Introduction: Using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) to identify the needs of older adults with cognitive decline requires a creative process. While Verkerk et al. (2023) has reported 40 specific instructions for administering the COPM to children, few previous studies have described similar instructions for older adults.
Objectives: This study aimed to extract specific instructions practiced by occupational therapists to facilitate the implementation of the COPM with Japanese older adults and identify such instructions with high content validity.
Methods: Study 1 included analysis of videotaped COPM sessions and semi-structured interviews with two occupational therapists working in a hospital and an adult daycare center. In Study 2, the content validity of the instructions developed in Study 1 was tested with 40 occupational therapists using the Delphi method. The protocol was reviewed by the Research Ethics Committee.
Results: In Study 1, a total of 50 instructions were extracted and finally refined into a draft list of 28 modifications in seven categories, such as "Explaining the purpose of implementation," "Interviewing about occupations," and "Attitude and atmosphere." In Study 2, the Delphi method was conducted through round 2, and eight items with an item-level content validity index (I-CVI) below a criterion of 0.78 were removed. Finally, the content validity of 20 instructions for administering the COPM to older adults was confirmed, and the scale-level content validity index (S-CVI/Ave) reached a criterion of 0.90.
Conclusion: This study identified 20 specific instructions that were derived from the experience of occupational therapists and had high content validity. Administering the COPM with these instructions is expected to facilitate the identification of valuable occupations for older adults.