The Evaluation Process and Assessment Choice of Pediatric Practitioners in the Northeast United States

Integrating Occupation-Based/Focused Assessments During the Evaluation Process. Opportunity to Revisit the Topic in a Post COVID-19 Practice Setting?

“…Additional influences included current practice within the practitioner's immediate environment and factors such as cost and time restrictions associated with the feasibility of using the assessment [5]. These findings are similar to those reported by Bagatell et al's [6], which identified time and the cost of assessment tools as constraints to the evaluation process. Estes and Pierce's [7] concluded that occupation-based practice is challenging to use because it takes more time, requires support from the clinical culture, and practitioners may experience difficulty mentally shifting to an occupation-centered approach and the creativity required on the part of the practitioner to engage in occupation-centered practice.…”

“…Additionally, upon analyzing the list of assessments used most frequently by respondents in Piernik-Yoder and Beck's [4] study, many evaluations reported as frequently used by respondents focused on evaluating client factors or performance skills. Finally, Bagatell, Hartmann, and Meriano's [6] mixed methods study analyzed the responses of 370 occupational therapists from the Northeast region of the United States to identify assessment methods currently utilized for pediatric clients. Again, therapists tend to use assessments focused on evaluating client factors or performance skills [6].…”

“…Finally, Bagatell, Hartmann, and Meriano's [6] mixed methods study analyzed the responses of 370 occupational therapists from the Northeast region of the United States to identify assessment methods currently utilized for pediatric clients. Again, therapists tend to use assessments focused on evaluating client factors or performance skills [6].…”

No evidence of a minimal clinically important difference for the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration in children with autism spectrum disorder

“…Over the past 30 years, the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery VMI; Beery and Beery, 2010) has been one of the most commonly identified assessments in the armamentaria of pediatric occupational therapists (Bagatell et al, 2013; Brown et al, 2005; Burtner et al, 2002; Crowe, 1989; Dunford et al, 2013; Feder et al, 2000; Rodger et al, 2005; Watling et al, 1999). The Beery VMI is a standardized norm-referenced assessment that requires the examinee to initially imitate and then copy a series of progressively more complex forms.…”

Assessing Volition in Pediatrics: Using the Volitional Questionnaire and the Pediatric Volitional Questionnaire

“…Despite these developments, pediatric occupational therapists are frequently, and sometimes predominantly, using impairment-focused theoretical frameworks, such as sensory integration, neurodevelopmental therapy, and typical development theories (Brown, Rodger, Brown, & Roever, 2005;Brown, Rodger, Brown, & Roever, 2007;Case-Smith & O'Brien, 2015;Kadar, McDonald, & Lentin, 2015). Pediatric occupational therapists also report frequent barriers to implementing evidence-based practice (Brown, Tseng, Casey, McDonald, & Lyons, 2010), as well as a lack of knowledge and use of conceptual occupation-based models in practice (Benson, 2013 (Bagatell, Hartmann, & Meriano, 2013;Brown et al, 2005;Brown et al, 2007;Kramer, Bowyer, O'Brien, Kielhofner, & Maziero-Barbosa, 2009). Most of these assessment tools are "bottomup" (Coster, 1998) and primarily identify impairments in body functions or performance skills without directly assessing other factors, such as the environment.…”