The Occupation-Based Intervention of Bathing: Cases in Home Health Care

Abstract

Although bathing skills can be an indicator of long term placement, documentation of occupational therapists doing bathing as an occupation-based intervention is limited. Five clients were referred to a hospital-based home health agency with various diagnoses and at different levels of functioning. Each client was assessed at admission and discharge using the Outcomes and Assessment Information Set and the occupational therapists used the Activities of daily living (ADL) of bathing as the intervention based on client centered expressed needs. Findings reveal a statistically significant change in individuals pre- and post-assessment of bathing (Z = –2.032, p = .042) supporting occupation-based interventions, specifically bathing, should be further researched as a means of significantly improving the functional status of clients.

Keywords:

• Activities of daily living (ADLs)
• bathing
• occupation-based