ABSTRACT

Objective: In this study, the cognitive, social participation, and daily activity effects of visiting occupational therapy for community-dwelling people with physical disabilities were assessed through World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0), and two health centers were compared to confirm the effective intervention period. Methods: Participants were people with disabilities living in communities with brain lesions and physical disabilities. A total of 17 subjects were divided into 8 patients receiving short-term treatment once a week and 9 patients receiving long-term treatment once a month. Through the WHODAS 2.0 evaluation, the health status was identified, and difficulties in cognition, daily life, and social participation were identified. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was conducted for determining the difference between the pre-and post-test of the visiting interventions, and the Mann-Whitney U Test was used to compare the scores between groups. The statistical significance level p was below .05. Results: Although there was no significant change in the short-term treatment group after visiting occupational therapy intervention, the daily life and social participation scores of the long-term treatment group significantly improved. The difference in the number of changes among the groups did not show a significant difference in cognition, walking, self-management, social participation, or total score, although there was a statistically significant difference in getting along and doing housework. Conclusion: Daily life and social participation were improved through monthly long-term occupational therapy interventions in people living in community with disabilities. Long-term intervention is necessary to maintain the independent role of people with disabilities and to provide opportunities for their active participation. In addition, various evaluation tools are recommended to provide appropriate interventions for each family, and long-term visits for occupational therapy are expected.