RSCC Occupational Therapy Assistant Program

This is an inspirational story about a man from Nigeria named Sani Muntari, who acquired polio as a child. He grew up to be a teacher and a father and now campaigns to eradicate polio in his country and plays scooter soccer.

I was reading Early Chapter 33 Amputation and Prosthetics, and there was a paragraph regarding future developments and plans of action. Here, Osseointegration was mentioned, and I had never heard of this term. So, here is an article that describes the process - basically an implant is inserted into the bone of the residual limb. The prosthetic can be attached to this and a socket is not needed. This article talks about the benefits and drawbacks.

I haven't observed any acute or critical care units prior to OTA school or during fieldwork. This article gives a first-person account of what occupational therapy does in this setting.

This is an old, short 1916 film with no sound showing soldiers, who are amputees, wheelchair racing, playing tug-of-war, marching, and dancing. This is conjecture -- but maybe there are reconstruction aides helping them out -- the people who helped in the development of occupational therapy. Also, this film shows the amputees as NOT helpless, having fun and very much functional.

We have been debating a lot lately if it is okay to use heat with patients who have RA or not. I have found several articles on the subject, none indicating that you can NEVER use heat. This article does state that heat shouldn't be used when inflammation is already present but that heat is okay if the patient is not swollen, has extreme stiffness, and is in pain. The article talks about other techniques to try such as cold therapy and compression.

This story is about a teenager who has invented a prosthetic arm that can be made for $1,000. He's put the 3-D pattern and how to make it online, opening it up for anyone who would like to use it or improve upon it. The story is inspiring about a young man that wants to do good for others.

What you eat can trigger inflammation. I found this article and think it would be short and helpful when working with patients who have arthritis. It would be useful in having a conversation with a client about what foods to avoid and what ingredients might exacerbate inflammation and arthritic pain.

This article is written from the perspective of a patient. She talks about how she has worn both soft and working splints for various injuries. She recommends getting your splint fitted by an occupational therapists but also mentions tips that would be helpful to consider when providing a splint to a future patient (such as keeping a log of questions or problems).

Cold weather is coming! Yes, the weather forecast can make you ache!

This page has tips for taking care of your hands, includes information about joint protection, exercises and using heat and cold.

We are all aging, and we should try and stay as productive as we can without pain or damaging our hands. Here is just a few tips to protect and take care of your hands as we age.

Simple ways to protect joints while bending, and maintaining the spinal curves while bending.

I thought this pamphlet was a good review of pressure ulcers -- where they can develop and what to do to prevent them.

This is a great chart to review for the boards. It has all the nerves of the Brachial Plexus with their origin and function -- complete with pictures.

This article explain how gout is on the rise in the United States -- attributed to obesity and hypertension as well as what exactly gout is.

This story talks about obesity and rising malnutrition (lots of junk food, beer and wine) leading to more cases of gout in the United Kingdom. Gout was known as a disease of the kings and now it is returning.

This is a very detailed PowerPoint regarding Lateral Epicondylitis. The presentation includes the definition, symptoms, assessments, treatments (ranging from activity modification to orthotic interventions) and outcomes. There are great visuals as well -- MRI's and drawings.

This is an interesting story about stigma -- a local Knoxville man is diagnosed with both HIV AND Parkinson's disease. He discusses how people react differently to him depending on which disease he talks about.

In our combined lab with PTA students, one of my scenarios involved tennis elbow. This video explains some helpful exercises for this condition and would be good to share with patients. It also explains that tennis elbow is now seen as being degenerative rather than inflammatory and as tendinopathy instead of tendinitis.

This video is very informative - I have learned something new. Thanks for posting it!

Very helpful Beth!

A video of how the check the median nerve which is in our Early book.

Any Catholics out there -- the familiar papal blessing hand gesture used by popes throughout the centuries is thought to have been because of ulnar nerve damage of the first pope. Other popes followed suit and it stuck. This article is interesting in that it explains ulnar nerve damage and explains some history in the process.