Earn 1 hour of continuing education by joining the OT Potential Club after listening to this OT Potential Podcast course on OT for Spasticity in Adults.

Spasticity can be present in many of the conditions we treat as occupational therapy professionals.
And, it can add significant cost and burden for our patients.
The article we are discussing in this 1-hour course gives you a big picture overview of the science behind what we know (and don’t know!) about spasticity.
You’ll find certain approaches (that I’ve personally used!) that have NOT been supported by the research—but also which modalities have a growing body of evidence behind them.
After reviewing the research, we’ll be joined on the podcast by neuro OT, Scott Thompson, OTD, MOT, OTR/L, CRSR, LSVT-BIG to discuss implications for your practice!
See all listening platforms for the OT Potential Podcast.
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.
Khan, F., Amatya, B., Bensmail, D., & Yelnik, A. (2019). Non-pharmacological interventions for spasticity in adults: An overview of systematic reviews. Annals of physical and rehabilitation medicine, 62(4), 265–273.
Supporting Research and Journal Articles
Kerr, L., Jewell, V. D., &; Jensen, L. (2020). Stretching and splinting interventions for poststroke spasticity, hand function, and functional tasks: A systematic review. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(5).
Park, J.-H., Kim, Y., Lee, K.-J., Yoon, Y.-S., Kang, S. H., Kim, H., &; Park, H.-S. (2019). Artificial Neural Network learns clinical assessment of spasticity in modified Ashworth Scale. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 100(10), 1907–1915.
Learning Objectives
- You will be able to identify interventions with moderate quality evidence for reducing spasticity in adults
- You will be able to recognize interventions with low quality evidence for reducing spasticity in adults
Resources
Starting and running your neuro OT clinic:
- NeuPT Tech
- Physical Therapy Private Practice: Secrets of the Top 10%
- Next Level OT
- Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Podcast
Clinical decision making related to spasticity:
Agenda
Intro (5 minutes)
Breakdown and analysis of journal article (5 minutes)
- What is spasticity?
- Prevalence in common conditions & increased burden
- Current treatments
- Why this review was needed
- Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Takeaways for OT practitioners
Discussion on practical implications for OTs (with Scott Thompson) (50 minutes)
- Tell us how you first found OT.
- How did you become interested in neuro OT and health tech?
- What were your initial impressions of the article?
- It seems like when I see a patient with spasticity on my caseload: I should begin thinking this is a patient with an increased burden for their condition, and that I need to be collaborating with a team. Is that true?
- How do you assess spasticity?
- How do you think about matching the mechanism of different treatment options, with specific types of spasticity?
- What stood out to you about the different modalities that were listed?
- Tell me about logistically how you use your fave modalities in the clinic?
- Are there more options coming to the market for patients to be leveraging different modalities at home?
- What do you see as the business models that will best serve patients in leveraging OT and health tech to manage their spasticity?
Contact Hours
1 hour (0.1 AOTA CEUs). Released online from Aurora, NE.

Target Audience/Educational Level
Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about OT for Spasticity in Adults. The educational level is introductory.
Instructional Methods/Registration/Special Needs Requests/Cancellation Policy
This course is an independent/self-study course delivered via podcast on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play. Explore your listening options on the OT Potential Podcast page.
If you need accommodations to take this course, please contact us and we will address your needs on an individual basis.
If this course were to be canceled, please see our cancellation policy on our terms page.
Course Completion Requirements
In order to receive a certificate for this course, you must first listen to the podcast in its entirety. Then, you will need to take the test (found at the top of this page) and earn 75% or higher. If you pass, a certificate will be automatically generated and sent to your email.
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, Scott Thompson, also has no financial disclosures.
Speakers
Scott Thompson, OTD, MOT, OTR/L, CSRS, LSVT BIG

Dr. Scott is a passionate therapist solely committed to his clients well-being. He only wants the best for his clients and strives to achieve the recovery level they expect. Using state-of-the art techniques and equipment, Dr. Scott approaches the whole body like a puzzle, looking to connect the right pieces to reveal the picture. Dr. Scott never stops learning, whether through continuing education, reading the latest research, or through his clients’ stories…Because knowledge is power.
Education:
- Doctor of Occupational Therapy, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions
- Master of Occupational Therapy, University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences
- Bachelor of Science, Kinesiology, Indiana University
Certifications:
Scott has numerous advanced neurological rehabilitation certifications. He is a Certified Stroke Rehab Specialist (CSRS), an LSVT BIG trained therapist, and is Saebo Certified, and is currently working on two more certifications for upper and lower extremity expertise.
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.


