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Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Occupational Therapy
Copyright Statement
All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.
Department
College of Health Care Sciences – Occupational Therapy Department
First Advisor
Wendy Stav
Second Advisor
Elise Bloch
Third Advisor
Donna Colaianni
Publication Date / Copyright Date
2021
Publisher
Nova Southeastern University
NSUWorks Citation
Alysha Skuthan. 2021. Profile of Pediatric Assessments Selected in Occupational Therapy Practice and the Influence of Occupation-Based Assessments on Clinical Practice. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, College of Health Care Sciences – Occupational Therapy Department. (85)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_ot_student_dissertations/85.
Abstract
Occupational therapy practice is intended to reflect the core construct of occupation throughout all aspects of service delivery. In pediatricoccupational therapy, there is insufficient evidence examining regularly selected assessment tools and the occupational constructs ofselected assessment tools. A mixed methods research study was conducted to examine the most regularly selected assessment tools by pediatric occupational therapists and the resultant effects on service delivery specific to goal writing, intervention planning, length oftreatment, materials used in practice, and the context of service delivery among other practice outcomes generated by therapist participants. The primary assessment tools utilized by pediatric occupational therapists reflected a skill-based approach despite the profession’s foundational constructs in occupation. Therapists were also unable to correctly classify assessment tools as occupation-based, resulting ininconsistent integration of occupation-based assessment tools across pediatric clinical practice. The completion of semi-structured interviews further reflected a need for the profession to integrate occupation-based assessments with decreased opportunities secondary to training, available supplies, lack of awareness of foundational constructs, and facility expectations. The importance of occupation-basedassessment tools and resultant effects on clinical practice were highlighted with an emphasis to integrate occupation into all facets ofpediatric occupational therapy service delivery.
Disciplines
Occupational Therapy
Keywords
Assessments, Occupation-based assessment Tools, Occupation-based practice, Occupational therapy, Pediatrics