The Impact of Upper Limb Injury or Conditions on Daily Occupations: A Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

The study aimed to explore six public service users’ perspectives on the impact their upper limb injury or condition has on their everyday lives while receiving occupational therapy intervention at a public hospital in the context of the Northern Cape of South Africa. An interpretivist phenomenological approach was employed. Data was collected using reflexive photography and semi-structured interviews. Three main themes were generated during inductive reasoning, namely the impact on role fulfillment, change in occupational task performance and the factors impacting performance in preferred occupations. Participants confirmed that to present a contextually relevant and responsive service, Occupation-Based Hand Therapy (OBHT) approaches must be considered.