ABSTRACT
The purpose of the occupational therapy assessment is to elucidate the occupational nature of patients so that a therapeutic regimen to resolve or alleviate occupational performance dysfunctions or sharpen occupational performance can be developed and implemented. This chapter describes the occupational therapy assessment related to the older adult with depression. Since depression is the most common affective disorder experienced by persons over age 65, affecting about 10 percent of this population, any therapist working with this age group needs to be able to assess the impact of depression on occupational functioning. The chapter aims to delineate the key questions guiding the assessment, identify the data-gathering methodology appropriate for answering each question, describe the typical yield for each question obtained from depressed older adults, and illustrate the process of formulating an occupational diagnosis. Occupational performance spans the gamut of self-care, home management, work, and leisure occupations.
