#23: The Research Behind the CO-OP Approach™ with Tee Stock (CE Course)

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Full Course Details: Public course page
Learn more about our guest: Tee Stock, OTR/L, OTD, MS, MBA

Read the article and discussion upon which this podcast is based.
See the documentation example, which features an example treatment note submitted by Tee Stock.

Course Description

Released December 19, 2021 from Aurora, NE

If you haven’t been following the exciting research behind the CO-OP Approach™, this episode is for you.

CO-OP stands for Cognitive Orientation to (Daily) Occupational Performance. This is a trademarked approach with a formal certification program, so we won’t be teaching the actual method. However, we’ll be discussing the research behind the CO-OP Approach™, as well as some ways it can impact your practice.

We’ll explore the primary research article, where the CO-OP Approach™ is performed by OTs in a group setting. You’ll see its impact on “body function, activity, AND participation,” and you’ll be pleased to learn that the researchers determined the approach works :slightly_smiling_face:

After spending time in the article, we were joined by Tee Stock, OTR/L, OTD, MS, MBA. Tee owns her own practice providing pediatric therapy in the home, and she is also certified in the CO-OP Approach™. She and I discussed the research and practical implications for OTs, so you can gain useful takeaways for your own practice.

Primary Research 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.

Thornton, A., Licari, M., Reid, S., Armstrong, J., Fallows, R., &; Elliott, C. (2016). Cognitive orientation to (daily) occupational performance intervention leads to improvements in impairments, activity and participation in children with developmental coordination disorder . Disability and Rehabilitation, 38(10), 979–986.

Supplementary materials

Here are the supplementary materials we mentioned in the episode

Assessments

Secondary Research

Araujo, C. R., Cardoso, A. A., Polatajko, H. J., &; de Castro Magalhães, L. (2021). Efficacy of the cognitive orientation to Daily Occupational Performance (co-op) approach with and without parental coaching on activity and participation for children with developmental coordination disorder: A randomized clinical trial . Research in Developmental Disabilities, 110, 103862.

Novak, I., &; Honan, I. (2019). Effectiveness of paediatric occupational therapy for children with disabilities: A systematic review . Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 66(3), 258–273.

Learning Objectives

  • You will be able to identify outcomes measures utilized to determine the effectiveness of the CO-OP Approach™.
  • You will be able to recognize the limitations of the research behind the CO-OP Approach™.

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Breakdown and analysis of journal article (10 minutes)

  • What is the CO-OP Approach™?
  • Why did the authors choose to focus on “body function, activity, and participation?”
  • What was the goal of this paper?
  • What were the authors’ methods?
  • What outcome measures were used?
  • What were the results?
  • Discussion and conclusion
  • Takeaways for OT practitioners

Discussion on practical implications for OTs (with guest Tee Stock) (45 minutes)

  • Tell us the story of how you found OT- and then how you found the CO-OP Approach™.
  • What was your initial impression of the article?
  • Can you tell us about your experience getting certified in the CO-OP Approach™?
  • What do you look for in a client to consider using the CO-OP Approach™ with them?
  • If you decide to use the CO-OP Approach™ as an intervention, can you tell us what an evaluation might look like?
  • Then, what might the intervention look like?
  • In your experience, how have kids and their families reacted to the CO-OP method?
  • In your opinion, which therapists are a good fit for further training in CO-OP?
  • Did reading this article make you think differently about how you might approach CO-OP sessions in the future?
  • How has being trained in the CO-OP method made you think differently about your overall OT care?
  • If we have extra time: What research questions would you like to see answered about the CO-OP method in the future?

Contact Hours

1 hour (0.1 AOTA CEUs)

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about the CO-OP Approach™. 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 cancelled, 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.

Speakers

Tee Stock, OTR/L, OTD, MS, MBA :

Tee-Photo

Tee Stock has been an occupational therapist since 1998, specializing in school and home-based practice. She became a faculty member at MGHIHP in 2019 and teaches in their OT program. She has experience working with schools, families, and other service providers.

Dr. Stock completed her Master of Occupational Therapy at Tufts University in 1998 and her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy at Quinnipiac University in 2017. Dr. Stock conducted her doctoral research study on postsecondary transition planning and the roles that OTPs have in the process. She also has a Master in Business Administration from Bentley University and recently presented a webinar on OT and entrepreneurship for AOTA.

Dr. Stock has presented on the Cognitive Orientation to Occupational Performance (CO-OP) Approach, handwriting, sensory integration, occupational therapy, school-based OT practice, transition planning, and using the occupational profile to improve evaluations. She is a co-author of an AOTA PowerPoint on the role of OTPs in Transition Planning. Dr. Stock has worked on client-centered occupational therapy and transition planning in public schools, a private special education school, for a local collaborative, and in her local community.

She is certified in Astronaut Training, Therapeutic Listening, the CO-OP method, and Handwriting Without Tears and has extensive continuing education in the areas of autism, sensory processing, handwriting, social skills, transition planning, and other topics. Dr. Stock is the co-author of an upcoming book chapter on school-based occupational therapy.

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L:

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L headshot

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.

In 2011, Sarah launched OT Potential because she realized we needed a reliable source of quality occupational therapy-related content and resources. She has also had the opportunity to create content for brands like WebPT, MedBridge, Saebo, and NeuroLutions.

She launched the OT Potential Club in 2019 to marry her love of simplifying complex topics with her desire to help therapists access the most important OT-related research released each year.

Sarah is a prairie girl at heart, which is why she returned to her hometown to raise her children in Aurora, Nebraska (home of the strobe light).

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Please share any other feedback below! Including, ideas for future programming, and most importantly, how you feel this podcast will impact your practice!

2 Likes

Really enjoyable episode. I’ve been interested in CO-OP for some time and this gave me the push to really start digging in on my own. I’m really excited about how I could incorporate these methods in an inpatient rehab setting.

3 Likes

Excellent podcast! Learned a great deal about CO-OP and will be exploring it further. Thank you!

2 Likes

In the CO-OP podcast, Tee mentioned using a self assessment rating scale on a 10 point scale. Was there a specific scale that you guys recommend for this?
Thanks!
Amanda

2 Likes

Welcome, @amanda7! I’m pretty sure that would be the PQRS! You can see how she used it this documentation example: https://club.otpotential.com/t/home-based-pediatric-treatment-note-intervention-the-co-op-approach/810

If that is indeed the assessment you were thinking of and you need more info about it let me know!

1 Like

I was excited to hear more about the CO-OP approach as well as hear about the other assessments that were used within the article. Going to do some research. =)

2 Likes

Hi @amanda7 I would be happy to discuss or email more with you about the scale that can be used. It is from the CO-OP book.
Best,
Tee

1 Like

Tee,
Yes, thank you. You can email me at amanda@adatherapyservices.com. Thank you!

2 Likes

As an advocate for client centered treatment I am happy to implement a more formalized approach that recognizes this guiding therapeutic element. Especially good for documentation.
During this presentation and reading I kept expecting this term to come up: self-efficacy. Focus upon self awareness and ability to improve ones self and circumstances. Self empowerment. I also kept waiting for definition of ‘cognitive’. This is such a large category and to say the approach is about cognitive strategies seems generalized without specified definitions. Taking a deeper dive into the CO-OP website, now called ICAN, I finally found reference to ‘Global cognitive skills’ I wonder if “cognitive” is reference to frontal lobe executive skills, mid brain learning abilities, self awareness, conscious &/or unconscious skills.
Tee was helpful in emphasizing that her clients must already have problem solving skills in order to engage in a COOP approach. The program further develops that ability into a conscious self monitoring strategy. I would be tempted to define the program as recruiting self awareness toward self efficacy rather than a set of cognitive strategies. GPDC is a process yet those steps are a result of myriad cognitive abilities, rather than each one being a separate cognitive strategy. I would love to hear more definitions of cognitive in this context.
Lastly, I am wondering about particular challenges and successful implementation for those in the autistic community. Thanks for another great presentation!

3 Likes

oooo I love these musings, @devorah! I actually agree that self-efficacy and awareness is more intuitive language to me than a “cognitive strategy.” I do hope to have the creator of this approach, Helene Polatajko, on the podcast sometime and it would be fun to ask her about this!

I can say that the people who run the CO-OP website are super nice and responsive- so if you wanted to reach out to them with any questions - I bet they would get back to you!

1 Like

Definitely be interested in a wider scope of diagnoses. The Co-op approach is interesting.

2 Likes

Thank you for this informative Podcast on the CO-OP Approach. I thought it was limited to the pediatric population but can see how it would be helpful with any OT intervention. When clients set their goals they are more motivated to achieve them. Thank you Tee for sharing your knowledge and passion!

2 Likes

I agree! I learned so much about the wider application about it! I hope to have the founder of the approach on the podcast- and talk about the research with adults, like this article:

1 Like

Hi Devorah,
Great feedback and input. The CO-OP Pediatric book does discuss self-efficacy and how the degree of it can affect motivation. Self-efficacy is diminished by repeated failure and enhanced by success, especially where the success is linked to one’s own efforts. As to your point on the definition of cognitive for this approach the literature says that the client needs sufficient cognitive ability to benefit from this approach but this does not translate to a specific score on any specific measure but rather they need to be able to attend and understand sufficiently to interact with the therapist on strategies. The approach has been used with clients with a variety of cognitive levels including preschoolers. It is based on cognitive-behavioral and learning theory (Miechenbaum and Bandura). You make a good point about self-awareness which is certainly key. The therapist also introduces domain-specific strategies in addition to the global problem-solving strategy use. Those are only introduced according to which ones would be helpful in the particular situation. I am sure if when the founder of CO-OP comes on she will be able to explain and answer much more thoroughly. But if you are able to access the “Enabling Occupation in Children: The CO-OP Approach” book or the other text you will be able to see this information in detail.
There are several studies you can find online about the use of this approach with the autistic community. Here is one example: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1127899.pdf
Best,
Tee

1 Like

Thanks for your response.

I am a home care OT and it’s been wonderful to hear about the latest research when I’m driving between patients! I love the way your podcasts get me thinking and l ave with “take always”. Keep up your the great work. :blush:

3 Likes

Thank you so much, @beth9! This encouragement found me at just the right moment-- I really appreciate it!

1 Like

:blush: Hang in there. Keep doing what you love :two_hearts: The OT world is a better place with you helping to lead those who are not so research savvy learn about the latest research and best practices :cherry_blossom:

1 Like

Thank you for your enthusiastic response, Beth!

1 Like

I enjoyed the podcast and will be looking to learn more on this approach.

2 Likes