A housework-based assessment of intellectual functions in patients with acquired brain damage. Development and...

The purpose of the study was to develop and evaluate a housework-based method of selecting, from among adults with acquired brain damage, those who would benefit from housework-based training; and of assessing the effects of such training. The method presented--the Intellectual Housework Assessment (IHA)--consists of two parallel programmes of seven subtests, each including eight observation points. There is also a manual. The reliability of the IHA was tested in a group of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) patients. Construct validity was studied by calculating the mean IHA difference between the patient group and a group of nonclinical persons. Concurrent validity was studied through comparison with the Intellectual Function Assessment (IFA), with a psychometric test battery and with an ADL status. The results of the study indicate that IHA is an adequate instrument for the purposes specified.