“Bring-Back Buddy”
Card Retracting Device
Gracen Hitchens
Occupational Profile: Aunt Lori
Aunt Lori is a 53-year-old retired teacher/employee of the Effingham County Board of Education who has had rheumatoid arthritis for over 10 years. She is recently widowed and a mother of three. After the passing of her husband in September 2021, Lori chose to sell their home of over 30 years and has moved in with her parents and her 15-year-old daughter, Maggie. Her oldest son, Rob (26) lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands and her middle son, Nolan (23) attends the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Lori spends almost every weekend travelling across the Southeast US with Maggie for her all-star competitive cheerleading squad. She loves spending time with her dogs, Hope and Chanel, and relaxing at Clarks Hill lake with her parents, children, siblings, in-laws, nieces, and nephews. Lori takes medications for her RA pain and stiffness, but is overall very independent.
She has assistive devices around the house that help with her joint limitations at home, but faces more issues when out in public, especially if she is out alone without the assistance of her daughter or other family.
Clinical Reasoning
I used narrative reasoning through having a conversation with Aunt Lori to identify the areas of her life that felt most impacted by her RA that she could not seem to find a solution for.
I used diagnostic reasoning by gathering the knowledge I already knew about RA, what solutions are typically used with clients with RA, and determining if these solutions have worked or would work for her.
Client Factors + Justification
Client Factors
Due to the client’s diagnosis of RA, her client factors limiting her functioning in this area include limited joint mobility, joint stability, and energy and drive.
Justification
Lori constantly uses her credit and debit cards, especially with how often she travels for Maggie’s competitions. She said she has struggled with pulling her card out of readers in parking garages, ATMs, restaurants, etc. as sometimes her grip gives out; she has even had to ask help from strangers before to remove the card if she is out alone. This device allows Lori to maintain grip on her card while the keychain retracting does the work of removing the card, meaning less work and stress for Lori and her joints.
What Else Is Out There???
How It’s Different:
“Card Grabber for Long Nails”
$10 on Amazon
Mini Chip Clips
Pencil Grips
Retracting Keychain
Materials Used + Costs
$4.88
From WalMart
$3.47
From WalMart
$8.99
From Amazon
Total Materials:
Total Time/
Cost of Time:
TOTAL COST:
Costs to Assemble:
$17.34
2 hr /
$280
(8 units)
$297.34
Original Version!
No cushion on grip clip
Too strong of a retracting keychain
1
2
3
4
Final Version!
Added cushions on clip to eliminate knocking knuckles if snapback occurs
Lighter keychain requiring less force to pull, still pulls clips
Video Demo
Lessons Learned