Occupational Therapy Practitioners’ Use of Standardized Assessments in Acute Care

Research

Objectives: To investigate which standardized assessments occupational therapy practitioners are using in acute care.
To determine how occupational therapy practitioners use results of standardized assessments for treatment planning and discharge planning

Design: The survey utilized both closed-ended and open-ended questions to examine occupational therapy practitioners’ use of standardized assessments in acute care. The survey was open for 4 weeks. Email and social media was used for recruitment.
Setting: Online survey for occupational therapy practitioners who work at least 8 hours a month in acute care.
Respondents: Respondents were licensed occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants working in an adult acute care hospital (full-time, part-time, and PRN). Practitioners may work in other practice settings but work at least one eight-hour shift a month in acute care to participate in the study. Practitioners who work full-time in healthcare administration, at a pediatric acute care hospital, or at an inpatient rehabilitation facility were excluded.
Interventions: N/A - Informational survey
Main Outcome Measures: Self-created online survey<

Results: Activity Measure of Post-Acute Care is the most widely used standardized assessment in acute care. Occupational therapy practitioners chose standardized assessments based on time to complete, appropriateness for patients, availability, and if the standardized assessment is built into the electronic documentation. Acute care occupational therapy practitioners use standardized assessments for treatment planning, discharge planning, assessing safety and cognition, family education, interdisciplinary communication, and goal setting.

Conclusions: There are many factors to implementing standardized assessments in acute care. More occupational therapy practitioners are using standardized assessments than previous noted in research. The Activity Measure of Post-Acute Care is the most commonly used standardized assessment. Results from standardized assessments are used for both treatment planning and discharge planning.
Author(s) Disclosures: No disclosures