Prosthetists and Orthotists- Profession specific descriptor for registered professionals and support workers
Prosthetists provide gait analysis and engineering solutions to patients with limb loss. They treat patients with congenital loss as well as loss due to diabetes, reduced vascularity, infection, and trauma. They play a significant role in supporting the health and well-being of individuals and in rehabilitation, usually working closely with Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists as part of multidisciplinary amputee rehabilitation teams.
Orthotists provide gait analysis and engineering solutions to patients with problems in the neuro, muscular, and skeletal systems. They design and provide orthoses that modify the structural or functional characteristics of the patient’s neuro-muscular and skeletal systems enabling patients to mobilise, eliminate gait deviations, reduce falls, reduce pain, and prevent and facilitate healing of ulcers.
They treat patients with a wide range of conditions including diabetes, arthritis, cerebral palsy, stroke, spina bifida, scoliosis, MSK, sports injuries, and trauma. They play a significant role in supporting the health and well-being of individuals and in rehabilitation, usually working closely with Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists as part of multidisciplinary teams such as within the diabetic foot team or neuro-rehabilitation team.
View and download the Prosthetists and Orthotists in Public Health Infographic.