Can we improve outcomes research by expanding research methods?
Therapeutic process occurs individually and in groups. The outcome of intervention, however, is demonstrated through changes in client performance in treatment sessions, that is, in individuals. Individual function, then, is both the target of intervention and the measure of effectiveness of occupational interventions. Reporting occupational therapy outcomes necessitates culling functional performances of individuals to describe the overall outcomes of an occupational therapy program (Johnson, 1996). In a summary report, a manager might combine outcomes from inpatient and outpatient services to depict the overall impact of occupational therapy services. For example, the manager might conclude that clients receiving occupational therapy services have an 85% rate of regaining independent living in the community. The challenge in reporting overall outcome is to find ways to demonstrate more clear links between individual treatment and function. Conclusions about groups of clients are often presented in the form of baseline and discharge comparisons that are easy to summarize. But relying on pre- and posttesting may deprive us of valuable information that can be gained by session-based analyses. Although it might appear cumbersome to examine individual session outcomes, collecting outcomes data is done informally by every therapist and client at the end of a treatment session. We suggest that this informal procedure become a formal part of outcomes research and a more routine part of occupational interventions.
Robertson
S C
SC
Rehabilitation Medicine Department, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20817-3550, USA.
Colborn
A P
AP
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design