{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T18:57:20Z","timestamp":1791485840461,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":14,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790208000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["American Journal of Occupational Therapy"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>For many common hand conditions, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger finger, and thumb base arthritis, both surgery and nonsurgical care can lead to good outcomes. The best choice depends on the patient's occupations and goals, so the patient should help make it. This is what shared decision-making, choosing together after weighing the options, is meant to do. In practice, though, patients often meet an occupational therapist only after deciding on surgery, so the nonsurgical option gets little attention when the choice is made. We argue that the occupational therapist belongs at the first visit, when the decision is made. Drawing on a model used for one year in two West Bank clinics, in which a surgeon and an occupational therapist see the patient together and present the options side by side, we show how the therapist's presence makes shared decision-making concrete and supports continuity where access is limited.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:bold>What This Article Adds:<\/jats:bold>\n                    This article makes the case for including the occupational therapist in the first surgical consultation for common hand conditions, so that the surgical and nonsurgical options are weighed together, with the patient, at the moment the decision is made.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/19437676261487164","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T12:42:16Z","timestamp":1790253736000},"page":"1159-1163","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Occupational Therapy at the First Visit: A Case for Joint Consultation in Hand Care"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"80","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-4833-351X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Husam","family":"Taha","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Arab American University Palestine (AAUP)"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"AbdelRahman","family":"Marridi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Arab American University Palestine (AAUP)"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"e_1_3_3_2_1","first-page":"7412410010","article-title":"Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.)","volume":"74","author":"American Occupational Therapy Association.","year":"2020","unstructured":"American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(Suppl. 2), Article 7412410010. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5014\/ajot.2020.74S2001","journal-title":"American Journal of Occupational Therapy"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmpt.2016.10.004"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5014\/ajot.2022.050065"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jht.2023.06.004"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(09)60107-0"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apmr.2017.08.482"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhsa.2024.04.013"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jht.2017.10.016"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s12178-007-9012-1"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13037-015-0068-3"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhsa.2014.08.047"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apmr.2018.08.192"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_14_1","unstructured":"United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. (2025 May 27). West Bank movement and access update: May 2025. https:\/\/www.unocha.org\/publications\/report\/occupied-palestinian-territory\/west-bank-movement-and-access-update-may-2025"},{"issue":"4","key":"e_1_3_3_15_1","article-title":"The rural hand therapy project: Providing hand therapy services closer to home","volume":"23","author":"Williams S.","year":"2023","unstructured":"Williams S., Wegener L., Kingston G. A. (2023). The rural hand therapy project: Providing hand therapy services closer to home. Rural and Remote Health, 23(4), Article 7672. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.22605\/RRH7672","journal-title":"Rural and Remote Health"}],"container-title":["American Journal of Occupational Therapy"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/19437676261487164","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/19437676261487164","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/19437676261487164","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T17:55:49Z","timestamp":1791482149000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/19437676261487164"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"references-count":14,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,12]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/19437676261487164"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/19437676261487164","relation":{},"ISSN":["1943-7676","1943-7676"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1943-7676","type":"print"},{"value":"1943-7676","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]}}}