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therapy has evolved from the professions of occupational therapy
and physiotherapy. Therapists who work at the Toronto Western
Hospital Hand Program have comprehensive knowledge of
upper extremity rehabilitation and specialized skills in
the assessment and treatment of complex upper extremity
conditions.
Seven of the ten
therapists have attained the Certified Hand Therapist (CHT)
designation, and collectively have many years of clinical,
teaching and research experience. Therapists are actively
involved in teaching hand rehabilitation to undergraduates at
University of Toronto and are members of the Toronto
Hand Interest Group. A strength of our program is the
many languages spoken by our therapists, including English,
French, Gujrathi, Hindi, Marathi, Cantonese, Mandarin,
Vietnamese and Polish. The therapists have developed
specialized areas of interest which reflect the expertise and
interest of the Hand Surgeons and Physicians. These include
static and dynamic splinting, functional abilities evaluation,
management of flexor tendon injuries, digital replantation,
joint arthroplasties, reanimation and reconstructive procedures.
The hand therapist is a
member of the multidisciplinary team in the Hand Program.
There is close communication with the Hand Surgeon, nurse
and social worker on the team which is crucial for timely and
appropriate care in order to achieve the best outcomes.
A full assessment is completed on each patient once
the patient is referred to hand therapy.
Outcome measures that may be used include:
- Visual Analogue Scale and Pain diagrams
- Range of motion measurements
- Strength: Grip,
Pinch, Manual Muscle testing, and the LIDO Workset
- Sensibility: two
point discrimination, Semmes-Weinstein Monofilaments
- Functional Hand Assessment: TEMPA, Jebsen Hand Function Test, and others
- DASH - Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand
- COPM - Canadian
Occupational Performance Measure
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