All About Sleep & OT Practice - Sleep Matters - its OT Business Webinar 1
This recorded foundational series was the first instalment in a five-part CPD program designed to elevate your occupational therapy practice through the science of sleep. Discover how sleep impacts health, participation, and therapy outcomes — and how OTs can play a vital role in sleep assessment and support across all ages and settings.
Program Overview
Sleep is amazing. Sleep + OT is even more amazing. Good sleep underpins every aspect of good health, well-being, participation and performance. Poor sleep can be devastating for our clients and their families and can completely undermine the great things that occupational therapists offer.
OTs need to know about sleep – to understand how it impacts our assessments and interventions, and to discover and share the important, unique and diverse scope of practice that we can bring to individual and family-centred sleep solutions. When we learn all about sleep, and apply our OT lens, we can take sleep support to a higher level of evidence-informed, client-centred collaborative practice.
In this series, you will learn about Sleep (and circadian science) and will be supported to apply this knowledge to your clinical practice – all ages, all conditions, all practice settings.
Webinar 1 (Sue McCabe) – This webinar was recorded on the 28th July 2025.
Sleep Matters - it's OT business
There's lots we need to know about sleep (and circadian) science. In this session Sue provided an overview of sleep (and circadian science) – why it matters, how it works, knowing about sleep conditions vs sleep problems, integrating sleep and circadian science into OT knowledge and models of practice. With context of the ICF framework (thinking about body structures and functions, activity, participation, environments and personal factors) we explored and illustrated how this knowledge is relevant to clinicians working with clients of all ages and all conditions, in all practice settings.
By attending the foundational session, participants will:
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Gain up-to-date knowledge of sleep and circadian science and understand its relevance to occupational therapy across all ages and practice settings.
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Learn to differentiate between sleep disorders and sleep problems, and why this distinction matters for effective OT assessment and intervention.
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Explore how sleep difficulties can be identified through screening, interviews, and assessment tools, with a focus on practical and client-centred approaches.
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Understand how sleep impacts occupational performance, participation, and family well-being, and how to begin integrating this knowledge into everyday OT practice.
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Be introduced to an OT framework for goal setting and monitoring progress in sleep-related interventions, using real-world examples.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This session is suitable for:
This series is relevant for OTs at all stages of their career.
ACCESS:
The recording and resources will be available in your OTA Account for 12 weeks from the date of purchase.
CPD HOURS
Total CPD claimable workshop hours: 1.5
A certificate of attendance will be issued upon completion of the full course. Please allow up to 48 hours for the certificate to appear in your CPD tracker.
REGISTRATION FEES
OTA Member: $80
OTA New Graduate Member: $70
Non-member: $115
Members must be logged in with username and password in order to register at the member rate.
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DISCLAIMER
All information is correct at the time of publication. OTA reserves the right to alter or delete items from the CPD calendar as required, and takes no responsibility for any errors, omissions and changes.All workshop resources including copies of the presentation, along with all supporting documents and links are not for distribution and are the property of the presenter.
An OTA staff member or representative may be photographing this event for use in OTA publications and/ or on OTA social media sites. If you do not wish to be photographed, or have your image published please make this known to the OTA representative at your course or contact OTA on 1300 682 878 or at info@otaus.com.au
TERMS AND CONDITIONS (T&C)
T&C's are available here
CONTACT US
Please direct all enquiries to info@otaus.com.au or phone 1300 682 878
Presented By
Sue McCabe
BSc, MSc, PhD
Graduating in WA in 1980, Sue has worked in neuro and spinal rehab, community paediatrics, and assistive technology (home mods, seating and lying positioning). During her 20+years in AT she noted the often-devastating impact that sleep problems had on clients and their caregivers, and the gaps in allied health knowledge and services around this. This drove her MSc and PhD studies into the diverse factors affecting sleep of children with complex neuro-motor conditions, with a focus on sleep and thermoregulation. With a Churchill Fellowship, she travelled to the UK and Canada to learn from experts in sleep/disability and has continued to collaborate on international sleep training and research projects. She has recently ceased clinical practice and now focuses on knowledge sharing (training, peer supervision, writing) with OT and other allied health and sleep research colleagues. Sue loves the ICF as a framework for understanding collaborative action to support sleep of people of all ages, all conditions. She loves translating sleep & circadian science through the unique scope of our person-centred OT lens. She loves the idea of developing a strong community of sleep knowledge and practice for OTs.