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Occupational therapy practitioners provide interventions to promote activity engagement to multiple clinical populations. They help clients develop restorative, adaptive, and compensatory skills to improve their performance in daily activities. The issue addressed in this article is that current clinical frameworks lack translation of learned skills to consistent everyday performance. There is a gap between what clients can do and what clients actually do in everyday life. Behavioral activation provides an explicit, structured, and practical approach that can translate capacity into long-term engagement. This article presents behavioral activation as a transdiagnostic approach that targets populations experiencing chronic illness to bridge the gap between what the client can do in therapy and what the client could do in everyday life. What This Article Adds: People with chronic illness have difficulty translating the skills learned in traditional practice settings to everyday life. Behavioral activation offers occupational therapy practitioners a practical structure to promote the translation of learned skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of conducting a future full-scale trial to test the efficacy of an in-home occupational therapy intervention designed to reduce disability in older adult cancer survivors. METHOD. Participants reporting activity limitations during or after cancer treatment were enrolled in a Phase 1 pilot randomized controlled trial comparing the 6-wk intervention (n = 30) to usual care (n = 29). Descriptive data on retention rates were collected to assess feasibility of intervention and study procedures. Potential efficacy was explored through participants' self-reported disability, quality of life, activity level, and behavioral activation at 0, 8, and 16 wk after enrollment. RESULTS. Retention rates were high regarding completion of the intervention (90%) and outcome assessments (90% of usual-care participants and 80% of intervention participants). Outcomes consistently favored the intervention group, although group differences were small. CONCLUSION. The procedures were feasible to implement and acceptable to participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE. In this pilot study of a home-based occupational therapy intervention intended to reduce disability and improve quality of life, our objective was to identify rates of goal attainment and patterns of goal adjustment of participants. METHOD. Thirty older adults with cancer were randomized to the intervention arm, and 24 participants identified goals and completed the six-session intervention. An exploratory content analysis of qualitative and quantitative session data was performed. RESULTS. Participants set 63 6-wk goals and attained 62% of them. Most of the goals addressed walking (28%), sedentary leisure (24%), exercising (16%), or instrumental activities of daily living (14%). When 6-wk goals were not attained (n = 24), there were 10 instances of goal disengagement and 14 instances of goal reengagement. CONCLUSION. Although most participants were able to meet their goals, many also changed their goals and priorities after reflection and attempts to resume or initiate meaningful activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]