9 Great Occupational Therapy YouTube Channels Worth a View
YouTube is such a wonderful resource for so many topics. You can find videos that give you hours of back-to-back cat memes, you can choose a new skill to learn, and you can even get ideas for recipes, crafts, or other DIY projects around the house. But did you know you can also learn so much about OT from occupational therapy YouTube channels?
YouTube is a great way to learn more about occupational therapy if you’re a pre-OT or you are in OT school. If you’re a student or even a seasoned OT, you can also use these channels to get insight into certain topics, treatment ideas, practice settings, or what OTs do with certain diagnoses or patient concerns.
So without further ado, here are some of our top picks for the best occupational therapy YouTube channels that offer a range of resources and information for OT students. You can try watching a few of them to get a feel for their style in relaying content and the type of information they offer.
American Occupational Therapy Association
There’s really no better occupational therapy resource than AOTA. While their website is a treasure trove of resources for students, practitioners, and researchers alike, their YouTube channel also offers a wide range of content. With over 7,000 subscribers, they certainly offer topics that people want to see. They also have specific playlists so their content is easily organized.
Viewers can find videos under “What OT can do for you?” and providers or students can watch speeches and keynote addresses from past conferences. They also do “crowdsourced” videos where they compile input from members regarding what their OT passions are, favorite OT quotes, and occupational therapy’s distinct role in certain areas.
OT Miri
OT Miri is one of the more well-known OT YouTube channels, created with an emphasis on studying for the NBCOT®. The channel was created by Miri Lee, OTR/L in 2016 “to bring together a community of people with a shared passion towards a common goal – to become a confident, competent and compassionate Occupational Therapy practitioner.”
She shares a plethora of educational videos with illustrations that are geared towards passing the boards, but they are also very helpful for current OT students who are new to the topics as well. Just a few examples include burn rehabilitation, pediatric milestones, OT assessments and hand therapy topics. You can tell she has spent a lot of time and effort creating her videos, and they are well worth checking out.
Seniors Flourish
The Seniors Flourish YouTube channel is run by adult-based occupational therapist Mandy Chamberlain, OTR/L, and is a great resource for free OT treatment videos as well as interviews with OTs in many different settings. Along with her informative podcast episodes that are uploaded to the channel, Mandy features treatment ideas like simulated ADL retraining, retropulsion tips and how to use a cane or walker appropriately.
We highly recommend checking out this resource for any students or new OT grads working with adults.
Hand Therapy Secrets
If you’re considering a career in hand therapy, or you’re starting a clinical or new position in hands, you should absolutely check out this channel, created by hand therapist Hoang Tran, OT/L, CHT. Hand therapy is such a specialized path and can be quite a challenge for those new to working with hands. Hoang understands this and has created a huge array of free hand therapy resource videos, including splinting, diagnoses, treatments and how to pass the CHT exam.
Adam the OT
Adam the OT’s YouTube channel was created by pediatric occupational therapist Adam Griffin, with an emphasis on pediatric OT interventions targeted to both OTs and parents alike. His goal is to provide low-cost, easy interventions that are meant to be engaging and effective. He uses his (adorable) kids for actual visual demonstrations, which is very helpful for visual learners.
If you’re new to pediatric occupational therapy, be sure to check out this channel and get inspired with new treatment ideas posted regularly. Another bonus: these activities can be used for both in-person sessions as well teletherapy!
OT Rex
OT Rex is an OT YouTube channel created by a pediatric occupational therapist about becoming an OT and life as an OT. The channel helps people become familiar with OT, get into OT school, and succeed as an OT after graduation. Topics include (but are not limited to!) landing your first OT job, various common diagnosis videos, and LOTS of helpful study content for the NBCOT®.
Therapy Playground
While this channel isn’t solely devoted to OTs, it was created and is maintained by pediatric therapists at a clinic that offers occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy. For this reason, it’s a great resource for anyone who wants to know what work in a pediatric outpatient clinic looks like. Videos are created by therapists from each of those disciplines so you can also get an idea of the role that other therapists have in a clinic that serves kids.
They offer basic videos such as “What is OT?” and “What is SLP?” but they also have more specific topics that cover OT’s role in handwriting, ST’s role in fluency and stuttering, co-treating with OTs and STs, daily activities within childhood, and infant feeding skills.
You’re in luck if you don’t want to search through all of their content to find ones for your discipline, since most of their more recent videos are occupational therapy-oriented. It seems as if this is a big clinic that gets a fair amount of fieldwork students, because they also have several videos dedicated to that topic. Hint: It may be a good idea to take a look if you’re about to go out on your first pediatric rotation!
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
With over 3 million views on their channel, viewers and subscribers can benefit from a range of information focused on chronic injuries and physical rehabilitation. The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is a renowned hospital in Chicago that has been named the number one rehab hospital in the U.S. every year since 1991. They treat sports accidents, chronic and severe cases of arthritis, spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, and chronic pain.
There are a lot of videos, which are organized in playlists. Some focus on aphasia, others offer information on their fellowship programs and residencies, adaptive sports, and therapeutic recreation. They even have a playlist dedicated to at-home workouts for their patients to follow up with upon discharge, which is an excellent feature that surely contributes to the prestige of their facility and the quality of care they provide.
They detail their research pursuits as well, so that interested parties can learn about the work they do there along with trends in practice.
Kindred Healthcare
Kindred Healthcare, while not specific to occupational therapists, is one of the largest healthcare systems and they hire quite a large number of therapists across short-term and long-term hospitals, nursing facilities, and associated outpatient clinics.
Their YouTube channel offers a closer look into the role of therapists in these settings. They have videos with patient testimonials and accounts that describe their experience at Kindred facilities but they also offer free clinically-oriented videos that cover topics such as COVID, infection control, Guillain-Barre, early mobility during hospitalization, and more.
There are, of course, some promotional videos that advertise working there and encourage you to apply at one of their facilities. But the majority of the content showcases the expertise of their professionals. This is definitely worth taking a look at if you want to work in one of these settings or want to learn more about how OTs assist with rehabilitation.
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As you can see, there is a wide range of occupational therapy videos, infographics, and other great content to be found on YouTube. Using this resource is not only a great way to advance your knowledge about occupational therapy but it can also be used to help you learn crucial concepts or topics that may otherwise be difficult to grasp. Take a look at some of these videos or channels today to see what you can learn!
What is your favorite occupational therapy YouTube channel or video? Share a link to your favorites in the comments below!
P.S. Are you also looking for great occupational therapy podcasts? Be sure to check out our picks for the best occupational therapy podcasts.
This article was co-written by Sarah Stromsdorfer, OTR/L and Brittany Ferri, OTR/L.
