of healthcare delivery that seem, shall we say, less than ideal .  Maybe you’ve found yourself wondering just how, on earth, we managed to get where we are.  How can our sophisticated healthcare systems, sometimes lead to such poor care?  This week’s article is truly unique because it is a narrative review telling the story of one such healthcare failur...

I was reaching the end of this week’s article when my eyes suddenly flooded with tears. That’s because I encountered something we had not yet seen in the OT Potential Podcast: strengths-based recommendations. And I don't mean strength training. I mean focusing on our patients' strengths (rather than their impairments) and leveraging them so patients get the absolute most out of their car...

MELAS Syndrome is a rare and complex condition—but it is also statistically likely that someone in your community is living with it. This week's article provides a helpful overview of what we know (and don't know) about this syndrome, as well as considerations for our OT care. El-Hattab, A. W., Adesina, A. M., Jones, J., & Scaglia, F. (2015). MELAS syndrome: Clinical manifestations,...

I'm sure we all have people in our lives (or, at least on our caseloads) who suffer from chronic pain. This week's article explores chronic low back pain (LBP) and the biopsychosocial approach. You might feel a bit of deja vu, as we're finding again that a multi-faceted approach seems to work best to get results in healthcare—and, in my opinion, a multidisciplinary approach for LBP...

Soft neurological signs are a hot topic in the OT community right now. And I can see why: soft signs give us a window into all the happening at a biological level in many common conditions. And, they may be impacting more patients your caseload than you may realize.  This week's article on a specific soft neurological sign in ADHD gives you a window into where the research is at with soft neu...

Dementia is poised to present the most profound global health challenge of the 21st century . The incidence of dementia is skyrocketing, and I believe OTs have a vital role to play in caring for these patients. This week's article is an extremely comprehensive summary of dementia care—and it covers all sorts of evidence about prevention, screening, and intervention. This article is an importa...

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself that million-dollar question: How do we incorporate all this cool new research into our OT practice? This week's discussion is all about knowledge translation, and it will present a somewhat sad reality: we're not exactly sure of the best ways to translate knowledge into practice. But, there are some great gems in here about active versus passive...

Anytime we compare the outcomes of patients receiving OT vs. no therapy, we have a vested interest—we clearly want to see that the OT group has better outcomes. But, the harsh reality is that this is not always the case. When we run into examples where OT doesn't seem to be effective, we all need to all step into a growth mindset and confront this failure head-on. There is a lot to learn from...

We have already seen our fair share of technology-related research on the podcast, but this week's article introduces a type of tech that we have not yet discussed: exergaming. This particular article looks at exergaming for patients with MS, but it also brought up larger questions about the role of OT in exercise and habit formation—and, ultimately, in identity transformation. To discuss thi...

I believe that the future of occupational therapy will involve more intentional incorporation of learning strategies into our treatment sessions. That's why I think it is very important that we all pay attention to the evidence that is piling up behind the CO-OP Approach, which is a systematized learning strategy. I'm personally new to this specific approach, so I'm really excited f...

Here in the United States, OTs are facing some pretty disheartening reimbursement changes. But, this week's article seems to lay the groundwork for arguing that instead of restricting OT, we should be seeking to expand the role of occupational therapy practitioners. I found a lot of hope in this article, and I'll be very curious to hear what you think! To discuss this article please join...

Getting the right patients into therapy at the right time is the first step to great OT care. But, the research we've explored around this topic has suggested that we have a lot of potential for improvement in this area. This week's article looks at therapy referrals for older adults with cancer, and I hope it will serve as a conversation starter in the Club. We absolutely must look into...

This week, we are looking at promising research behind a cognitive rehabilitation program for Parkinson's.  And, I'll just skip to the good news—the gains in cognitive rehab actually translated to increased functional abilities, which says to me that this is important research for us all to consider. To discuss this article please join us at the OT Potential Club . You can read the artic...

This article subverted my expectations, to say the least. The researchers looked at the effects of early mobilization in the ICU, and their findings might surprise you, too. At the same time, reading this article left me feeling more confident than ever about occupational therapy's unique role in helping ICU patients regain function. (Not to mention, our overall focus on function in all setti...

This week on the OT Potential Podcast, we are looking at an article that explores the feasibility of a protocol designed to address food selectivity in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The intervention being studied incorporates a parent-coaching approach to addressing food selectivity. We've seen parent-coaching employed in a previous article, and this is definitely a trend you...

Hereditary ataxia is a rare condition, and you probably don't see it on a regular basis. This week's podcast discusses guidelines on the management of chronic ataxias , and you might be tempted to gloss over the info if it doesn't directly relate to your caseload. But, there are some important takeaways from the discussion—including a reminder that, in the absence of a cure, your cl...

The article we look at this week is a great introduction to and robot-assisted therapy and massed practice—and, even though this is our first time looking at cerebral palsy, you will find that this article builds on previous discussions we’ve had on motor learning. To join in the conversation, sign up for the OT Potential Club . (Another great way to support our podcast is to use our MedBridge pro...

An ongoing topic we've seen in research is whether high-tech interventions outperforms conventional OT care. And, this latest episode certainly contributes to this conversation, as we talk about virtual reality in acute stroke.  While we absolutely need to keep technology developments on our radar, I hope you find renewed confidence that your clinical reasoning may be what our patients need m...

Even if you don't work with stroke patients, I highly suggest you take time to read about the conversation going on around high-repetition, task-specific OT interventions for stroke. A lot of research is being done around this topic and I think it is going to end up having ripple effects for therapists in many practices areas. To participate in the forum discussion about this topic, please go...

Have you ever felt like our understanding of occupation doesn't fully capture what matters to people and motivates them? If so, you are not alone. In this week's article, we find an argument that our current models of occupation are missing one of the prime human motivators of activity: belonging . This is our first OT-specific article and our first theory-specific article, and I can&apo...