Abstract
Cynthia Cooper brings to us an updated and augmented addition to her excellent text, Fundamentals of Hand Therapy. This new edition comes with online resources, such as helpful video clips of oedema mobilizing techniques and various assessment forms and exercises. The text is divided into three parts—Part 1: Fundamentals; Part 2: Pain and Integrative Strategies; and Part 3: Clinical Reasoning and Treatment Guidelines for Common Diagnoses of the Upper Extremity. In Parts 1 and 2, the author addresses many concepts that are sometimes obvious, but often intangible, such as professionalism, rapport between therapist and client, and personality type and patient education. She leaves the reader with much to reflect on with respect to how to deal with one’s clients. In a few chapters, the author applies yoga, dance, and Pilates to hand therapy; the reader may or may not find these chapters useful, but they are interesting and thought-provoking. Part 3 provides the reader with an easily accessible reference for common diagnoses with current information. The author has used a number of case studies to demonstrate a holistic clinical approach to treatment. We can be proud of the Canadian contributors, Shrikant Chinchalkar and Joey Pipicelli, who have contributed an excellent chapter on wrist instabilities.
This text has much to offer students, hand therapists at all levels, and anyone else who treats clients with upper-extremity issues. The information is easy to access and current. I enjoyed reading her “tips from the field,” “clinical pearls,” and “precautions and concerns,” which are highlighted in most chapters. A new therapist would find her “questions to discuss with the doctor” and “what to say to clients” to be very helpful. I recommend this hand therapy text book without reservation.