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Páginas: 5 (1237 palabras) Publicado: 6 de marzo de 2013
Fact Sheet
The Occupational Therapy Role in

Rehabilitation for the Person
With an Upper-Limb Amputation
Occupational therapy practitioners play a critical part in helping people with
upper-limb amputations resume meaningful activities.

How Common Is Upper-Limb Amputation?

Upper-limb amputations are most often the result of sudden trauma to the body,
although they also can be causedby malignancy, congenital deficiencies, and vascular
disease. About 16,000 new upper-limb amputations occur annually, of which only
2,000 are at or above the wrist.1 A person faced with such a life-altering change
will have to make many physical and psychological adjustments to be able to fully
participate in everyday life.

How Does Occupational Therapy Benefit a Person With
Upper-LimbAmputation?

Occupational therapy is a critical rehabilitation component, providing support to
individuals and facilitating optimum performance of daily life activities as well as
quality of life. A therapeutic team that includes the skills of an occupational therapist
or occupational therapy assistant will provide the client with the most successful
rehabilitation and prosthetic training.Upper-limb amputation not only affects a person’s physical functioning but also his
or her psychological and emotional well-being. Occupational therapy is integral to the
rehabilitation process for the person with an upper-limb amputation. Occupational
therapy practitioners recognize the complexity of this condition and use a holistic
approach that emphasizes the client’s perspective—the rolesand activities he or
she finds meaningful, his or her personal experiences and values—in developing
intervention plans and goals.
Reaching the client’s goals is made easier through the occupational therapy practitioner’s unique ability to synthesize
psychosocial issues, physical strengths and abilities, and desire to participate in daily activities.
The occupational therapy practitionerprovides critical interventions, such as
• identifying the client’s functional goals, which can include self-care, home management, work tasks, and leisure activities,
and offering modifications to complete these goals if required;
• task analysis;
• education;
• prosthetic training; and
• identifying and addressing psychosocial issues.

What Is the Role of an Occupational Therapy PractitionerWith Upper-Limb Amputation?

An interdisciplinary team experienced in all aspects of amputee care—from behavioral health to technology to prosthetic fitting
and community reintegration—is critical to successful rehabilitation. The role of occupational therapy as part of the team is to
provide the client with adaptive techniques and strategies that enable him or her to regain the ability toparticipate in all desired
life tasks.
Occupational therapists identify the client’s individual needs and goals and provide guidance to the rehabilitation team regarding
potential prosthetic options. Occupational therapy practitioners also provide training in the care and use of any prosthetic device
when and if that is prescribed.
Occupational therapy intervention will vary according toindividual needs, and phases of intervention may overlap, depending
on the person’s progress.
Prosthetic options will be discussed with the client when he or she is deemed prepared for this information. Prosthetic options
can be discussed pre-operatively in the case of elective amputations or at any time postoperatively, depending on the person’s
www.aota.org
4720 Montgomery Lane, Bethesda, MD20814-3425
Phone: 301-652-2682 TDD: 800-377-8555 Fax: 301-652-7711

ability to assimilate that information. Options include no prosthesis, a passive prosthesis, a body-powered prosthesis, an electric
prosthesis, a hybrid prosthesis, or a task-specific prosthesis.
Many technological advances in prosthetic devices have been made in recent years. Componentry, for example, is lighter weight,
faster,...
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