OTs In Pelvic Health

"If the Pelvic Floor Is Not Healthy, There Is No Occupation We Can Perform" with Alyson Stover, AOTA President

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Episode notes

To Join the intimate 2nd annual "OTs in Pelvic Health Summit,"pick up your tickets before June 15 before prices increase!  AOTA President Alyson Stover will be there!

In this episode, AOTA President Alyson Stover and I talk about:

  1. Her 6 priorities as President of the AOTA.
  2. Why does she think that OTP's are well suited for pelvic health
  3. How does pelvic health remind her of other emerging practice areas and what has worked to gain traction for those areas?
  4. How is the AOTA working towards expanding occupational therapy's role in pelvic health within the broader healthcare system? 
  5.  How does she navigate the balance between business and healthcare aspects in occupational therapy? 
  6. She shares her process in making difficult decisions and share some lessons learned since becoming president.
  7. She shares a book that has deeply influenced your philosophy towards occupational therapy
  8. What would she tell the OTP listening to this episode who is struggling with feeling misunderstood or burnt out in their field?


A little bit more about Alyson Stover:
A childhood family trauma introduced Alyson Stover, MOT, JD, OTR/L, BCP to the power of occupational therapy. A subsequent lifetime of study and practice convinced her that patient advocacy was every bit as essential as her technical practice of occupational therapy.

That would be a pretty full slate for most OTs, but it doesn't begin to describe all of Stover's accomplishments. Stover founded and owns Capable Kids, a private outpatient pediatric practice north of Pittsburgh that provides physical and speech and language therapy services in addition to occupational therapy. She's also an associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. In July 2021, she will begin a four-year term as president-elect/president of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), representing over 100,000 OT practitioners. Stover is the first Pitt faculty member to hold this national leadership position.

Stover earned a bachelor's degree in rehabilitation science and her master's degree (MOT) from Pitt. Like all licensed OTs, she passed the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) certification exam and met other Pennsylvania commonwealth licensure requirements. As if all that wasn't impressive enough, she also holds a Juris Doctor and a post-graduate certificate in health law, both of which provide a solid foundation for championing patients' rights.

Please join us the the 2nd Annual OTs in Pelvic Health Summit!