Ideas at Play: An Occupational Therapy (OT) Podcast Ep. 20 Green Light Interventions for CP: Do What Works (with special guest Iona Novak)
Jul 2, 2025
Iona Novak, a distinguished OT researcher renowned for her Traffic Light System, shares groundbreaking insights on effective occupational therapy interventions. She emphasizes the importance of starting with client goals over assessments for quicker outcomes. Novak discusses how certain therapies, particularly for children with cerebral palsy, are evolving from less effective to promising. Her unique approach encourages active participation from children and their families, showcasing innovative methods like cognitive orientation and the impact of emerging stem cell therapies.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Childhood Friendship That Shaped Career
- Iona Novak met Louisa at age four and learned inclusion from her.
- Louisa invited her as an equal and inspired Iona's lifelong focus on disability research.
Traffic Light System Simplifies Evidence
- The traffic light simplifies intervention evidence: green, yellow, red for do, measure, stop.
- Green requires RCT-level proof, red shows no benefit or harm, and yellow needs measurement or more research.
What Successful Interventions Share
- Effective interventions are activity-based, include families, and target meaningful function.
- Those features align with neuroplasticity and produce larger, faster improvements for children.