Upper extremity arthritis – current practices, new evidence, and future directions

Abstract

This Special Issue of the Journal of Hand Therapy focuses on broad range of topics that are of importance to hand therapists who care for persons with upper extremity arthritis. The issue intentionally 1) takes a look at some new and existing bench science that supports or informs our practice 2) incorporates the perspectives of our clients 3) introduces new perspectives on the delivery of hand therapy to this population, 4) introduces new evidence to inform our evaluation process, 5) explores the efficacy of hand therapy interventions and 6) garners the opinions of experts in the fields of hand therapy, hand surgery, and rheumatology. Corey McGee, PhD, OTR/L, CHT is an Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Science at the University of Minnesota. There he studies hand therapy assessments and interventions for persons with hand osteoarthritis, teaches courses in orthotic fabrication, hand therapy practice, and anatomy and kinesiology, mentors PhD and OTD students, and is the academic coordinator for the MHealth-University of MN Hand Therapy Fellowship. Dr. McGee has 22+ combined years of experience as an upper extremity rehabilitation clinician, educator, and researcher. He has been first and coauthor on numerous research publications and book chapters. Additionally, Dr. McGee is an invited international speaker, a member of an international expert consensus group on thumb osteoarthritis management, and lead author of the World Federation of Occupational Therapy white paper on OT in musculoskeletal health. He is the 2019 Nathalie Barr Lectureship Awardee, has received ASHT awards for best poster, best presentation, and best surgeon-therapist collaborative research project, and has been recognized as the Minnesota OT Association's “OT of the Year” and “Researcher of the Year.” Additionally, he has served as an editorial board member of JHT, an ASHT research division member, a grant reviewer for AHTF, and a peer-reviewer for numerous rehabilitation, engineering, and surgery journals. Dr. McGee is currently supported by grants from The National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR002494, PI: Blazar, KL2TR002492, PI: Ingbar).