Finger Prosthetics and OT

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 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.

Then, 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.

1. You will be able to identify indications of a good candidate for a digital prosthetic.

2. You will be able to recognize user experience factors that may influence digital prosthetic wearing.

• Intro

• Breakdown and analysis of journal article

  • Intro

  • OT Potential Podcast Intro

  • Introduction to digital prosthetics

  • Determining what is important to the individual user

  • Intent of the research

  • Methods

  • Findings and Discussion

  • Discussion and Conclusion

• Discussion on practical implications for OTs

  1. Intro to Haley Van Escobar

  2. How Haley came to work with a digital prosthetics company

  3. Haley’s current work

  4. Article impressions

  5. What is changing in digital prosthetics?

  6. Navigating the emotions of a hand injury and prosthetic wearing

  7. Who is a good candidate for a finger prosthetic?

  8. What is the next step when an OT encounters a good candidate?

  9. What are the most important things OTs can do to help adjust to a new prosthetic?

  10. Biggest challenges in OT and prosthetics & how do we rise up to meet them?

Primary

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

Additional

• 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

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.

OT Potential pays guest speakers an honorarium for their participation, either directly or to an institution of the speaker's choosing at their request. We invite guests whose expertise often comes from practices, programs, or building products in their field. Where a speaker has a financial interest in the subject of a course, we disclose it below so you can weigh it for yourself.

OT Potential's interest in this topic: We have no financial stake in this topic. The Supplementary Materials on this page link to resources published by Naked Prosthetics, our speaker's employer; we receive no compensation for those links.

Speaker interests: Haley Van Escobar works for Naked Prosthetics, which manufactures partial-hand and finger prostheses, and owns a hand therapy private practice. She also offers her own AOTA-approved courses through Restore Performance.