OT and Pediatric Constipation

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I’ve been surprised as my own kids enter elementary school to anecdotally find that constipation is a common reason to miss activities. 

But, this aligns perfectly with the research we look at today, and the growing concern that constipation has become a public health concern. 

As many as 32% of kids (0-18) experience constipation. And, a growing number of occupational therapy professionals are seeing these kids on their caseload. Today we’ll look at an article that examines what an interdisciplinary approach to pediatric constipation can look like. 

Then, we are excited to welcome to the podcast, Quiara Smith, an OT who owns a pediatric pelvic health practice. Her and I will discuss the practical implications from this article for your OT practice. 

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.

• Interdisciplinary occupational and physical therapy approach to treating constipation and fecal incontinence in children.

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Supporting parents of children aged 2–13 with toileting difficulties: Group‐based workshops versus individual appointments.
• Interventions within the scope of occupational therapy practice to improve activities of daily living, rest, and sleep for children ages 0–5 years and their families: A systematic review.
• Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise for Paediatric Functional Constipation
• Physical Therapy for Fecal Incontinence in Children with Pelvic Floor Dyssynergia
• The use of abdominal muscle training, breathing exercises and abdominal massage to treat paediatric chronic functional constipation 2
• Effectiveness of Pelvic Physiotherapy in Children With Functional Constipation Compared With Standard Medical Care
• Nonpharmacologic Treatment for Children with Functional Constipation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to recognize assessments OTs can utilize with pediatric clients with constipation. 
• You will be able to identify common interventions OTs can utilize for pediatric clients with constipation. 

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Breakdown and analysis of journal article (5 minutes)

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:02:48 What OTs need to know about constipation
• 00:04:25 OT’s and PT’s role in intervention
• 00:05:09 Purpose of this paper
• 00:06:01 Breakdown of case study #1
• 00:11:07 Article discussion and conclusion
• 00:11:55 Intro to Quiara Smith

Discussion on practical implications for OTs (50 minutes)

• 00:14:00 How Quiara discovered pediatric pelvic health
• 00:17:47 Quiara’s pelvic health business
• 00:25:44 Stats around constipation, and the relation to urinary incontinence
• 00:32:32 Article impressions
• 00:37:26 Tips on evaluating a pediatric client with constipation
• 00:45:28 Advice on goal setting
• 00:49:38 Impactful interventions
• 00:53:39 Advice for learning more about pediatric OT and constipation
• 00:56:51 Interprofessional collaboration
• 00:59:04 What is the future of this practice area?

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about OT and Pediatric Constipation.  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, Quiara Smith does teach additional courses for OTs on this same topic, which can be found at Aloha Integrative Therapy.

Speakers

Quiara Smith, MOT, OTR/L

Quiara Smith has been practicing as an Occupational Therapist for over 13 years in both California and in Hawaii working in various settings including hospitals, schools, an equine center providing hippotherapy as a treatment tool, and outpatient clinics. Her pediatric experience encompasses serving infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents with various medical conditions and diagnoses.

Realizing the social, emotional, and psychological challenges that pelvic floor dysfunction places on children and families, Quiara decided to niche down her private practice to exclusively treating children and adolescents with pelvic floor dysfunction and toileting challenges. Quiara utilizes a holistic and integrative approach to pediatric pelvic floor dysfunction. She partners with her canine assistant, Nelly, a Labrador/golden retriever cross, in guiding children toward continence with confidence.

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. For more details read our blog post: Can I earn OT CEUS from a podcast? To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Explained. 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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