Finger Prosthetics and OT

Earn 1 hour of continuing education by joining OT Potential after taking this course.

The art and science of digital prosthetics is rapidly advancing. 

Yet, many people with amputated fingers do not wear a prosthetic. 

Part of the problem may be our own fault as health providers. We may be stuck in old stereotypes of poor outcomes and limited options related to digital prosthetics. 

In this one-hour podcast-base course, we’ll look at a research article that explores the experiences of people who wear digital prosthetics. Our goal is to develop your skills in listening closely to your own clients and their needs in this area. 

Next week on the podcast, we’ll welcome Haley Van Escobar. Haley has her own hand therapy private practice and works for Naked Prosthetics. You’ll learn how she landed this job, and what the average OT needs to know about this rapidly advancing space. 

Primary Journal Article Explored

When you log in, be sure to check out the OT Potential Club’s written breakdown of the following research article. Then, share your questions and thoughts with fellow practitioners.

• User experiences of digital prostheses in daily functioning in people with an amputation of thumb or finger

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• A systematic review in prosthetics and orthotics education research
• Team Approach to Prosthetic Prescription Decision-Making

Supplementary Materials

• Finger and Partial-Hand Amputee Peer + Support Group – Facebook
• Prosthetic Reimbursement Literature & More– Naked Prosthetics Resources

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to identify indications of a good candidate for a digital prosthetic. 
• You will be able to recognize user experience factors that may influence digital prosthetic wearing. 

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Breakdown and analysis of journal article (5 minutes)

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:00:55 OT Potential Podcast Intro
• 00:02:29 Introduction to digital prosthetics
• 00:03:00 Determining what is important to the individual user
• 00:04:07 Intent of the research
• 00:04:33 Methods
• 00:05:14 Findings and Discussion
• 00:08:56 Discussion and Conclusion

Discussion on practical implications for OTs (50 minutes)

• 00:09:42 Intro to Haley Van Escobar
• 00:12:44 How Haley came to work with a digital prosthetics company
• 00:20:07 Haley’s current work
• 00:22:27 Article impressions
• 00:27:21 What is changing in digital prosthetics?
• 00:37:38 Navigating the emotions of a hand injury and prosthetic wearing
• 00:45:49 Who is a good candidate for a finger prosthetic?
• 00:50:46 What is the next step when an OT encounters a good candidate?
• 00:56:12 What are the most important things OTs can do to help adjust to a new prosthetic?
• 01:02:22 Biggest challenges in OT and prosthetics & how do we rise up to meet them?

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about Finger Prosthetics and OT.  The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic.  Our guest, Haley Van Escobar, works for Naked Prosthetics and also has her own AOTA approved courses on Restore Performance.

Speakers

Haley Van Escobar, MOTR/L, CHT

Haley Van Escobar, MOTR/L, CHT, PMP, is excited to advance the profession of hand therapy and empower individuals worldwide.

With a background as a classically trained pianist and personally recovering from traumatic venous thoracic outlet syndrome, Haley has great empathy for those who work with their hands.

With over a decade of clinical experience in upper extremity orthopedics, she has followed innovation and found herself leading a variety of new programs and projects. As Naked Prosthetics‘ first Certified Hand Therapist, she collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to enable individuals to gain function through partial-hand prosthetics.

Haley’s commitment to advancing her field is evident through contributions to advanced training events and professional publications including: Chapter 18 of the esteemed publication, “Hand & Upper Extremity Rehabilitation, 4th edition” as well as an article for the December 2021 issue of the ASHTTimes.

She is honored to serve on the AAHS Education Committee and recent personal projects include: teaching Ergonomics for EWU’s MOT program, serving on ASHT’s Education Division, educating Ukrainian clinicians
on prosthetics, co-instructing ASHTs Hybrid Hand Therapy Review course, and being chosen as a mentor under HTCC’s guidelines.

Haley eloquently connects the experience of living to the purpose of hand therapy, and recently presented on the topic of Resilience for ASHT’s annual conference. She personally maintains an AOTA approved provider license to award CEUs to medical professionals, and offers innovative courses at www.restperform.org.

Haley’s relentless pursuit of excellence makes her a catalyst for positive change in the field and beyond.

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

This course was designed to meet your continuing education requirements

We designed the courses in the Club to meet the requirements for “online” and “independent/self-study” courses. To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Requirements. If you are outside of the United States and have questions, please contact us.

We are proud to be an AOTA Approved Provider and to meet the requirements for your NBCOT renewal.

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