Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) need the right tools and information to understand clients’ challenges, meet their therapy needs, and demonstrate the benefits and quality of occupational therapy services.
Completing AOTA’s Occupational Profile Template is the first step in a client-centered evaluation. Occupational therapy recognizes that clients are the experts when identifying the occupations and activities that will improve their lives. By using the occupational profile, occupational therapy practitioners can ensure the client perspective is used to guide care.
The occupational profile is foundational for providing client-centered services and is an essential component of an occupational therapy evaluation. The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process—Fourth Edition (OTPF-4) states that “every occupational therapy (OT) evaluation includes the occupational profile and the analysis of occupational performance.”
Understanding the Occupational Profile
"Only clients can identify the occupations that give meaning to their lives and select the goals and priorities that are important to them.” — OTPF-4.
The occupational profile demonstrates a commitment to delivering and documenting quality occupational therapy (OT) services. AOTA’s Occupational Profile Template is designed for use in all practice settings and can be included in patients’ electronic health records. As outlined by AOTA's guidance on improving documentation quality, utilizing the occupational profile helps OTPs collaborate with clients to better understand their history, experiences, and goals, leading to more effective interventions and better outcomes for clients.
Key Components of the Occupational Profile
The AOTA Occupational Profile Template provides an outline to gather important information that can guide treatment and goals. This includes information such as:
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Client's Reason for Seeking Services
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Occupational History
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Current Occupations and Successes
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Personal Interests and Values
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Environment and Personal Contexts
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Performance Patterns and Client Factors
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Client Priorities and Desired Outcomes
Where to Find the Occupational Profile Template and Examples
AOTA has a number of resources related to the Occupational Profile Template, including examples of completed occupational profiles. On the AOTA website, you’ll find:
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A PDF and Word Version of the Occupational Profile Template
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Instructions for using the Occupational Profile Template in electronic health records (EHRs)
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Completed examples of the following occupational profiles:
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School-based pediatric
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Outpatient pediatrics
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Outpatient adults
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Community mental health-homelessness
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Other valuable documentation resources are available on the AOTA website, including tips for using the occupational profile to identify social determinants (drivers) of health (SDoH).
Finding Tips for Effective Documentation
Documentation is an important aspect of OT. Documentation provides information about the client’s history, need for occupational therapy services, and a record of treatment interventions.
For OTPs seeking more information about documentation, the AOTA official document, Guidelines for Documentation of Occupational Therapy, provides details about types of documentation and content of documentation.
Maximizing Your Clinical Documentation offers practical advice for documentation throughout the occupational therapy process, including during evaluation, intervention, and discharge.
Understanding the Whole Client
The occupational profile can help practitioners ensure the client perspective is incorporated into all occupational therapy care. The AOTA Occupational Profile Template is a tool that can be utilized to ensure this part of the occupational therapy process is integrated into care.
