At the OT Schoolhouse, we support school-based occupational therapy practitioners to use evidence, research, and best practices to feel more confident in their role and to avoid burnout.
Using AI for Evals, Therapy, & Progress reports
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βPresented by the β Hey Reader, Using artificial intelligence (AI) in therapy is not the future. It is the here and now. And as you may know, I am currently working on a course to help SBOT practitioners use AI to save time and better support students. In fact, I just finished sharing with members of the OT Schoolhouse Collaborative exactly how they can turn their caseload spreadsheet into a weekly schedule draft in less than 15 minutes. π€― As I draft my slides, I have broken down how AI can support us into three areas - Evaluations, therapy, and outcomes/documentation. Not surprisingly, those are the three aspects of the OT process laid out in AOTA's OT Practice Framework. So, how can OT practitioners use AI in these three areas? Here are a few ideas and examples I have, and I would love for you to hit replay and share your own. β EvaluationsWhen I started playing around with AI, this is where I started. I wanted to know if AI could help me score assessment tools, make sense of my observations, synthesize my thoughts, and identify potential recommendations. In my testing, AI can help with each of these tasks except scoring assessments. ChatGPT does not appear to have access to the BOT-2 (and other) scoring manuals or the capability to accurately turn raw scores into usable data. However, I am sure Peason and WPS have a fix to this in the works. That said, ChatGPT can turn my shorthand observation notes into a report-worthy narrative. I have also given AI a partially complete evaluation and asked it to write a synthesis, summary, recommendation, and even potential goals for consideration. AI never gives me a ready-to-print evaluation report, but it does give me a great starting point, and sometimes, it even challenges me to look at report data from a different perspective. Please note: All AI testing I complete is with anonymized data. No PHI was provided to AI in the making of this email. β Using AI for TherapyAs I mentioned above, I used AI to help me create a weekly therapy schedule. But that is just the start of how AI can support therapy. Imagine sitting in a room full of OT practitioners who have read your completed student evaluation and asking them for therapy ideas to move forward with. Youβd never run out of ideas, right? However, you may also leave the room not knowing which direction to take with therapy. The same is true when using AI. Generative AI can provide unlimited ideas if you keep asking it to, but it can also be overwhelming. As an OT practitioner, you have to know what questions to ask and weigh each AI response against what you know. Remember, AI has access to some, but not all, available research. So far, I have used AI to assist in developing both long-term intervention plans and individual treatment session plans. I also believe that we will soon be helping students to use ChatGPT as an accommodation for executive functioning difficulties and more. I will also be sharing more with you about AI as a treatment in an upcoming OT Schoolhouse Podcast, so stay tuned for that. β Outcomes and DocumentationI think this is where most OTPs jump to when thinking about AI. We all want ChatGPT to take our data for us and provide a ready-to-submit progress report, right? The good news is that AI can help interpret and report on data. If you give it a chart, table, or even anecdotal data, it can synthesize it pretty well. ChatGPT is also a pro at SOAP notes and some AI programs can even create a table for you to show goal progress. However, you still need to collect and input the data for it to be able to support you. What is really cool now is that you can take pictures and upload documents to Chat GPT and other tools. So, even if you take your data by hand, you can still get support from AI - just make sure your notes are legible. Speaking of legibilityβ¦ Iβve even uploaded a student handwriting sample and asked ChatGPT to "grade" it on various aspects. Itβs not great, but I encourage you to try it. Soon enough, I am sure AI tools will have no problem telling you how many letters are sized, spaced, and even formed correctly. β How do you envision AI supporting you?If your email allows you to see the poll below, I would love for you to respond and share how you hope to use AI as a school-based OT practitioner.
If you canβt see the poll or just want to share other ideas on how you might use AI, I invite you to hit reply and share. I would love to hear your dreams and wishes for AI. If you would like to see my step-by-step instructions and the ChatGPT prompt I used to create a weekly schedule, check out the OT Schoolhouse Collaborative. Members of the Collaborative will also have first access to my AI course, which will be available in October. β β Join these 10 presenters and over 400 school-based OTPs at the Back to School Conference!Kick off the school year with the perfect professional development opportunity! Learn from top experts as they share essential strategies for supporting diverse learners. With seven interactive sessions, you'll gain valuable insights and practical tools to enhance your practice. Register by August 24 to attend live and receive an exclusive Swag Pack! Replay access is included until December 31st!
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LAST WORD πβ
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Jayson Davies, MA, OTR/L
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Jayson Davies, OTR/L
At the OT Schoolhouse, we support school-based occupational therapy practitioners to use evidence, research, and best practices to feel more confident in their role and to avoid burnout.
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