The Morriston Occupational Therapy Outcome Measure (MOTOM): Measuring What Matters

Abstract

Occupational therapists recognise the importance of outcome measures, but few appropriate and valued measures are available for use in daily practice. This paper describes a study designed to validate and improve a tool, the Morriston Occupational Therapy Outcome Measure (MOTOM), which measures individual change in occupational performance. It is considered to be an outcome measure that is appropriate for and reflects the nature of occupational therapy. The underlying rationale of MOTOM is described first, together with the structure of the instrument prior to the study. The methods used to investigate its clinical utility and validity are then presented. These include a survey by questionnaire of 36 occupational therapists using MOTOM; interviews with two service managers; an audit of 216 occupational therapy records; and interviews with 36 patients. The results demonstrate that the tool can be incorporated into occupational therapy as an appropriate measure of change in occupational performance, but indicate the need for amendments, which are discussed in the final section.