Measuring Occupational Performance: Supporting Best Practice in Occupational Therapy

As the profession of occupational therapy continues to mature and expand its practice, the measurement of occupational performance is one of the key avenues that all practicing clinicians will need to explore and master. Measuring Occupational Performance: Supporting Best Practice in Occupational Therapy, Third Edition summarizes the measurement tools needed to assess client occupational performance, to provide the best intervention, and to document the effectiveness of that intervention. These measurement tools are not just a compilation of all that are available for measurement relevant to occupational therapy; they are an elite group of tools carefully selected by the editors through a process of rigorous theoretical, clinical, and scientific reasoning.

In this Third Edition, Drs. Mary Law, Carolyn Baum, and Winnie Dunn have updated current chapters and added new topics that have not been covered in past editions, such as a chapter on measuring school performance, a key area of practice. Also included is a chapter on measurement principles and development to highlight the concepts common to all the measures included in the text. The Third Edition also has a focus on the best measures and measures that are used most frequently.

Features of the Third Edition:

• Offers insight into the importance of measuring functional performance, methodologies, measurement issues, and best approach for outcome measurement

• Conveys a broad focus on occupational performance and offers examples from a wide range of practice settings and from multiple spots throughout the lifespan
• Explains the technical aspects of measurement development and methodologies and which components of functioning are to be measured and how
• Develops an understanding of the theoretical aspects and evidence for both standardized tests and non-standardized tests

Instructors in educational settings can visit www.efacultylounge.com for additional material to be used for teaching in the classroom.

New in the Third Edition

• Focus on strengths-based approaches
• Measures health and disability at both individual and population levels using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)
• An emphasis on evidence-based practice and using evidence from other disciplines, not just from occupational therapy
• New chapter focused on school-based practice
• New content on reliability, validity, and responsiveness
• New content on goal attainment
• Additional material on decision making in practice

In this changing health care environment, Measuring Occupational Performance: Supporting Best Practice in Occupational Therapy, Third Edition explains how core values and beliefs can be put into everyday practice and is the essential reference manual for the evidence-based occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant student and practitioner.

Mary Law, PhD, FCAOT is Professor Emeritus, School of Rehabilitation Science and CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.

Carolyn Baum, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA is the Elias Michael Director and Professor of Occupational Therapy, Neurology and Social Work at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO.

Winnie Dunn, PhD, OTR, FAOTA is Professor and Chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy Education in the School of Health Professions at the University of Kansas, Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City, KS.