CIMT and OT

Constraint-induced Movement Therapy has the reputation for being an intervention that is only for specialized OTs in some far-away speciality clinic.

But, trust me: no matter what population you work with, OTs should be following this research.

Today, on the podcast we are looking at a Cochrane review of all the evidence that undergirds this treatment. CIMT is perhaps the most-studied OT intervention—and it has lessons to teach us all about: neuroplasticity, intensity, and the future of OT 🙂

After reviewing the article, we are excited to welcome to the podcast Catherine Hoyt, PhD, OTD, OTR/L to discuss how you can be leveraging the principles behind the intervention in your OT practice.

1. You will be able to identify the mechanisms behind CIMT.

2. You will be able to describe ways the principles of CIMT can be incorporated into traditional therapy practices.

• Intro

• Breakdown and analysis of journal article

  • Intro to this article

  • What is CIMT?

  • How does the intervention work?

  • Why was this specific article written?

  • What were the methods?

  • Results

  • Conclusions and discussion

  • Takeaways for OT practitioners

• Discussion on practical implications for OTs (with Catherine Hoyt

  1. Can you tell us how you first found OT?

  2. What drew you into pediatric research?

  3. What is your professional experience with CIMT?

  4. How did it strike you that evidence was low to very-low (for what I consider to be one of the most researched OT interventions)?

  5. This article reviews research through 2018—is there any CIMT research that has been published since then that you think OTs should be aware of? Has the evidence base solidified?

  6. How do you see CIMT fitting with our growing understanding of neuroplasticity?

  7. I feel like CIMT is considered one of those “evidence based interventions that doesn’t translate into everyday practice.” What would you say to this?

  8. How can therapist in traditional settings start incorporating what we are learning from CIMT into their practice?

  9. What avenues are there for therapists in traditional settings to start moving towards a more intensive therapy model?

  10. What specialized training/opportunities would you recommend to someone who wanted to really specialize in CIMT?

  11. What do you see on the horizon for CIMT?

Primary

• Constraint-induced movement therapy in children with unilateral cerebral palsy

Additional

• Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy for Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Trial

• Toward a More Comprehensive Assessment of School Age Children with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

CIMT Protocols and Other Resources

• You can find the Evidence Based Guideline for CIMT from Cincinnati Children’s on this page.

• For free, you can join the professional network at CIMT: Movement for Life (UK based).

• The website C-PROGRESS is managed by many of the CIMT scientists.

• ACQUIRE is a manualized protocol, which is outlined in the AOTA Handbook.

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OT Potential pays guest speakers an honorarium for their participation, either directly or to an institution of the speaker's choosing at their request. We invite guests whose expertise often comes from practices, programs, or building products in their field. Where a speaker has a financial interest in the subject of a course, we disclose it below so you can weigh it for yourself.

OT Potential's interest in this topic: We have no financial stake in this topic.

Speaker interests: Catherine Hoyt has no financial interest in this topic to disclose. She serves as site Co-PI for the I-ACQUIRE trial of constraint-induced movement therapy, and developed the Infant Toddler Activity Card Sort.