Supporting and enhancing the implementation of outcome measures in Children and Young People’s Occupational Therapy.
Abstract
Executive summary
This project involved a partnership between NHS Borders Children and Young People’s
(CYP) occupational therapy service and a Queen Margaret University (QMU) fourth year
student (Appendix 1). NHS Borders CYP occupational therapy is a community-based
team, providing services to CYP with a diverse range of difficulties aged from 0-18 years.
They work with CYP who experience difficulties with the functional skills necessary for
everyday life, aiming to ensure all CYP are physically, psychologically and socially as
independent as possible (NHS Borders 2020).
NHS Borders CYP lead occupational therapist identified the use of outcome measures as
an area of their practice requiring further development1. The service required to gain a
clearer understanding with regards to which outcome measures are currently used in
practice and the impact of using them. The Royal College of Occupational Therapists
(RCOT) (2020) acknowledge outcome measures as a fundamental aspect of occupational
therapy practice. The use of outcome measures is recognised in the Scottish Government
(2016) policy Ready to Act where Allied Health Professionals (AHP) are required to
evidence the effectiveness of their interventions. The agreed aim of this project was to
develop an electronic leaflet containing information about outcome measures used within
CYP occupational therapy.
This project was guided by service development. Service development involves
implementing changes in order to advance practice. To develop the leaflet, information
had to be gathered. A survey was selected as the most cost and time effective method of
gathering information direct from CYP occupational therapists, regarding the use of
1 The project leader worked with the lead occupational therapist in NHS Borders CYP occupational therapy service, however the project was conducted for the benefit of the service as a whole.
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outcome measures in their practice. A qualitative survey was distributed online in order to
gain a range of responses and opinions.
The information gained was analysed and developed into an electronic leaflet. Three
outcome measures commonly used with CYP emerged from the findings and were
included in the leaflet. These included the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure
(COPM), the Perceived Efficacy and Goal Setting (PEGS) and Talking Mats. There were
three common benefits of using outcome measures in CYP occupational therapy
highlighted in the findings. These included “creates evidence”, “provides motivation” and
“provides focus”. Two common challenges of using outcome measures in CYP
occupational therapy were established, including “children’s needs” and “time and
workload”.
The electronic leaflet developed provided NHS Borders CYP occupational therapy service
with information about outcome measures they could use with CYP, as well as the
benefits and challenges of using them. As a result, the service should be able to use the
leaflet to consider the selection and implementation of outcome measures within their
practice. Overall, this could improve their service delivery and ensure the needs of CYP
are met.
An abstract for the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) upcoming
conference ‘Occupational R-Evolution’ is presented in Appendix 2.