My two group members are Stella Chung and Robert Salerno and our Healthcare Innovation is writing grip that relieves the strain and pressure of writing for those with carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, or other conditions that make it difficult to write.

Rosenblum, S., S. Goldstand, and S. Parush. 2006 “Relationships among biomechanical ergonomic factors, handwriting product quality, handwriting efficiency, and computerized handwriting process measures in children with and without handwriting difficulties.” AJOT: American Journal of Occupational Therapy 60, no. 1 (2006): 28-39. Health Reference Center Academic.

Sara Rosenblum is a PhD in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Haifa in Israel. She has done much research regarding handwriting deficiencies and processes amongst adults and children, including this study that focused on ergonomic factors and handwriting in children. 50 proficient and 50 non proficient third grade handwriting were asked to perform a handwriting task and different variables such as quality and efficiency were measured using the Hebrew Handwriting Evaluation. It was found that “proficient and non proficient hand writers differed significantly with respect to all the biomechanics and ergonomic factors measured (i.e., body positioning, pencil grip, pencil positioning, and consistency of pencil grip).” However, the effects of pencil grip on writing performance was not fully resolved although a correlation was made. I hope to use the findings in this study to show that a specifically designed writing grip may help writers to be more efficient and proficient, and thus relieve strain on the wrist and hopefully be applied to those suffering from carpal tunnel.

 

Carlson, H., A. Colbert, J. Frydl, E. Arnall, M. Elliott, and N. Carlson. 2010 “Current options for nonsurgical management of carpal tunnel syndrome.” International Journal of Clinical Rheumatology 5, no. 1 (2010): 129+. Health Reference Center Academic

Hans Carlson is an Associate Professor of Orthopedic and Rehabilitation in the OHSU School of Medicine. He is considered an expert in his field and published this research in the International Journal of Clinical Rheumatology alongside his fellow professionals. It details an overview of carpal tunnel syndrome including what causes it and the symptoms. It also mentions different ways it can be managed without surgery, which is the preferred option but is quite invasive and recovery can be anywhere from weeks to months. Nonsurgical management includes bracing, which can be uncomfortable, injections, hand/occupational therapy, and other modalities. These methods are successful in helping to relieve carpal tunnel and its effects once it has already developed, however, we were looking to see if we could create a grip that would help relieve the tension and strain in the wrist which leads to carpal tunnel and makes it worse. We could use this research on how carpal tunnel is treated to create a device that allows us to relieve and hopefully prevent the symptoms from the beginning while contributing to an increase in handwriting comfort and efficiency.

 

Eustice, Carol. 2018 “Ergonomic Pens, Pencils, Markers for People With Arthritis.” Verywell Health (2018) https://www.verywellhealth.com/top-ergonomic-pens-pencils-markers-189409.

Carol Eustice is a writer for Verywell Health and she covers pieces having mainly to do with arthritis. She has been living most of her life with rheumatoid arthritis, and so is very familiar with what t entails. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Cleveland State university and has spent most of her life dedicated to to advocating for people living with arthritis and chronic illness. She wrote this online article for Verywell Health that lists several pens that have been able to make writing easier and less stressful for people suffering from soreness, swelling, and joint pain. It has been proven that ergonomically designed writing tools have been created to maximize comfort and they are successful in their goal. What we hope to accomplish is use these pens as inspiration for our own writing grip that will potentially do the same thing except be able to be used with pre existing writing utensils. Hopefully these pens are the key to allowing us to create a grip that makes writing easier for those with arthritis, carpal tunnel, or anyone who experiences discomfort and strain when writing.