Does Hand Therapy Literature Incorporate the Holistic View of Health and Function Promoted by the World Health Organization?

Primary Contact Occupational Therapy Hand Clinics: The pull of an occupational perspective

“…Analysis of the interviews, observations and progress notes indicated that the occupational therapists in this study utilised bottom‐up reasoning processes, assuming that improvements in physical components of the body would result in improved occupational performance and engagement. It has been recognised in the literature that a bottom‐up approach dominates hand therapy research and practice (Fitzpatrick & Presnell, ; Robinson, Brown & O'Brien, ; Winthrop Rose, Kasch, Aaron & Stegink‐Jansen, ). It appeared in this study that the biomedical culture pushed occupational therapists into this way of thinking about body functions and components.…”

Embracing an occupational perspective: Occupation‐based interventions in hand therapy practice

“…The hand therapy field has been inclined to follow a reductionist biomedical approach to clinical practice that focuses primarily on body structures and functions (Fitzpatrick & Presnell, 2004;Rose, Kasch, Aaron & Stegink-Jansen, 2011). The biomechanical paradigm, which is often applied in hand therapy practice, assumes that humans operate like machines, and is provider-centred and directive in nature.…”

“…This is in contrast with many other currently used standard impairment-based interventions. A recent examination of the frequency of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) domains included in 788 hand therapy specific articles found significantly less emphasis was placed on activities, participation and environmental factors of individuals with hand injuries compared to body function and structure components (Rose et al, 2011). This study confirms the deeply entrenched reductionist focus to the provision of hand therapy treatment, which contextualises its service provision approaches largely on reducing deficits in physical function without taking clients' occupational perspectives into consideration.…”

Occupation‐based Assessments and Treatments of Trigger Finger: A Survey of Occupational Therapists from Israel and the United States

“…They found that physical measures were used more frequently (85%) than functional measures (2–3%). More recently, Winthrop Rose et al () examined the frequency with which ICF domains were included in 788 papers from the Journal of Hand Therapy and 78 hand therapy papers from other sources. They found that an emphasis was placed on body structures and body functions and that far less emphasis was placed on activities and participation factors.…”