Through The Maze: The Development of a Learning Pathway Through a Six-Month Hand Therapy Rotation

Abstract

Junior therapists starting a six-month rotation in hand therapy soon realise that protocols or guidelines of care do not cover every eventuality presented in the workplace, nor do they provide a failsafe pathway through their rotation. Selfperceived lack of knowledge was reportedly reducing proficient junior therapists to novice practitioners. To help them through this maze of new ideas and treatment concepts, 'islandsof-learning' formulated from 12 stand-alone modules have been developed in consultation with junior therapists, that focus on various learning needs to provide a structured learning pathway through their rotation. These 'islands' are undertaken biweekly and are designed to enable junior therapists to gain a broad grounding in each subject matter. This method has allowed therapists a sense of control over their own learning and reduced the feeling of being overwhelmed by the amount of new information they must acquire. By the end of their rotations, they have developed their own resource pack. This idea has proved successful within the hand therapy department and subsequently other departments within the trust have developed similar training courses for staff during their basic grade rotations.

Hand health for all: Do undergraduate occupational therapy hand curricula respond to the call?

“…In upper income countries such as America, hand therapy is considered a specialist area requiring advanced continuous professional development 21 . Anecdotal evidence suggests that many South African occupational therapy educators and clinicians similarly perceive this as a specialised area of practice, as do some novice occupational therapists 22 . The reality is however, that CS occupational therapists are required to treat a range of health conditions, including those related to the hand, often without adequate equipment, appropriate work areas and access to up-to-date evidence [8][9] .…”