Use of treatment activities in occupational therapy

The purpose of this study was to determine the treatment activities used most often by occupational therapists associated with the Louisiana State University Medical Center's (LSUMC's) occupational therapy program. The results of this study were used to make changes in the teaching of treatment activities in the program. Two samples of clinicians--83 fieldwork supervisors and 59 former LSUMC students, mainly from the southeastern region of the country--identified how frequently their clinics had used each of 67 listed treatment activities in the past year. The results showed that noncraft activities were ranked as being used more frequently than either major or minor craft activities. This was true in all settings and all specialty areas of practice. In both groups, across all areas of practice, self-care and social skills activities ranked among the top five positions of activities frequently used in practice. Therapists in physical disabilities settings used crafts less frequently than therapists in mental health settings. As a result of this study, changes have been made in the teaching of treatment activities at LSUMC: Those activities that were ranked in the study as frequently used have been emphasized, and those ranked as infrequently used have been given less emphasis or deleted from the curriculum.