Measuring Function in Chronic Progressive Disorders

Ashwini K. Rao, EdD, OTR, FAOTA, is Associate Editor, American Journal of Occupational Therapy, and Associate Professor, Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine and G. H. Sergievsky Center, Columbia University, 710 West 168th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10032; akr7@columbia.edu To support the continued role of occupational therapy in the changing landscape of health care policy, the challenge for practitioners is to develop assessment tools that are valid, reliable, and sensitive to change in performance; to develop and test functional interventions that demonstrate improvements at the impairment, activity, and participation levels; and to develop methods to improve adherence to therapeutic interventions. The focus of this editorial is on choosing assessment tools and measuring function in chronic progressive disorders.