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Goal attainment scaling: Clinical implications for paediatric occupational therapy practice
Author(s) -
McLaren Chrisdell,
Rodger Sylvia
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
australian occupational therapy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1630
pISSN - 0045-0766
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1630.2003.00379.x
Subject(s) - goal attainment scaling , occupational therapy , intervention (counseling) , psychology , accountability , scaling , medicine , nursing , political science , psychiatry , geometry , mathematics , law
Children with disabilities pose unique challenges for occupational therapists when the value of therapy programmes and the child's individual progress are being evaluated. Children whose development is atypical may make progress through a course of intervention and/or maturation, yet standardised tests frequently used by occupational therapists are often not sensitive enough to detect these changes. In this current climate of economic rationalism and accountability, providing documentary evidence of occupational therapy programme benefits is essential. This paper addresses the utility of goal attainment scaling for objectively and systematically documenting the outcomes of occupational therapy intervention. Goal attainment scaling provides a direct, reliable and accurate method of assessing treatment‐induced client change. The process of goal attainment scaling is described and the literature on goal attainment scaling in paediatrics is reviewed. It is concluded that goal attainment scaling is a useful clinical process and measure of therapy programme outcomes for children with disabilities.