Discharge planning in mental health: The relevance of cognition to community living

Objective. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship be tween cognitive disability and performance of daily living skills and stabi lity of cognitive level after discharge in a sample of adult psychiatric in patients (N = 40). Method. The Alien Cognitive Level Test-90 (ACL-90) was administered at time of discharge (Time I) and at 21 days to 28 days after discharge (Time II). The self-report version of the revised Routine Task Inventory (RTI-2) was also administered at Time II. Results. No significant correlation was found between the ACL-90 at Time I and the RTI-2 scores; however, significant correlations were found between the ACL-90 scores at both times and between the ACL-90 score at Time II and the RTI-2 scorer. Conclusion. The findings suggest that cognitive level remains relatively st able over a I-month period in the postacute stage of a psychiatric illness. Cognitive level and performance of daily living skills are related but the relationship is sensitive to time. Implications for occupational therapy a ssessment include recognizing the temporal constraints of functional assess ments and refining instruments to be more sensitive to performance of famil iar tasks, talking into consideration client adaptation to exigencies.