A comparison of two assessments of levels of functioning in clients with intellectual disability between occupational therapists and nursing staff within a long-term mental healthcare facility in South Africa

BACKGROUND: The implementation of the South African Mental Health Care Act, which regulates care for clients with intellectual disabilities, impacted on the healthcare services provided to this population. Changes in the Act necessitated planning of new care packages, which resulted in the investigation of the current hospital client profile, as well as assessment data on patient abilities according to the occupational therapist and nursing staff as primary caregivers. METHODS: A retrospective, descriptive correlation study design was used as information was analysed from an existing database. Descriptive analysis of clients’ demographic data, occupational performance and adaptive functioning were done, as well as a Spearman’s rank correlation test and cluster analysis to describe the association between the levels of functioning as measured by the different professions. RESULTS: The results indicated low levels of abilities, as well as a good to excellent correlation between results of the Fairview self-help scale and Creative Participation Assessment. CONCLUSION: This study provided preliminary evidence that these two tools are valuable instruments for measuring occupational performance and adaptive functioning in institutions that provide care for this vulnerable and under-researched population.