The Functional Assessment Scale as an Instrument for Measuring Changes in Levels of Function of Nursing Home Residents Following Occupational Therapy

Abstract

The Functional Assessment Scale (FAS) (Breines, 1983) was used to measure the performance of nursing home patients at the outset of occupational therapy and every two weeks thereafter until patients were discharged from treatment. Of 249 patients at ten nursing homes, 186 patients improved in Levels of functional performance; 234 patients improved in Units of skill development. Fifty-two patients reached Levels of independence or returned to home with family support. Seventy-five percent of patients improved in Levels of performance, 94 percent increased in the number of skills they could perform. These results suggest that theFAS is an effective tool for measuring changes in patients' performance for both individual and comparative study.