5. Assessment of Occupation and Social Performance

Summary

Eating disorders (EDs) are severe mental disorders and can have a huge effect on a person's quality of life. This chapter shows that when an ED is pervasive and physical symptoms are severe, it can have a profound impact on an individual's overall functioning. To recover from an ED and develop a healthy lifestyle, individuals must be assisted in achieving a balance in work, leisure and self-care activities, and occupational therapists have the unique skills necessary to facilitate this balance and promote optimal occupational performance. The chapter presents two case examples to illustrate the type of information that can be gathered by occupational therapists regarding social and occupation performance during the assessment process. Therapeutic intervention will need to concentrate on occupation-focused interventions to develop individuals' competency in participating and performing in meaningful adaptive occupations and adult roles, such as culinary skills, vocational rehabilitation, independent living skills, communication and assertion skills.