OT and Heart Disease

Earn 1 hour of continuing education by joining OT Potential after taking this course.

Course Description

Heart disease is the most common serious chronic condition among adults. 

In fact, per the latest report, a staggering 1 in 3 US adults received care for a cardiovascular risk factor or condition in 2020. 

The same report projects that annual inflation-adjusted health care costs attributable to cardiovascular conditions will nearly quadruple from $393 billion in 2020 to $1,490 billion by 2050.

Truly astounding numbers. 

Heart disease is an umbrella term that encompasses coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular disease, arrhythmias, congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies, and other structural or functional heart disorders.

But, despite this complexity, there is clear guidance from the American Heart Association about what to do to improve and maintain heart health, they call them them Life’s Essential 8: 

1. Consume a healthy diet emphasizing vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, lean proteins (including fish), and minimizing trans fats, red and processed meats, refined carbohydrates, and sweetened beverages.

2. Maintain a healthy body weight through caloric restriction and counseling for those with overweight or obesity.

3. Engage in regular physical activity, specifically at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity exercise.

4. Avoid tobacco products and exposure to secondhand smoke.

5. Limit alcohol intake to moderate levels, if consumed at all.

6. Manage blood pressure through lifestyle changes and, if needed, medication.

7. Control blood cholesterol with diet, physical activity, and medication when indicated.

8. Prevent and manage diabetes with lifestyle modifications and appropriate pharmacologic therapy when necessary.

We know that behavioral counseling for these lifestyle changes can be effective. But, to date, occupational therapy has been underutilized in this critical public health initiative. 

In today’s course, we’ll talk to one occupational therapist, Sabina Kahn, who is using her OT skill-set to help tackle this large scale problem, through new technologies. 

We’ll discuss why OT has been under-utilized to date, what opportunities exist for OTs to play a larger role, and what new technologies might help us step into this critical role, with our unique expertise.

Learning Objectives

1. You will recognize common occupation-based assessments OTs can use related to heart health.

2. You will be able to identify evidence based intervention for heart health that are within our scope of practice.

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Discussion (40 minutes)

1. How did you become interested in women’s health, then in heart health? 
2. Can you tell me about your current work? 
3. What have you learned about the massive global health problem that is heart disease- and how might OTs encounter this in their work? 
4. Before we talk OT specifically, what are other professions doing, especially in terms of prevention? 
5. What do you see as OT’s potential role in assessment?
6. What do you see as OT’s potential role in intervention?
7. What could patient education look like in our sessions? 
8. How are new technologies going to enable a new level of new future of care for cardiac conditions?

Live Q&A (10 min)

Closing (5 min)

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Lifestyle changes to prevent cardio- and cerebrovascular disease at midlife: A systematic review
• Behavioral Counseling to Promote a Healthy Diet and Physical Activity for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Adults With Cardiovascular Risk Factors: Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force
• Occupational Performance Coaching on Health Self-Care Behavior and Activity Participation for Adults With Heart Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial
• Cognitive Function in Cardiac Patients: Exploring the Occupational Therapy Role in Lifestyle Medicine

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about OT and Heart Disease.  The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic.

Speakers

Sabina Khan PhD, OTD

Sabina is an award-winning women’s health leader and health equity researcher, clinician, author, and assistant professor. Her research examines how trauma, gender, and systemic inequities affect participation, well-being, and access to care across the lifespan. Sabina’s work has been published in a wide range of academic journals, and she is the author of two academic textbooks, with a third forthcoming in 2026.

In addition to her academic and clinical work, Sabina is a health tech innovator developing inclusive, AI-powered tools that support self-management, body literacy, and diagnostic precision. Her current projects include a digital health platform that identifies personalized patterns across symptoms and wellness data, and a clinical decision support tool using machine learning to assist physicians in diagnosing cardiac conditions. Sabina is currently pursuing my MBA at UC Berkeley Haas to expand her leadership at the intersection of healthcare innovation, digital transformation, and systems equity.

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

This course was designed to meet your continuing education requirements

We designed the courses in the Club to meet the requirements for “online” and “independent/self-study” courses. To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Requirements. If you are outside of the United States and have questions, please contact us.

We are proud to be an AOTA Approved Provider and to meet the requirements for your NBCOT renewal.

---

See our other OT courses!