Background: The contemporary occupational therapy literature suggests that different quality criteria exist for setting goals in occupational therapy: a focus on occupation; a link to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF); and adherence to the SMART recommendations, which advises goals to be specific, measurable, agreed, realistic, and timed.
Aim: To identify the extent to which Swiss occupational therapists (OTs) adhere to the criteria cited above.
Material: A total of 1 129 goals formulated with the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) collected in 2008.
Results: In slightly more than half the investigated cases at least one goal addressed an aspect of occupation. Nearly two-thirds of the goals related to the ICF component “activity and participation”. Nearly 90% of the goals were specific, measurable, and/or realistic.
Conclusions: Goals mirror, to some extent, what is done in everyday practice. Several influences on goal formulations of OTs were identified, including the practice models traditionally used in different specialist fields; the cultural contexts in which OTs were trained; and the legal framework that obliges OTs to formulate their goals in a certain way in order to obtain funding for their services.
Significance: Based on these results evidence-based products have been developed (a further education course; written recommendations for practice)
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