AOTA

Occupation Centered Intervention Assessment (OCIA): A Reflection Tool for Occupation-Centered Practice

By Vanessa D. Jewell, PhD, OTR/L; Taylor L. Wienkes, OTD, OTR/L; Noralyn D. Pickens, PhD, OT

Occupation is the core of occupational therapy practice. It is the primary therapeutic agent and goal of intervention, bringing meaning and purpose to life and supporting identity and well-being. Occupational therapy students, educators, and practitioners discern the patterns affecting daily occupations and develop and implement appropriate, occupation-centered interventions. Until now, these interventions have been measured only by client outcomes. The Occupation-Centered Intervention Assessment (OCIA) is a unique tool students and practitioners can use to assess their own interventions by scoring to indicate levels of personal, contextual, and occupational relevance and overall occupation-centeredness of clinical practice, identifying strategies to implement immediately. Educators can assess their teaching strategies to improve classroom instruction. 

Aligned with the Occupational Therapy Intervention Process Model and the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, the OCIA effectively connects the profession’s theoretical foundations to current, everyday practice.