About Me

Hi! I’m Sarah Paddock, a Doctor of Occupational Therapy student completing my capstone project, Bridging the Gap: Advocating for Improved Integrated Occupational Therapy Services in Prosthetic Care. My passion for this work began after my dad underwent an amputation due to diabetic complications. Watching him navigate the prosthetic process revealed gaps in care and a lack of occupational therapy involvement across key stages of rehabilitation. The literature and my research also support a gap in OT services in prosthetic care.

My Mission

My mission is to advocate for the integration of occupational therapy services before, during, and after prosthetic distribution to support functional independence, participation in daily activities, and improve outcomes for individuals with limb loss. This website was created to share advocacy and educational resources, based on my doctoral research, for occupational therapists, prosthetists, and individuals with limb loss, to promote collaborative, patient-centered prosthetic care.

"Prosthetic Care" Defined

Prosthetic care is the ongoing, interdisciplinary process of supporting individuals before, during, and after prosthetic fitting to promote healing, independence, and participation in daily life. It includes preparation for limb loss, residual limb care, prosthetic evaluation and fitting, functional training, and long-term monitoring and adjustment. Prosthetic care extends beyond the device itself, focusing on helping individuals safely and confidently return to meaningful activities, with or without a prosthesis, through coordinated support from prosthetists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and physicians across all stages of recovery.

Who is this website for?

Patients and Caregivers

Occupational Therapists

Prosthetists

What you will find here!

Educational Resources

Advocacy Tools

Clinical Collaboration Guides

Patient-Friendly Materials

Why Integrated OT in Prosthetic Care Matters

Prosthetic care often focuses on the device, while critical aspects of daily life are overlooked. Many individuals receive a prosthesis without enough support to learn how to use it effectively at home, work, and in the community. Gaps in coordinated rehabilitation and limited focus on real-world function can lead to frustration, reduced independence, and even prosthetic abandonment.

Occupational therapy is frequently misunderstood or underutilized in prosthetic care. Beyond upper-extremity rehabilitation, OTs support functional prosthetic use, daily activities, role reintegration, and psychosocial adjustment. When OT is delayed or excluded, individuals may struggle to translate prosthetic use into meaningful participation.

Integrating occupational therapy across the prosthetic care continuum supports independence, participation, and quality of life, shifting the focus from simply wearing a prosthesis to fully living life with one.

Image obtained from First Step Guidebook from the Amputee Coalition, 2026

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