ABSTRACT

Objective : The aim of this study was to examine the utility of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) in evaluating the outcome of rehabilitation services for people with mental disorders. Methods : The subjects were 49 psychiatric patients participating in rehabilitation programs at three mental health institutions in Kyungsang, Jeonla, and Choongchung provinces. The study was conducted between September 2010 and October 2011. The COPM was used to identify self-perceived performance problems, and the COPM Utility Survey was employed to measure the subjects' receptiveness to the COPM. The Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS-32) and the Abbreviated Life Skills Profile-16 (LSP-16) were utilized to measure the criterion-related validity of the COPM. Results : After the initial assessment of the COPM, 46 out of the 49 participants (94.0%) responded that the COPM helped them establish a treatment plan. The self-perceived problem areas were productive activities(38.5%), leisure (35.0%), and self-care (26.5%) in that order. No significant correlations were found among the COPM, LSP-16, and BASIS-32 except for a few sub-items. Conclusion : The results of this study infer that the COPM provides unique information such as self-perceived personal problems that other assessment tools, widely used in mental health settings, do not assess. In addition, unlike psychiatric patients in foreign countries, Korean psychiatric patients focus on productive activities as their primary treatment goals. These findings imply the importance of vocational training and the role of occupational therapists in rehabilitation services for people with mental disorders.