Effective Therapies – the facts

Occupational Therapy is a science and evidence based therapy, that aims to improve peoples independence, participation and well being across all aspects of daily life. As times change, technology improves, research occurs, the way therapists work with our clients should also change. 

With regard to paediatric therapy – there are a whole lot of flashy businesses out there with fancy offices, sensory gyms, all sorts of fun stuff that kids will generally love to attend and participate in, however they are sometimes not the most effective therapies and best use of your funding. 

A couple of years ago, a huge study was completed that assessed the effectiveness of a wide range of therapies. Across the board the premise was quite simple – in order to learn a new skill, we need to practice that specific skill. My favourite example is – “If you want to learn to play piano, should you practice and learn to play piano, or do finger stretches and exercises?”. Or for a child “to improve your handwriting should we practice our handwriting, letters, formations etc or should we do finger exercises and strengthening?”

I have attached the summary of the study below and you might see some surprises. The biggest shock to people I feel is Sensory integration and sensory approaches being quite ineffective towards behavioural outcomes in children. Right down in the red. 

Basically any bubble under the ‘worth it line’ is something that your therapist should probably not be doing. 

Anything above the line in orange might help a bit depending on the child, and is likely worth a go.

But the best possible outcomes are going to be therapies in the green, and the bigger the bubble the more evidence there is around that treatment. 

At OT2YOU we aim to be evidence based, to be as effective as possible and utilise your funding in the best way. We are trained and/or experienced in the CO-OP approach, Bimanual upper limb therapies, CIMT, Home Programs, Goal directed training, handwriting task practice, Token Economies, Family centred care, Parent coaching and education to name a few – yep all of those green ones. We love seeing improvement in daily lives and goals being met!

Some parents may wish to use their ‘choice and control’ to utilise experimental or ineffective therapies with other therapists and that’s fine, but just remember they might not always be super effective or a good use of your funding.