USING THE ASSESSMENT OF MOTOR AND PROCESS SKILLS TO COMPARE OCCUPATIONAL PERFORMANCE BETWEEN CLINIC AND HOME SETTINGS

Objectives. The study described in this article examined the effect of home versus clinic settings on the instrumental activities of daily l iving (IADL) performance of older adults. Method. Twenty older adults living in the community were evaluated in their homes and in an occupa tional therapy clinic with the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). The motor and process ability measures were compared between t he two settings with many-faceted Rasch analysis. Results. The subject s' motor ability measures tended to remain stable from clinic to home settings. The process ability measures tended not to remain stable fro m clinic to home settings, because 10 of the 20 subjects performed sig nificantly better in their homes. Conclusion. These findings support t he idea that process skill abilities are affected by the environment t o a greater degree than are motor skill abilities and that for persons living in the community, the familiar home environment tends to suppo rt IADL performance. If an occupational therapist wants to know bow a person performs IADLs, the therapist should evaluate that person's per formance in the environment in which the client will be functioning.