Exploring certified hand therapists' roles in workplace injury prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and collaboration with occupational safety professionals.

BACKGROUND Certified Hand Therapy is a subset of occupational/physical therapy that is relatively unknown to the common individual. Certified Hand Therapists (CHTs) help those with upper extremity injuries, whether it be those with workplace injuries, those who suffered a traumatic injury or those recovering from major surgery to reach the point where they are able to be independent and back to doing daily life activities. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to discern the roles that Certified Hand Therapists have in rehabilitating individuals with upper extremity injuries, to assess their participation in work-related injury prevention, to examine with whom CHTs interact with during the rehabilitation process, and to gain insight into how the relationships between CHTs and occupational safety professionals can be improved. METHODS Structured interviews were conducted with eight occupational therapists who are Certified Hand Therapists or are in the process of being certified. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed to determine themes relative to the study objectives. RESULTS Content analyses determined trends in job roles, interactions with occupational safety professionals, the importance of patient education in prevention and rehabilitation and barriers to effective treatment of work-related injuries. CONCLUSION CHTs shared similar thoughts regarding their profession. CHTs revealed common themes in the eight interviews conducted. Specifically, many CHTs believe education is a vital part of the profession in terms of improving the profession and in the rehabilitation process. In addition, patient compliance and the current workers' compensation system were seen as challenges when rehabilitating patients.