RSCC Occupational Therapy Assistant Program

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!

This is a very thorough and reliable study, which will especially be helpful for all of you who are considering to advocate for more physical education and recess at schools! The basic recommendation within these guidelines is that children and youth, should engage in at least 60 minutes (but up to several hours) of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity per day to gain significant health benefits. Aerobic exercise has the strongest impact on overall physical and mental health.

Links include information on state occupational therapy practice acts and regulations. Resources include reference charts on scope of occupational therapy practice, and state requirements regarding continuing competence, OTA supervision, and referral.

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.

Here is an instance where a dynamic splint made the news. A U.S. Ambassador to South Korea was knifed in the face and hand, and this news clip and article discuss his injuries and the brace that was made for him. I find this very interesting as I am right in the middle of Early Chapter 20 -- Hand Splinting.

This article is pretty amazing in that a senior in college used a 3-D printer to make herself a better splint for an injury that happened while playing softball.

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.

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

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.

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 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 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 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.

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

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.

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

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

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).

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 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.