Day: September 28, 2021

I am so excited to share a yearly goal planner specifically for occupational therapy professionals (or any therapy professional!) The printable professional goal planning tool is specifically designed to develop and integrate annual goal planning into monthly and weekly goals for professional development as a therapy professional.

Yearly Goal Planner for Therapy Professionals

As therapy professionals, we know the value of a goal. We write them every day. We analyze progression and develop strategies for obtaining goals. We focus on making goals measurable and obtainable.

Many therapists create annual goals for themselves as part of professional
development. This may be a requirement for work or it may be a means for
obtaining professional development units in order to maintain licensure. 

Yearly Goal Planner for Professional Development

When we work toward a goal, we decide how to make small advances.
This is true in meeting goals of any kind. Big goals need to be broken down into
steps. A long term goal can be achieved through short-term pieces.  

Making goals provides a focus to our professional development. Making goals provides a sense of commitment that allows us to achieve. A focus on commitment can foster increased accomplishments in our success.  

It’s been determined that you become 42% more likely to achieve your goals and dreams, simply by writing them down on a regular basis.  

That’s why we’ve created these monthly professional development goal worksheets.

How to Plan for Yearly Professional Goals

There are many ways this yearly goal planner can be used. As therapy professionals, we know the power in creating goals based on mindset, motivation, and daily occupations. We know the power in making achievable goals at a “just right” level. And, we know the progress that can be made when monitoring and analyzing progress towards goal achievement.

Use the yearly goal planner to support professional development as a therapy professional in these ways:

• They are a tool for developing as a professional and making small advances on those professional goals by breaking big annual goals into smaller chunks.  
• The monthly professional development sheets are perfect for making goals and analyzing how we’ve worked toward meeting those goals.  
• Use the sheets to strategize professional development, make notes, jot down ideas, and to itemize how those goals will advance.  
• Identify what’s important to you as a professional. Is it working toward a certification? Is it gaining an advanced degree? Is it taking specific continuing education courses? Is it teaching as a professional? Creating a business? Use the annual goal planner to identify specifically where you are moving forward in the next year.
• Identify a monthly focus based on self-reflection.
• Create specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed goals for each month.
• Use the resources on AOTA on professional development, to create SOAR goals using Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results (SOAR) along with the Yearly Goal Planner to move forward with goal planning.

It’s been shown that goals which are shared with others are more likely to be achieved. In fact, one study found that goals shared with others are more than 70%  more likely to be achieved compared 35% of those who did not share their goals with others. And sharing progression on goals as well as how we’re working on meeting those goals improves the likelihood of meeting those goals even more. Sharing goals and progress holds us accountable.

Get the Annual Professional Goal Planner OR as a special deal, get both the Yearly Professional Goal Planner AND the Professional Self-Reflection Journal DEAL for $5.

Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

Today, I have a resource for understanding and implementing evidence based practice in occupational therapy. Therapy professionals know that utilizing evidence-based practice utilizes critically appraised research and combines those results with clinical expertise and a patient or client’s needs or preferences to create best practices, informed clinical decisions, and research-driven interventions. 


Evidence-based practice (EVP) is essential for up-to-date information for making care decisions.

evidence based practice in occupational therapy

These worksheets are a tool for applying critical appraisal of the importance and applicability of clinical evidence.


These two worksheets aim to guide and develop evidence-based Occupational Therapy assessment, treatment planning, and interventions through appraisal and review of the evidence, allowing self-directed promotion of  the highest standards.


Using the Appraisal of the Evidence worksheet and the Evidence Review worksheet, clinicians will be able to apply a critical analysis of available research. The worksheets  empower practitioners to apply the findings into the context of practice. By incorporating thoughts and notes into the analysis, clinicians can add the perspectives and judgment that is imperative for true evidence-based practice.

Why is this analysis and review of the evidence important for therapy professionals?

Using evidence based practice in therapy is important for so many reasons!

• Integrating evidence into therapy interventions for most-recent and appropriate strategies
• Research-backed treatment plans
• Advocacy for the profession
• Improves quality of care
• Allows clinicians to stay current in the profession
• Improved quality of therapy 
• Improves outcomes
• Promotes best practices using standardized, evidence-based protocols
• Informed decision making
• Effective selection of treatment
• Guide research by revealing evidence gaps
• Improves accountability of clinicians
• Development of individualized guidelines of best practices
• Opens the door for dialogue between patients and providers, incorporating patient preferences and values into decision-making

How to review Evidence for therapy

Understanding how to review evidence to incorporate evidence-based practice into therapy sessions and therapy interventions is important for many reasons that we covered above. But HOW do you review evidence and use those findings in therapy interventions?

As a general overview, there is a process of incorporating research-backed therapy into practice. Appraising evidence involves asking, searching for evidence, appraising the evidence findings, and a final but important piece: implementing evidence into practice.

1. Ask questions- Beginning with a question or problem, a therapist should ask a question. This question may be related to assessment, prognosis, intervention, treatment planning, or other areas. 
2. Search for the evidence- Use a variety of tools and research sources to locate evidence.
3. Appraise the evidence- This is where the Appraisal of the Evidence Worksheet comes into play. Review and assess the evidence for validity, outcomes, services, and other areas.  
4. Implement the evidence into practice. Utilize the information gathered to apply the evidence into daily practice, alongside experience and clinical expertise. Utilizing these areas as well as a patient’s values, preferences, and interests, it is possible to guide treatment.
5. Follow-up- Finally, an assessment of the outcomes can guide and promote further clinical expertise based on evidence. 

Evidence-Based Practice Worksheets

To help therapy professionals with the steps outlined above, I’ve created evidence based practice appraisal worksheets. The worksheets described below are tools for guiding clinical best practices using the evidence. They are strategies for fostering a dialogue toward best practice while supporting new learning. 


Facilitating professional growth, the evidence-based worksheets are guides to reflecting on evidence and incorporating EBP into the clinic. 

Evidence Review Worksheet

This review worksheet can be used by clinicians as they reflect on the evidence and apply it to a specific client’s needs, preferences, interests, values, and goals. The worksheet promotes a quality of intervention related to evidence and is a tool for improving services. It can be used as a pre-post assessment related to expectations and outcomes based on evidence. The review worksheet can be a helpful resource in guiding standards toward best outcomes. 




Together, these worksheets are a valuable tool in transitioning therapists toward quality intervention based on the evidence. 

This one page worksheet can be used to appraise research articles. The questions guide conversation on an article’s validity and relevance in practice. Areas for notes allow for self-reflection on the evidence related to outcomes, particular client needs, services, and decision-making. 

References for evidence based practice in occupational therapy:

1. George Tomlin, Bernhard Borgetto; Research Pyramid: A New Evidence-Based Practice Model for Occupational Therapy. Am J Occup Ther 2011;65(2):189-196. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2011.000828.

Want to use evidence-based resources and information in your therapy practice, but don’t know how to keep it all organized? 

Need to break down all of the information into key take-aways to offer key-takeaways AND