Measuring efficacy: Goal attainment scaling in an outpatient pediatric program

How do we measure the effect of occupational therapy? Although standardized testing can provide a glimpse into clients’ progress, these objective data points often fall short of encompassing all that occupational therapists (OTs) do to help clients make improvements in the occupations that are important to them. The Outpatient Occupational Therapy Department at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, set out to explore a new way to meaningfully measure the efficacy of occupational therapy services provided using Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS).