Occupational therapy assessment in school contexts: conceptual guidelines

Abstract

The main theme of this article is the Evaluation Processes of Occupational Therapy (OT) in school contexts. A theoretical conceptual evaluation proposal in Occupational Therapy is developed, taking as reference the documents developed by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and other leading authors in the field of school-based Occupational Therapy.

The proposal aims to lay the groundwork for the necessary actions to develop an evaluation process in the specific context of the school and to provide some guidelines, especially for those occupational therapists who are beginning to work in this field.

The evaluation of Occupational Therapy in schools should be comprehensive, student-centered, and involve multiple sources (student, teachers, family), contexts (classroom, schoolyard, cafeteria, etc.), and information-gathering methodologies (structured guidelines, interviews, observations, checklists, among others), especially considering the natural contexts where the student performs.