Measurement in Occupational Therapy Practice
Mandy Miller
What is measurement in occupational therapy (OT)?
-A systematic way of gathering objective information
-Information can gathered in a variety of ways
Connections of Measurement to the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF)
-Analysis of occupational performance (evaluation process)
-Selecting and administering relevant assessments based on clients functional deficits and personal goals
-Selecting outcome measures to determine effectiveness of OT intervention
-Context and environment
(American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), 2014,p s13-s16)
Why do we use measurement in OT?
-To understand the impairments of where a client is objectively from a functional, physical, or cognitive standpoint
-To gain an understanding of "change over time" of these objective measurements to solidify the effectiveness of OT interventions (Law, Baum, & Dunn, 2017)
-Reimbursement
-For research and improved interventions for the most optimum outcomes
-Evidence-based practice
What is the focus of measurement in OT?
-Occupational performance
-Person, place and environment
-Evaluation of self-care, work, leisure and play
(Law, Baum, & Dunn 2017).
The six (6) steps of Planning Measurement Strategies
1. Identification of Occupational Performance Issues
-Determine performance barriers and consider needs and interests of client
-Client centered
-Must consider context and environment
2. Summarizing Measurement Data
-What are the clients strengths and barriers to performance in all or specific environments
-Goals develop from this area
3. Developing Priorities
-Client centered with clinical input to determine most important goals and needs
4. Designing Intervention Plans
-Collaborative process involving creativity, clinical reasoning, and strategies needed to meet goals of the client
5. Implementing Intervention Plans
-Execute plan while continually measuring progress towards goals
6. Planning Ongoing Measurement Strategies
-"Generating evidence for practice decisions" by continually measuring progress (Law, Baum, & Dunn, 2017)
Measurement for formative assessment versus outcome measurement
-Formative or processes measurements are focused on the client and allows the practitioner to "evaluate in action"(Law, Baum, & Dunn, p 18, 2017)
-Outcome measurements look at the how the client is progressing in relation to the plan/process
Individual assessment versus population-based assessment
-Individual assessments evaluate the individual skills and performance of a client (Law, Baum, & Dunn, p 21, 2017)
-Population-based assessments offer ways to compare individuals to specific groups