Arbetsterapeuters erfarenheter av bedömningsprocessen -för personer som nyligen insjuknat i stroke

For mapping persons´ ability after stroke, more is needed than assessment of loss or abnormality in body structure and body function. Occupational therapists have therefore an important role in stroke rehabilitation by assessing and treating person who have difficulty in performing activities. A well performed assessment is essential to understand a person and the person's needs. The assessments help making the decisions regarding goals and strategies for intervention. The purpose of this study is to describe clinically active occupational therapists experience of the assessment process for persons with recently acquired a stroke. The authors used a qualitative approach and interviewed clinically operative occupational therapists in northern and central Sweden with semi- structured questions in collection of data. The collection of data was analyzed on the basis of a content - analysis and condensed into two categories: "Coordinated initial assessment and profound assessment of activity." The results indicate differences in occupational therapists' theoretical reasoning and practice. The occupational therapists describe their work from a process model with a client-centered approach from a Top-down perspective; however, the way they work shows more similarities with a Bottom-up perspective on the chronological order of the assessment and the selection of assessment instruments.Keywords: Assessment Process, functional assessments, activity assessments.Validerat; 20141217 (global_studentproject_submitter