Incoporating a client-centered approach in the Development of Occupational Therapy Outcome domains for Mental Health Care Settings in South Africa

Occupational therapists use a client-centered approach as part of embracing a philosophy of respect for, and partnership with people receiving services. This approach must also be incorporated in measuring outcomes of the service and clients must have input in evaluating the outcomes of their intervention. This article reports on a specific phase of a larger study in which clients have been included in confirming the domains for an outcome measure in occupational therapy in mental health care settings. A case study strategy was used which enabled mental health care users to express their needs and expectations of the occupational therapy service. These were captured during 12 individual interviews and two focus groups. The findings were thematically analysed and constantly compared with the domains identified by occupational therapy clinicians in Phase 1 of the larger study. Results from this study indicated that the service which the participating occupational therapy clinicians were rendering, were in keeping with the needs and expectations of the mental health care users. Key words: Client-centered approach, outcome measure, mental health care settings, occupational therapy.