Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This qualitative study attempted to explore and describe the initial evaluation process in psychosocial occupational therapy. Observation of 19 therapists interviewing patients, detailed transcripts of those interviews, interviews with the therapists, and two questionnaires on therapists' beliefs and attitudes about psychosocial occupational therapy and mental illness were analyzed. Results suggested that the initial evaluation interview process varies in terms of content and format; links exist between interview formats and types of treatment programs; communication of therapist beliefs seems to be an important facet of the interview; as with other health professionals, much routinization seems to exist in clinical decision making; and the environment appears to be a more pervasive influence on clinical reasoning than personal beliefs and attitudes.

Keywords

clinical judgment decision making treatment planning

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barris

(1984a). Toward an image of one's own: Sources of variation in the role of occupational therapists in psychosocial practice. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 4, 3–23.

Barris

(1984b). Response to commentary: A reply to Clark and Sharrott. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 4, 117–125.

Bauman

Bourbonnais

(1982). Nursing decision-making in critical care areas. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 7, 435–446.

Broderick

M. E.

Ammentorp

(1979). Information structures: An analysis of nursing performance. Nursing Research, 28, 106–110.

Clark

C. M.

Yinger

R. J.

(1977). Research on teacher thinking. Curriculum Inquiry, 7, 279–304.

Clavelle

P. R.

Turner

A. D.

(1980). Clinical decision-making among professionals and paraprofessionals. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36, 833–838.

Cohen

S. J.

Weinberger

Mazzuca

S. A.

McDonald

C. J.

(1982). Perceived influence of different information sources on the decision-making of internal medicine house staff and faculty. Social Sciences and Medicine, 16, 1361–1364.

Elstein

A. S.

Shulman

L. S.

Sprafka

S. A.

Allal

Gordon

Jason

Kagan

Loupe

M. J.

Jordan

R. D.

(1978). Medical problem solving: An analysis of clinical reasoning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Freidson

(1970). Profession of medicine: A study of the sociology of applied knowledge. New York: Harper & Row.

10.

Kielhofner

Nelson

(1983). A study of patient motivation and cooperation/participation in occupational therapy. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 3, 35–46.

11.

Knafl

Burkett

(1975). Professional socialization in a surgical specialty: Acquiring medical judgment. Social Sciences and Medicine, 9, 397–404.

12.

Light

(1980). Becoming psychiatrists. New York: Norton.

13.

McNair

(1978–79). Capturing inflight decisions: Thoughts while teaching. Educational Research Quarterly, 3, 26–42.

14.

Morrison

J. K.

Becker

R. E.

(1975). Seminar-induced change in a community psychiatric team's reported attitudes toward “mental illness.” Journal of Community Psychology, 3, 281–284.

15.

Morrison

J. K.

Hanson

G. D.

(1978). Clinical psychologists in the vanguard: Current attitudes toward mental illness. Professional Psychology, 9, 244–248.

16.

Morrison

J. K.

Teta

D. C.

(1977). Increase of positive self-attributions by means of demythologizing seminars. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 33, 1128–1131.

17.

Nevid

J. S.

Morrison

J. K.

(1976). Attitudes toward mental illness: The construction of the libertarian mental health ideology scale. Unpublished manuscript.

18.

Payton

O. T.

(1985). Clinical reasoning process in physical therapy. Physical Therapy, 65, 924–928.

19.

Politser

(1981). Decision analysis and clinical judgments: A re-evaluation. Medical Decision Making, 1, 361–389.

20.

Rogers

J. C.

(1983). Clinical reasoning: The ethics, science and art. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 37, 601–616.

21.

Rogers

J. C.

Masagatani

(1982). Clinical reasoning of occupational therapists during the initial assessment of physically disabled patients. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 2, 195–219.

22.

Schön

D. A.

(1983). The reflective practitioner. New York: Basic Books.

23.

Watts

N. T.

(1985). Decision analysis: A tool for improving physical therapy practice and education. In Wolf

(Ed.), Clinical decision-making in physical therapy (pp. 7–24). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis.

Clinical Reasoning in Psychosocial Occupational Therapy: The Evaluation Process

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References