What is it about?
At the start of two different hand therapy sessions, we gave patients two different mind-body intervention experiences to learn what they thought about using the interventions as part of hand therapy. One of the interventions was an audio-recorded, 20-minute mindfulness-based intervention called a body scan. Patients listened to the audio recording in a quiet space within the clinic, which lead them through a practice of paying attention to feelings in each part of the body. The second mind-body intervention was visual biofeedback. This was provided using sonographic imaging. The imaging was used to show the body parts on the injured side as compared to how the body parts looked on the healthy hand or wrist. Patients were able to see the structures move when they moved their fingers and hand on the healthy side and were then asked to repeat the activity and movement on the injured side, using the visualization of the healthy movement to motivate them. After reviewing the interviews, all participants like at least one of the mind-body interventions and thought they would be useful for other hand therapy patients. Patients thought the interventions were able to help them relax and gave them a sense of understanding and control of their own healing process.
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Why is it important?
Hand injuries can lead to major problems in completing our daily activities. Recovery from these injuries is often challenging and many times there are other psychological issues that arise, which need to be addressed to support full recovery. While mind-body interventions are used to support adjustment and treatment of chronic conditions, there is limited information available to understand the potential use of these interventions in short-term or acute injury recovery. This study provides valuable foundational information that supports patient acceptability and interest in mind-body interventions as a part of hand therapy.
Perspectives
Demonstrating patient interest in mind-body interventions is very important, as it lays a foundation upon which we can examine numerous different types of techniques. Hand therapy has long been seen as being reductionistic and focused only on the recovery of physical functioning with the healing of body structures, but this provides an impetus for incorporating a more holistic approach to care that addresses all of the needs of the individual.
Shawn C Roll
University of Southern California
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Fostering Holistic Hand Therapy: Emergent Themes of Client Experiences of Mind–Body Interventions, OTJR Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, November 2019, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1539449219888835.
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