Application of uniform terminology to practice.

This document was developed to help occupa· tional therapists apply Uniform TerminologySecond Edition to practice. A grid format (Dunn, 1988) allows a therapist to systematically identify an individual's deficit and strength areas and to select appropriate activities to address these areas in occupational therapy intervention. On the grid (see Appendix A), the horizontal axis is composed of the Performance Areas of activities of daily living, work activities, and play or leisure activities These Performance Areas are the functional outcomes occupational therapy addresses The Per· formance Components include sensorimotor compo· nents, cognitive integration and cognitive compo· nents, and psychosocial skills and psychological com· ponents and are listed along the vertical axis of the grid. The Performance Components are the skills and abilities that an individual uses to engage in the Per· formance Areas. During an occupational therapy as· sessment, the occupational therapist determines an individual's abilities and limitations in the Perfor· mance Components and how they affect the individ· ual's functional outcomes in the Performance Areas. Because occupational therapy is concerned with the outcomes of activities of daily living, work, and play or leisure, any actiVity chosen for occupational therapy intervention must fit in a cellon this grid. Therefore, if an individual has a Performance Compo· nent prohlem but no corresponding Performance Area deficit, occupational therapy intervention would not be indicated. Activities that are therapeutic hut that do not relate to both a Performance Area and one or more Performance Components are not considered to be occupational therapy (Dunn & Campbell, in press).