PROGRAM-PLANNING - THE CLINICAL UTILITY OF 3 ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING ASSESSMENT TOOLS

A jury of five occupational therapy experts was used to evaluate the c linical utility of three activities of daily living assessment tools t hat were originally designed for purposes other than individualized oc cupational therapy assessment or program planning. The three tools wer e the Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living, PULSES Prof ile, and Physical Self-Maintenance Scale. Using the results from each tool, scored for a simulated patient with a right cerebrovascular acci dent, as well as medical information about the patient, the jury membe rs were asked to plan a treatment program. The consensus of the jury w as that the results from each tool did not provide enough information to help them identify the patient's specific performance problem or th e causes of those problems. Therefore, the three tools were considered to have low clinical utility for planning individualized occupational therapy treatment. For use in planning an individualized treatment pr ogram, an activities of daily living assessment tool should provide sp ecific information about which component of a task the patient found d ifficult or was unable to do and the type and level of assistance requ ired.