Assessment Tools Used by Occupational Therapists with Head Injured Patients in a Rehabilitation Setting

Abstract

This article describes the assessment tools that are used by occupational therapists working with head injured patients in a rehabilitation setting. The study method used was a postal questionnaire sent to all head injury rehabilitation units In the United Kingdom, Inviting occupational therapists working there to respond.The results indicated that both standardised and non-standardised methods of assessment were used with this patient group, and a comprehensive list of all those used is now available. Standardised methods tended to assess component skills (such as memory), whereas non-standardised methods were generally used to assess functional skills (such as getting dressed). The occupational therapists felt that the objectivity of standardised tests gave them more credibility In the eyes of other professionals. However, non-standardised methods were more frequently used because the occupational therapists stressed the importance of the assessment of functional tasks, both in hospital and at home, within their professional role. They were clear that assessment of component skills did not necessarily indicate how patients performed in daily living activities.The relationship between choice of assessment method and length of experience of the therapist was also examined. A statistically significant correlation (p<O.05) was found between the longer a therapist had worked in the field of head Injury and his or her likelihood to assess work skills using non-standardised methods. However, from the findings, it became evident that clinical reasoning most affected assessment choice, and this subject may be worthy of further research.

Beyond Dressing and Driving: Using Occupation to Facilitate Community Integration in Neurorehabilitation

“…Originally taking learning deficits and facilitates the transfer of skills to multiple contexts. Occupation by nature is context-based, and it has been argued that occupational therapists see this ability to extend assessment beyond the clinical environment to more realistic home and community settings as part of the difference of occupational therapy to other health professions (Haig, 1997). Being contextbased, occupation lends itself to the involvement of significant others which is considered an important aspect of rehabilitation.…”

“…Therapists usually already have data on deficit areas from inpatient rehabilitation, and instead need to know what and how tasks are being performed in real life environments. Furthermore, a survey of occupational therapists in the United Kingdom (Haig, 1997) showed that functional activities (including dressing, kitchen, home and work assessments) were usually evaluated in a non-standardised manner because few standard assessments take into account both physical and cognitive aspects of task performance.…”