OT Students Create Assistive Devices to Serve Vulnerable El Pasoans

 Published June 14, 2023                                                       By Darlene Muguiro                                                               UTEP College of Health Sciences

This summer, residents of Casa de las Abuelitas, a shelter for elderly and frail women with special needs, will be moving through their daily tasks much easier thanks to a recent donation of assistive devices from the Department of Occupational Therapy. Casa de las Abuelitas is part of the network of shelters run by the Opportunity Center for the Homeless, a longstanding partner of the College of Health Sciences.

Dr. Cecilia Fierro, clinical associate professor, delivered the items late last week to the shelter. The delivery included sets of zipper pulls, button hooks, cup and bottle holders that can be attached to walkers and wheelchairs, nail clipper holders, and bottle openers. OT students created the items with 3D printers at UTEP’s GAIA Makerspace, as part of Fierro’s Occupational Performance in Adults course.

“The assignment was to create devices to assist individuals with limited strength or fine-motor or hand-eye coordination issues. The 3D printing process was not our forte, but we had really great Engineering students who worked with us,” she said. “The students were thrilled to learn that the items would be used by the residents at Casa de las Abuelitas, and they worked extra hard to make sure that the edges were smooth and safe for use.”

Ivonne Urbina, program coordinator for the Opportunity Center, said that she believed the devices would be put to good use immediately by the sixteen residents.

“These ladies don’t have family to help or come visit; this is a permanent living situation for them,” she said. “Most of them use walkers and have arthritis, and we have one who is in a wheelchair right now. It’s hard for them to move. I think the cup holders, for example, can help them handle their coffee mugs.”

As part of the course assignment, OT students created videos talking about the populations who would benefit from their devices and how use of the devices increased independent living. The students also role-played a practitioner-patient session demonstrating how to use the devices. Several students expressed their delight in having access to this type of technology to support their clients.

“It’s wonderful that we have this 3D-printing technology available to us as UTEP students,” said Annabelle Prieto, OT student. “The lab is free for us to use, and doesn’t take very long; maybe four days at the most. It’s also very modifiable, so we can adapt these designs to the needs of our clients.”

Fellow OT student Julio Vega displayed a brightly-colored green nail clipper holder device, which he had designed to look like his favorite Nike shoes. “Much like the OT profession being client-centered, these devices can be client-centered – they can be any color or design that the client wants, and this can help with their ownership of the device.”

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Go Miners!

For more information about the Department of Occupational Therapy, please visit: https://www.utep.edu/chs/ot/