The use of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure in mental health

Abstract

The COPM is an instrument capable of measuring the impact of an intervention for a human being, which has the purpose to detect changes in the perception of the client about his occupational performance along the time, as well as changes about his satisfaction in relation with his performance. A commentated bibliography was fulfilled, analyzing the published articles in the last seven years about the application of the COPM in the area of mental health. It was intended to examine the area of the occupational performance in which the identified difficulties by the clients of mental health are concentrated, as well as vantages and limitations of the application of this instrument with this public. The research was achieved through the electronic database Medline, OTseeker and CINAHL, during 2002-2009. The results suggest that the health conditions in the area of mental health reverberate into difficulties of occupational performance in the three areas. It's recommended to detach the singularity of the information given by the use of COPM when related to the occupational performance of the client, as well as the (re) knowledge that the use of this measure propitiate about the performance of the occupational therapist in the multidisciplinary team. Despite the existing difficulties in the application of the COPM, it can be affirmed that this instrument was identified as a useful tool to be used in mental health.