Use of Computers in Assessment

Abstract

Activities coordinators in long term care facilities frequently find the amount of paper work required to document their work overwhelming. While this is, in one sense, positive, since regulating agencies now are concerned with documentation in the activities area, it also severely challenges the activities coordinator to find the time necessary to plan, organize and conduct the activities program which is addressed by the documentation. One way to save time now devoted to documentation is to use computers whenever possible. This article describes a computerized model for conducting the resident activity/social assessment. The model includes collecting assessment data in three areas: social/demographic information, functional level information, and leisure information. Leisure information is obtained through the Leisure Diagnostic Battery, which provides an assessment of the resident's perceived freedom, leisure barriers, and leisure preferences.