Heidi Miettinen

Heidi Miettinen received her degree in Occupational Therapy from Turku University of Applied Sciences in Finland in 1996. Her position as an occupational therapist was in a hospital and rehabilitation center specialized in the care of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Heinola, Finland. She found it to be a very rewarding and informative place to work. She was able to develop her splinting skills and evaluation skills with regards to patient’s needs for assistive devices.

She found working with patients who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis to be fulfilling and after her initial position continued working in Rheumatology units both in the city of Helsinki and in Helsinki University Central Hospital. She credits these different positions with providing her with a broad picture of occupational therapy in different areas and the enthusiasm for hand therapy. Since 2000 she has been employed by a private company called Respecta Oy. There her tasks have evolved over the years from splinting, consultative selling, organizing splinting workshops to training to product specialists. Currently her responsibilities are in product management and international relationships with suppliers, interacting with the field of hand therapy is still part of her job.

Since 1997 she has been a member of the Finnish Hand Therapy Society. She was elected to the Finnish Hand Therapy Society Executive Committee in 2001 and served as a member until 2008. During this period she was the treasurer and maintained the society’s membership register as well. This gave her the opportunity to be an active member of the organizing committee for Scandinavian Hand Society Meeting 2008 for surgeons and therapists in Helsinki.

She is about to finish her BBA studies in Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Heidi notes that persistence and multi-tasking are her strengths and therefore she likes to take on new challenges such as organizing workshops and events. It is a priority for her to continue to learn new things. Being an Occupational Therapist, Heidi recognizes that a work-life balance is important. To balance her professional activities, her family, her partner, Mika; her two dogs: Ice Cool and Ginger as well as many friends provide support and perspective. In addition, she likes handcrafts and making something that results in concrete product. She finds this relaxing and an excellent counterbalance to all of her other tasks.