Week 2- Tracking progress: Applying the Goal Attainment Scale in Therapy
Hi everyone and welcome back! Last week, I mentioned that I had a meeting with my on-site advisor at the clinic to discuss which clients and goals to focus on when it comes to monitoring their progress in therapy. I will share some of the details here along with what is planned for this week!
Context: About the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS)
Firstly, before I go further into what happened in my last meeting, I want to talk about what the Goal Attainment Scale is and its purpose for context. The GAS procedure involves three different aspects.
1. First is defining a unique set of goals for each child. These goals use the SMART method, which stands for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. For example, one of the client’s goals I am evaluating for progress is that Participant A will demonstrate the ability to state their first and last name and parent’s phone number, 90% of trials, to facilitate age-appropriate personal safety skills required for daily living task independence. As you can see, this goal follows this SMART method to ensure that they are attainable within a specific time frame.
2. Second is specifying a range of possible outcomes for each goal. This is done on a scale that includes 5 levels from -2 to +2.
3. The third and final aspect is using the scale to evaluate the child’s functional change after a specified intervention period of about 7 weeks. On the GAS, -2 represents the child’s baseline level without intervention, -1 indicates improvement below the expected level of achievement, 0 signifies the expected level of achievement, and +1 and +2 reflect levels of achievement that exceed expectations but are still attainable under favorable conditions. This breakdown illustrates how the GAS works and how it documents and tracks clients’ goals over time.
Details from last week’s meeting with advisor
In my meeting last Wednesday, my advisor chose 8 clients from her current caseload, each with a suitable goal for my study. This gives me a total of 8 goals to evaluate. While the sample size is small, I prioritized minimizing the burden on clients and their families. Having only 8 goals allows me to focus more closely on each and monitor their progress effectively.
We also focused on short-term goals that require less time to show improvement, since 7 weeks is not the standard duration for measuring progress. The occupational therapists at the clinic typically provide progress reports to clients’ families after 12 weeks, making this study considerably shorter. Therefore, long-term goals, which may take months or years to achieve, are not suitable for this project’s timeframe.
I planned to meet with my advisor at the clinic on Tuesday (2/18) and Thursday (2/20). Due to illness, she canceled only Tuesday’s meeting, so I still plan to meet with her on Thursday to distribute the consent forms I created for the families. These forms outline the background of the study and seek permission for their child’s participation as I assess their goals. I will keep you updated on these meetings in my next post! Thank you!
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