Factors Affecting the Choice of Treatment in Occupational Therapy Practice in Hospital-based Care

The aim of this article was twofold: to describe the occurrence of treatment goals, health-care programmes and type of interventions chosen by occupational therapists; and to investigate relationships between treatment goals, health-care programmes and interventions. A survey on occupational therapy practice was carried out in The Netherlands. A registration form based on the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicapts (ICIDH) was filled out for 944 patients. This registration form consisted of three sections: (i) patient characteristics, (ii) occupational therapy diagnosis and treatment goals in terms of ICIDH, and (iii) treatment characteristics. The patients were treated by occupational therapists working in nursing homes, rehabilitation centres or general hospitals. A total of 143 therapists, working in 49 departments of occupational therapy, participated in this study. Relationships existed between treatment goals and health-care programmes on the one hand and interventions on the other. Treatment goals and health-care programmes independently determined the choice of interventions in occupational therapy practice; the choice of interventions was not dependent on specific combinations of goals and programmes. Bases on these results, several profiles of occupational therapy treatment were identified.