The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure: An Outcome Measure for Occupational Therapy

Abstract

French

The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, in collaboration with Health and Welfare Canada have developed and published a conceptual model for occupational therapy, the Occupational Performance model. This paper describes the development of an outcome measure, The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), which is designed to be used with these guidelines for client-centred clinical practice. The COPM is an outcome measure designed for use by occupational therapists to assess client outcomes in the areas of self-care, productivity and leisure. Using a semi-structured interview, the COPM is a five step process which measures individual, client-identified problem areas in daily function. Two scores, for performance and satisfaction with performance are obtained. This paper describes the rationale and development of the COPM as wellas information about its use for therapists.

Keywords

Outcome and process assessment Measurement scales Client centred practice (occupational therapy)Tests by title (COPM)

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References

Department of National Health and Welfare and Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. (1983). Guidelines for the Client-centred Practice of Occupational Therapy (H39–33/1983E). Ottawa, ON: Department of National Health and Welfare.

Department of National Health and Welfare and Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. (1986). Intervention Guidelines for the Client-centred Practice of Occupational Therapy (H39–100/1986E). Ottawa, ON:Department of National Health and Welfare.

Department of National Health and Welfare and Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. (1987). Towards Outcome Measures in Occupational Therapy (H39–114/11987E). Ottawa, ON: Department of National Health and Welfare.

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