Hands In Motion

Nora Barrett, OTR/L, CHT, WCC joins us to talk about wound care in hand and upper extremity therapy and her recent journey to obtain her certification in wound care. She gives us the most up-to-date information on assessing and treating wounds, and also shares some clinical pearls of what to do, what not to do and how we as hand therapists can advocate for our patients and their wounds. Guest Bio:...

On this episode we talk with Alessia Kerner, OTR/L, CHT, who was instrumental in developing a new format for the ASHT Upper Extremity Institute. We discuss how the Upper Extremity Institute was first developed and how it can be a great resource for new grads or seasoned therapists who are new to hand therapy. Alessia also gives us a preview of what’s to come with the Upper Extremity Institute. Gue...

Lynn Bassini, MA, OTR, CHT, founder of the Guatemala Healing Hands Foundation, joins us to share her love and passion for helping the people of this nation. Each year, she takes a team of surgeons and therapists to perform surgery and postop care as well as educate medical personnel in Guatemala. She shares with us how the Foundation started, the mission of the organization, and what to expect if...

On this episode, we are joined by April Cowan, OTR, OTD, CHT to discuss grant funding that the American Hand Therapy Foundation (AHTF) has to offer. AHTF has funding available for research and educational purposes. Often, this funding is not awarded because there are no applications received. April shares with us the various grants that are awarded by the AHTF and how to apply and make your applic...

On this episode of Hands in Motion, we are joined by Rebecca Gillett, MS, OTR/L with the Arthritis Foundation. We discuss the mission of the foundation and how the foundation is working to educate both individuals affected by arthritis and the clinicians who treat them. We learn about the wide variety of resources they have available on their website specifically for this population. Below are sev...

On this episode we are joined by Aviva Wolff, EdD, OT, CHT who has taken a special interest in working with injured musicians. She has had the opportunity to work with musicians of all skill levels who play all types of musical instruments. We discuss the unique characteristics of musicians and the types of injuries they sustain as well as the importance of a thorough assessment to fully understan...

This week, we celebrate Veteran’s Day and are so fortunate to be joined on this episode by an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist who serves in the United States Air Force. We discuss the role of a hand therapist in the military, her unique journey from civilian status to being commissioned, and how a hand therapist contributes to the overall mission of the United States Military....

Join Cara Smith, PT, DPT, CHT and Stephanie Strouse, OTD, OTR/L, CHT, “Hands in Motion” podcast hosts, as they recap the 2021 Annual Meeting in a special bonus podcast episode! This year’s ASHT Annual Meeting in St. Louis, MO was the first hybrid model offering both a live and virtual option for attendees, which proved to be a success. On this episode, Cara and Stephanie speak with a variety of co...

On today’s episode of “Hands in Motion” we are joined by Elliot Greenberg, a physical therapist who treats adolescent athletes. One specific population he treats are kids who suffer from medial epicondyle apophysitis, commonly known as “Little League Elbow.” We discuss risk factors for developing this condition, treatment techniques that upper extremity therapists can utilize, and the importance o...

In recognition of National Physical Therapy Month we want to celebrate our physical therapy colleagues who specialize in treating the upper extremity and are excited to have Jane Fedorcyzk, PT, PhD, CHT, a long-time advocate of physical therapy and upper extremity rehab. Jane is the current President of the American Physical Therapy Association Hand and Upper Extremity Academy. We will discuss way...

In this episode, we are joined by Nathan Short, an occupational therapist and hand therapist that splits his time between the clinic and the classroom. Nathan has a strong interest in preparing his students to be successful in a hand therapy clinic on their clinical rotations and as they start their journey to become certified hand therapists. We will discuss his research findings and how the...

All of us have experienced academia as students, but have you ever considered moving out of the clinic and back into the classroom as an occupational or physical therapist? This podcast episode features Becky Neiduski, an OT, CHT, who soon after beginning her career as an occupational therapist found herself back in the classroom and never looked back. Becky offers some great tips on the variety o...

Welcome back to another episode of Hands in Motion. We’re your hosts, Cara Smith and Stephanie Strouse. On this episode we’re going to be discussing a benefit that all ASHT members have complimentary access to - the monthly Journal Club. Each month, the Research Division holds a Journal Club to review a recent article from the Journal of Hand Therapy and discuss its clinical relevance. We are...

Hey, it’s Cara and Steph back for another episode of Hands in Motion. With all the buzz about the Olympics last month, it’s only fitting to discuss working with injured athletes on this episode. We are really excited about our guest today, Mo Herman, MA, OTR/L, CHT, immediate past president of ASHT. Fun fact about Mo is that she is an Olympic athlete herself and has used her experience as an...

On today’s episode of Hands in Motion we are joined by the chairman of the American Hand Therapy Foundation, James King, to discuss what AHTF does as an organization, how they support the profession of hand therapy through research and education, and the collaboration between the tri-alliance of AHTF, ASHT, and HTCC.    Jim has over 40 years of experience as a licensed occupational thera...

On today’s episode of “Hands in Motion” we are diving into a discussion in an area of practice that most hand therapists would never find on their radar. We are joined by Michael Gerg, DOT, OTR/L, CHT, CEES, CWCE, an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist who serves as an expert witness.  He will explain what an expert witness is and how a hand therapist’s knowledge and practice...

2020 brought many challenges to not only our personal lives but also our professional lives. Many of us had to rethink the way that we provided hand therapy services to our patients and jumped right into telehealth. Our guest today though is no stranger to telehealth. In 2018, she was looking for a new way to provide access to hand therapy and began seeing patients virtually. Now, one year into a...

Finding value in patient-reported outcome measures in hand therapy is so important in times where most payors are looking for functional improvement and not just objective gains. To be honest, isn’t functional improvement the “why” as to what we do? How can these measurements be useful to you, as the clinician, and to your clients? By incorporating patient-related outcome measures into our assessm...

Many of us would be lying if we said we have never experienced burnout at some point in our career as hand therapists. Unfortunately, burnout is real and many therapists struggle with high job expectations but find it difficult to find balance. Today we are discussing burnout versus moral injury and what contributes to this. We are going to be picking the brain of today's guest, Lynn Festa, on how...

In this episode, we have an open discussion with Dr. Don Lalonde, MD, BSc, MSc, FRCSC on pain guided healing and pain guided therapy; how to use the pencil test and apply that to clinical practice; and the variety of ways to use a relative motion orthosis for our patients. Additionally, we touch upon how to incorporate true active flexion following flexor tendon repairs versus place and hold.&nbsp...

On this episode, Cara and Stephanie sit down with Christian Ely, MSOT, OTR/L, CHT, COMT-UE, CES to discuss how he prepared for the CHT exam. Christian sat for, and passed, the CHT exam in November 2020, so the study and preparation process is fresh in his mind. We begin with how he became interested in hand therapy and how he set his career in motion to become a CHT. Christian gives...

April 18-24 is National Volunteer Week and in honor of that, Hands in Motion is discussing the volunteer opportunities within the American Society of Hand Therapists. We will discuss micro-volunteering, division and committee membership, and how to be a part of the leadership within ASHT. The Society is almost completely run by volunteers who are ASHT members dedicating their time to adv...

In our debut episode, we have the current American Society of Hand Therapists President, Rachel Pigott, MPH, OTR/L, CHT, discussing equity in hand therapy. We discuss how equal care is different from equitable care and how we as therapists can work to improve access to therapy services for all people groups. The COVID-19 pandemic required therapists to look at providing our services through a...