The validity and use of psychosocial assessments in occupational therapy are ongoing concerns (Moyer, 1984) and were the focus of this study. Fifty African patients with schizophrenia and 10 nondysfunctional African volunteers took an an assessment battery that included the Schroeder, Block, Campbell Adult Psychiatric Sensory Integration Evaluation (SBC) (Schroeder, Block, Trottier, & Stowell, 1978), a daily activity, work, and leisure activity interview based on the Model of Human Occupation (Kielhofner, 1985), and a culture-specific test of functional performance. Data on subjects' psychiatric histories and demographics were collected. Rationale for the assessments used, methods for devising the functional assessment, methods and procedures for data collection, and analysis are presented. A stronger relationship was found to exist between subjects' performances on the SBC and the functional activity test than between interviews based on the Model of Human Occupation and the functional activity test, both for patients and for the whole sample. All assessments were found to differentiate between patients and nonpatients, although the SBC was the best discriminator. Among psychiatric history variables, the strongest relationships were between measures of seriousness of illness and both the SBC and functional activity assessment. The most effective way to measure performance dysfunction and seriousness of illness in persons with schizophrenia was to measure the underlying sensorimotor impairment or to use a culture-specific test of functional performance.

A survey of 70 registered occupational therapists was conducted to determine the therapists' performance of tasks related to the sexual development of disabled children and the therapists' attitudes toward sexual habilitation issues. The questionnaire used in the survey was developed after a review of the literature on sexuality and disability. Respondents indicated which of the nine tasks listed they performed, which they considered important, and for the performance of which they felt adequately prepared. They also designated individuals who, in their opinion, were best suited for the performance of each task. Results showed a discrepancy between respondents' positive attitudes toward tasks of sexual habilitation and the low frequency of reported task performances. No single health professional was clearly identified as appropriate for performing any of the tasks, nor were parents so identified. Therapists who had received information on sexual habilitation and rehabilitation performed significantly more of the tasks than did therapists without this educational experience.

Now is the time for the American Occupational Therapy Foundation and individual institutions of higher education that house occupational therapy programs to step into the leadership vacuum created by this issue. We must not only design new minority scholarships programs, but also be prepared to defend existing ones. Given the current confusion and fluctuations of opinion on this issue, what is policy now may not be policy after the next presidential election. The Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs of the AMA has recommended recruiting minority students, procuring greater scholarship assistance, and pursuing affirmative action in school admission and faculty hiring as strategies for eradicating racial barriers to equal access to health care. As an allied medical profession, we must follow the Council's lead.

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