Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Human Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Department of Applied Health Science, School of Public Health, Indiana University-Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Work. 2022;73(3):1037-1043. doi: 10.3233/WOR-211038.
Certified Hand Therapy is a subset of occupational/physical therapy that is relatively unknown to the common individual. Certified Hand Therapists (CHTs) help those with upper extremity injuries, whether it be those with workplace injuries, those who suffered a traumatic injury or those recovering from major surgery to reach the point where they are able to be independent and back to doing daily life activities.
This study aimed to discern the roles that Certified Hand Therapists have in rehabilitating individuals with upper extremity injuries, to assess their participation in work-related injury prevention, to examine with whom CHTs interact during the rehabilitation process, and to gain insight into how the relationships between CHTs and occupational safety professionals can be improved.
Structured interviews were conducted with eight occupational therapists who are Certified Hand Therapists or are in the process of being certified. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed to determine themes relative to the study objectives.
Content analyses determined trends in job roles, interactions with occupational safety professionals, the importance of patient education in prevention and rehabilitation and barriers to effective treatment of work-related injuries.
CHTs shared similar thoughts regarding their profession. CHTs revealed common themes in the eight interviews conducted. Specifically, many CHTs believe education is a vital part of the profession in terms of improving the profession and in the rehabilitation process. In addition, patient compliance and the current workers' compensation system were seen as challenges when rehabilitating patients.
认证手治疗师是职业/物理治疗的一个分支，对于普通个体来说相对不为人知。认证手治疗师（CHTs）帮助上肢受伤的人，无论是工作场所受伤的人、遭受创伤性损伤的人还是从大手术中恢复的人，都能达到独立并恢复日常生活活动的能力。
本研究旨在探讨认证手治疗师在康复上肢受伤患者中的作用，评估他们在与工作相关的损伤预防中的参与度，检查他们在康复过程中与谁互动，并深入了解如何改善认证手治疗师和职业安全专业人员之间的关系。
对 8 名职业治疗师进行了结构化访谈，他们是认证手治疗师或正在认证过程中。对访谈进行了记录、转录和分析，以确定与研究目标相关的主题。
内容分析确定了工作角色、与职业安全专业人员的互动、患者教育在预防和康复中的重要性以及有效治疗工作相关损伤的障碍方面的趋势。
CHTs 对手疗师的职业有相似的看法。在进行的 8 次访谈中，CHTs 揭示了共同的主题。具体来说，许多 CHTs 认为教育是该专业的一个重要组成部分，无论是在提升专业水平还是在康复过程中。此外，患者的依从性和现行的工人赔偿制度被视为康复患者的挑战。
