COPM Jan 2021 Newsletter - “Sharing Knowledge and Experiences is Really What Makes Us Grow as Professionals”

January 2021

“Sharing Knowledge and Experiences is Really What Makes Us
Grow as Professionals”

This month’s newsletter is a precis of a recent paper by Elizabet Capdevila and her colleagues on the clinical utility of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). A qualitative study examining the clinical utility of the COPM in Spain. The participants were 30 clinical occupational therapists and physiotherapists working in three different health care settings. The authors wished to ascertain the participants perceptions of applying the COPM in a health care system that was not traditionally focused on client-centred practice (CCP).

Subsequent, to a series of information sessions, thirty therapists agreed to participate in 8-hours of training sessions on the theory and use of the COPM. The participants were then required to administer at least 10 COPM assessments over an eight-month period. The third phase of the study was data collection comprised of participant focus groups. Data analysis was completed using an interpretive phenomenological approach that examined the acceptability, appropriateness, accessibility of the COPM and client, professional as well as institutional acceptance of the COPM.

The results showed that the COPM was acceptable and appropriate. It facilitated both the professionals and most clients became intimately involved in a client-centred therapeutic process. In all three settings the participants using the COPM helped to contribute to occupation-based, client-centred practice and for the most part clients were energized and satisfied with their rehabilitation experience. The use of the COPM demonstrated that with learning and practice the COPM was a practical measure. Overall, the results of this study replicate the results of clinical utility reported in other studies (see thecopm.ca/learn/references). However, in reporting accessibility, the authors report the “institutions with hierarchical and protocolized structures offered few opportunities to carry out meaningful activities”. Uptake of the COPM and acceptance of CCP (and the COPM) is impacted by the policies and structure of the health care facilities in which the study was conducted. This result suggests further lines of research.

The COPM Authors wish to thank Elizabet Capdevila and her colleagues for forwarding this paper to COPM Inc. and allowing us to share it with you. In her communication she wrote “Sharing knowledge and experiences is really what makes us grow as professionals” with which we agree and which became the heading for this newsletter.

References
Capdevila, E., Rodríguez-Bailón, M., Kapanadze, M., & Portell, M. (2020). Clinical utility of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure in older adult rehabilitation and nursing homes: Perceptions among occupational therapists and physiotherapists in Spain. Occupational Therapy International. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/3071405

http://euit.fdsll.cat/blog/2020/12/18/publicat-el-primer-estudi-de-validacio-de-la-canadian-occupational-performance-measure-copm-una-entrevista-i-avaluacio-que-garanteix-una-practica-centrada-en-la-persona-acp/