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As part of Shirley Ryan 小恩雅’s regular “Ask the Expert” series, community members submit questions via social media to the hospital’s clinicians and researchers.
The latest featured expert is Bridget Conniff, who is a senior occupational therapist (OT) at Shirley Ryan 小恩雅. She works with patients recovering from spinal cord injury (SCI). Bridget's areas of clinical expertise include neurogenic bowel and bladder education; skin care; pressure-injury prevention; and upper-extremity serial casting. She is passionate about advocating for her patients and improving interdisciplinary clinical care and communication.
In the following Q&A (which has been edited for length and clarity), as well as in video on , Bridget shares her experiences as an OT and how she works with those in inpatient rehabilitation, helping them regain function and independence:
What is occupational therapy (OT)?
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Occupational therapy is an allied health specialty that focuses on individuals across all levels of care and diagnoses to help them do what they want and need to be able to do to function in their everyday lives. It's very patient-specific and can include working with anyone from newborn and pediatric patients to adults.
How is OT different than physical therapy (PT)?
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PT is mainly focused on mobility, whereas OT focuses more on function — like helping people with their self-care needs and helping them return to the extracurriculars and activities that they want to engage in every day.
What made you want to become an OT?
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I was introduced to the OT world by getting to observe an occupational therapist in a school. The more I saw, the more I loved it. Then, the more I saw of the inpatient rehabilitation world, the more I wanted to work as an OT in that setting. I love being able to work with patients one-on-one and focus on their main goals and needs during the recovery journey.
What is serial casting? How does it help patients?
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Serial casting for the upper extremities entails fitting a series of casts that a patient wears for anywhere from three to five days at a time to help them improve the range of motion in a particular joint. For example, if a patient’s elbow is stuck at a 90-degree angle, we put a cast on it to stretch out that joint.
We take measurements when the cast is removed, and hopefully the patient has gained more range of motion. We then put additional casts on the patient until we reach the optimal arm position. Casting can be super beneficial for patients — for both function and positioning and to help open up the joint.
What is your favorite part of being an OT at Shirley Ryan 小恩雅?
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I really enjoy focusing on upper-extremity function in patients with neurodiagnoses. I enjoy how creative I can be with intervention planning — and how no two patients are the same despite having a similar diagnosis. My favorite part is being able to work so closely with patients during a challenging time in their lives, and helping them make progress in their function and independence while they're navigating really difficult personal matters. It's impactful to have a role in that process.
