Assessments

Occupational Therapists can use a number of assessment tools to help assess an individuals strengths, abilities and areas of need: O.T. specific Canadian Occupational Performance Measure - COPM Occupational Questionnaire Assessment of communication and Interaction Skills (ACIS) Interest Checklist Role Checklist Assessment of Motor and Processing Skills (AMPS) Work assessments Volitional Questionnaire Sensory Integration Inventory Short Profile Sensory Behavioural Profile Activities health assessment - O.T. specific?

Non O.T. Specific Goal attainment scale Hanc and Halo Checklist Quality of Life Checklist O.T. Specific Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) (Carr, 1979) GAS involves establishing goals and specifying a range of outcomes or behaviours that would indicate progress toward achieving these goals. The specified outcomes are placed on a five point continuum, each point describes the degree of achievement to the goal Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) (Law, Baptiste, Carswell, McColl, Polatajko & Pollock, 1994) The COPM is carried out in a semi-structured interview with the client, or caregiver if appropriate. Through this the client identifies self-care, productive or leisure issues according to their need to perform the activity and their ability to perform it to their satisfaction. Clients rate the importance of these activities, and therefore priorities for intervention are identified. During intervention the client can be asked to rate performance and satisfaction in the activities originally identified as problems to enable evaluation or intervention or reassessment. The COPM is not diagnosis specific and can be used across different ages.

The Occupational questionnaire (OQ) (Smith, Keilhofner and Watts 1986) This allows someone to record their usual daily activities, broken down into 1/2 hour blocks, and then consider whether they are work, daily living tasks, recreation, or rest. The person then rates how well they do the activities, how important they are to them and how much they enjoy them. The Assessment of Communication and Interaction Skills (ACIS) (Forsyth, Salamy, Simon and Keilhofner) ACIS is an observational assessment that gathers data on the skill that people demonstrate when communicating and interacting with others in an occupation. The ACIS gathers data on skill as it is exhibited during the performance of an occupational form and/or within a social group of which the person is a part. Interest checklists This forms part of the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) assessment package. It enables an individual to express their present and/or future involvement in activities. We have developed a version considering Total Communication i.e. written, symbol and photo format. Role Checklist (Barris, Oakley and Keilhofner 1988) This is an inventory, which is divided into two parts. Part one identifies whether the person has taken part in the major roles, which serve to organise an individual's daily life, and whether this participation was in the past present of future. Part two identifies the degree to which the individual values each role. Role examples from the checklist are student, worker, caregiver. *Interest Checklist Assessment of Motor and Processing Skills (AMPS) (Fisher A G 1997) This provides an objective assessment to enable O.T.'s to simultaneously assess motor and process skills in the context of a person performing a familiar task of his or her choice. The O.T. must be trained in the use of amps in order to carry out the assessment.

Work Assessments Work Role Interview (WRI) - is a semi-structured interview designed to be used as a psychosocial / environmental component of the initial rehabilitation assessment process for the injured worker. The intent is to identify the psychosocial and environmental variables that may influence the ability of the injured worker to return to work. The Work Environment Impact Scale (WEIS) - is a semi-structured interview and rating scale designed to assist the therapist to gather information on how individuals with physical or psychosocial disabilities experience and perceive their work environments. The WEIS is recommended for use with individuals who are currently employed and for individuals who are not presently working but are anticipating return to a specific job or type of work. The Volitional Questionnaire (VQ) (Heras, Geist, Keilhofner, Li, Version 4: 2003) The VQ is an observational assessment toll that examines a person's motivation as represented in the concept of volition. The VQ assesses through observation making it an effective tool to evaluate clients regardless of their verbal or cognitive abilities. It is not necessary to observe the individual in a situation specifically designed to or standardised for the assessment. It is recommended that it is administered on more than one context to evaluate the client's motivation under different environmental conditions. he VQ provides:

Insight into a person's inner motives Information about how the environment enhances or attenuates volition It is used for older children (8 and above), adolescents, adults and older persons. There is a paediatric version of the VQ which is generally used with children but can be used with adults with significant cognitive impairment. The VQ is used with persons across the continuum of impairments from mild to significant physical and cognitive limitations. Sensory Integration Inventory - Revised (For individuals with developmental disabilities by Judith E Reisman, Bonnie Hanschu, 1992) It is designed to screen for clients who might benefit from a sensory integration treatment approach. Short Profile (Eadaoin Bhreathnach) This can be completed with the family and carers and screens whether there are problems in the following areas; tactile, vestibular, proprioception, visual, auditory and behaviour. Sensory Behavioural Profile (Eadaoin Bhreathnach) An in-depth history of the individual noting developmental and behavioural milestones. Non-O.T. Specific Hanc-2, Hanc-s, Hanc-F and Halo (Hampshire Assessment for Living with Others) (Shackleton, Bailey, Pidcock and Hampshire social services, 1980 &1982) All the assessments have 10 main sections: self-care, domestic, community living, skills, communication, personality and social adjustment, close personal relations, use of leisure, health/physical disability, group membership and employment. Hanc-2 is used in day centres as "A decision-making assessment designed to help you identify high priority teaching goals for individuals, which are then used in curriculum planning for the centre and in Writing Individual Programme Plans" (Shackleton, Bailey &Hampshire social services 1980) Hanc-s is a school based assessment for young persons moving to an ATC, SEC or other training placement. Hanc-F is an interview schedule for use with families. Halo is a residential assessment with three main aims: To help come to decisions about a client's future home needs. To help make decisions about a clients teaching needs To help service managers to plan residential resources (Shackleton, Bailey, Piddock & Hampshire social services, 1982) Quality of Life Checklist (University of Plymouth Incorporating Alistair Ager's Life Experience Checklist, 1990) This checklist asks the person, or their caregiver if more appropriate, to tick statements that apply to them. It enables an evaluation of the person's quality of life based on seven categories: home, leisure, relationships, freedom, opportunities, respect and skills.