We have all been there, trying to figure out what is the best way to do good goal writing...why is this sometimes so hard? 😕 ugh
See, I was randomly looking through the Occupational Therapy Treatment Ideas & Information Facebook page the other day (it is a HUGE group with tons of ideas!), when I came across a post about an OT that was talking about difficult it was for her to write goals beyond the typical ADL.
Let's dig into why OT goal writing can be challenging:
Problem 1: We are limited by the electronic medical record we use.
Let's be honest, we are at the mercy of the software that we are given!
It is hard when all you are doing is trying to write goals based on the information that you have collected during your evaluation, but all you end up doing is navigating through endless dropdowns and trying to "fit" your patient into the software.
Problem 2: There are many different ways to actually accomplish goal writing.
Problem 3: We aren't always taught (or maybe it just gets lost over time 😕) to use outcome measures or use our initial evaluations to guide our goals.
We end up writing goals that are:
- not the most client-centered,
- hard to achieve,
- using too many measurements to make the goal difficult to achieve or
- labeled as "not functional.'
"NEEDS SOME IMPROVEMENT" GOAL 😱(wayyyy to many conditions to actually meet):
Within 2 weeks, the patient will perform upper body dressing (UB) independently (I) with use of adaptive equipment (AE) while sitting edge of bed (EOB) with "good" dynamic sitting balance.
"DEFINITELY ROCKIN' IT" GOAL 😁:
Within 2 weeks, the patient will perform UB dressing (I) with "good" dynamic sitting balance.
Here are 3 tips to get you going on writing goals that are more client-centered and writing goals so you don't have to fear they will be denied:
#1️⃣: Use outcome measures in your goals
#2️⃣: Get a good understanding of what should actually be in a Long Term and Short Term Goals
#3️⃣: Do not write goals on occupations or components that are not a part of your evaluation
I shared these tips in much greater detail via Facebook on Sunday night, so if you missed it, click here to see the video breakdown of the 3 tips.
- BADL
- IADL
- Performance components of occupational therapy practice
- Specialized areas such as:
- chronic conditions
- dementia
- low vision
- maintenance therapy
- progressive diseases and more!
Learning Lab members can access:
✍️ Goal Writing for Patients with Dementia That Have Adverse Behaviors
