OT and CRPS

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

In a massive 53 page treatment guideline on Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), the authors state:

“Occupational therapists are the ideal therapeutic leaders in the functional restoration process…”

And, go on to devote 2 pages to what this OT care can entail. 

In this one hour course, we’ll pull out important implications for OT practice from the entire guideline. As you’ll see, when it comes to treating chronic pain, like CRPS there are a lot of best practices to draw on—but also a lot of unknowns that necessitates close attention to the individual in front of you. 

To help us flesh out what this means for OT practice, we’ll welcome to the podcast Megan Doyle, a program manager at an outpatient pain program and a leading voice on OT’s role in pain management.

Primary Journal Article Explored

When you log in, be sure to check out the OT Potential Club’s written breakdown of the following research article. Then, share your questions and thoughts with fellow practitioners.

• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Practical Diagnostic and Treatment Guidelines, 5th Edition.

Resources for OT and Pain

• Homunculus Image
• Curable Handouts: The Stress-Pain Cycle, The Chronic Pain Path, The Pain Brain vs. The Health Brain

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Complex regional pain syndrome: a narrative review for the practising clinician.

• Pediatric Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and Occupational Therapy Intervention: A Scoping Review.

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to recognize recommended assessments for CRPS that OTs can utilize. 
• You will be able to identify OT treatments that are part of the gold-standard treatment algorithm for CRPS.

Agenda

Breakdown and analysis of journal article (10 minutes)

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:02:37 Intent of the CRPS guidelines
• 00:03:05 Diagnosis of CRPS
• 00:04:04 Standardizing assessment of CRPS
• 00:04:42 Functional restoration through an interdisciplinary approach
• 00:06:26 OT treatment for CRPS
• 00:10:14 Article discussion and conclusion

Discussion on practical implications for OTs (50 minutes)

• 00:10:45 Intro to Megan Doyle
• 00:13:57 How Megan became interested in pain
• 00:19:13 Becoming program manager at an outpatient chronic pain clinic
• 00:25:31 Understanding the mechanisms of CRPS
• 00:31:56 Client education on CRPS
• 00:37:40 Impressions of the treatment guideline
• 00:41:30 Assessments Megan uses for CRPS
• 00:46:48 Megan’s go-to treatment approaches
• 00:58:27 Advice for coordinating with other disciplines
• 01:01:38 How do we need to change to meet the massive global needs around pain

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about OT and CRPS.  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. Our guest, Megan Doyle, does teach other courses on chronic pain, which she does have a financial stake in. 

Speakers

Megan Doyle MS, OTR/L, TPS, FPS, CERT-APHPT

Megan graduated from Marquette University with a BS in Exercise Science and a Psychology Minor in 2010, then obtained a MS in Occupational Therapy from Indiana University in 2012.  Throughout her career she has worked in a multitude of settings focused on adult populations, including acute care, inpatient rehab, subacute, long-term care, work site injury prevention, and outpatient, but always felt drawn to mental and behavioral health, wellness, and pain management. She also has extensive experience working with the older adult population.

She pursued first the TPS through EIM in 2017, following this with the Fellowship of Pain Sciences in 2020. She is an active member of the American Occupational Therapy Association and is the current Idaho Occupational Therapy Association President. During her free time, she prioritizes going on adventures with her husband, son and daughter exploring all the recreational wonders Idaho has to offer, as well as running half marathons, swimming competitively and playing water polo.

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.

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