title: Evaluating outcomes of therapies offered by occupational therapists in adult mental health.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Attitudes towards the use of outcome measures by professionals working in mental health have been shown to be variable. Occupational therapists appear to have difficulty specifying goals and measuring the outcomes of interventions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To measure the outcomes of therapies offered by occupational therapists and to assess concurrent validity of the Van du Toit Model of Creative Ability (VdT MoCA) assessment.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), VdT MoCA assessment and Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) were used. Changes in mean scores on the measures were assessed using appropriate tests. Correlations between measures were assessed using Spearman's non-parametric test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean post-therapy scores were significantly higher than pre-therapy scores on all three measures. VdT MoCA assessment scores pre- and post-therapy were highly correlated with GAF scores. The COPM outcome scores were uncorrelated with VdT MoCA assessment and GAF scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results offer a promising indication that occupational therapy interventions may increase functioning and thus aid clients' recovery. The VdT MoCA assessment is promising as a measure of improvement in functioning. Further research is needed to confirm these results and to further explore issues around occupational therapists' use of outcome measures.
authors.affiliation: Brockfield House, South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Wickford, UK. rajkumar.samsonraj@sept.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Rajkumar S P
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Samsonraj
authors.forename: Michael F E
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Loughran
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Secker
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008603:Mental Health; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom