Shriner's Hospital for Children, Greenville
Location and Type of Facility:
The hospital, located in Greenville, South Carolina, is a pediatric orthopedic
facility offering free care to patients from birth to age 18. It is part
of a 22 hospital system with operations throughout North America. They treat
patients with congenital and acquired orthopedic problems such as amputations,
cerebral palsy, spina bifida, scoliosis, clubfoot, hand anomalies, osteogenosis
imperfecta, muscular dystrophy, and arthrogryposis. They have 50 inpatient
beds which are used for both surgical rehabilitation patients, and they
run orthopedic outpatient clinics five days a week. The Occupational Therapy
Department includes one full-time and two part-time occupational therapists
that periodically rotate between inpatients and outpatients.
Types of OT Programs or Services provided:
The Occupational Therapy Department is responsible for evaluating and treating
inpatients and outpatients. The O.T.’s evaluate and treat in the areas
of self-help, school-related tasks, durable medical equipment, and upper
extremity function. Primary intervention by therapists is evaluation only.
The children are treated before and after surgery specifically for their
surgical orthopedic needs. The O.T. staff also assists the medical staff
with collecting data for research and publication.
Innovative or Creative Intervention that is being provided:
The O.T. Department functions as part of an integrated, multidisciplinary
team which includes frequent access to the medical staff. Treatment plans
are developed to be age specific, and care is delivered in a family-centered
environment to help the patient and family learn to manage care for a lifetime.
They have special experience in several pediatric orthopedic diagnoses including
arthrogryposis multiplex congenital and pediatric amputations and prosthetics.
They have developed an objective, video-based evaluation of UE function
to help determine appropriate intervention in children with hemiplegia.
This tool is in the process of reliability and validity testing. They have
established and conducted a summer camp program for children with spina
bifida. This involves a two-week summer admission to the hospital to promote
independence, social activities, and participation in a typical summer camp
experience. They also participate in multi-center outcome studies. Current
research is ongoing in the field of UE prosthetics and UE cerebral palsy.
Other Recognition/Honors that the department has received:
Members
of the O.T. staff have presented at national conventions, published research
articles in conjunction with the medical staff, and have published an article
in O.T. Week.