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Abstract
Helping adults learn to live with arthritis is a major responsibility for occupational therapists. There are a variety of instruments for therapists to use in evaluating the self-care and work components of occupational performance, however there are no instruments for assessing the leisure interests of persons with arthritis. The purpose of this investigation was to develop an instrument for assessing the leisure interests of adults with rheumatoid arthritis or degenerative joint disease. The instrument is patterned after Knowles self-diagnostic competency model. Following Knowles' procedure of developing such a model, a literature review and a panel of occupational therapists with expertise in the treatment of rheumatic disease were used to identify a list of leisure activities. The list was categorized and applied to Knowles' suggested format for a self-diagnostic competency model. Strategies for using the instrument with the targeted population are presented.