Assessing the occupational performance priorities of people who are homeless.

SUMMARY This study examined retrospective data for 65 participants enrolled in an occupational therapy supportive employment program. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was used to identify self-perceived occupational performance problems specific to this population. Over half of the identified problems fell in the self-care domain (59%), about one-third (31%) were in the productivity domain and the final 10% were in the leisure domain. Narrative analysis of verbatim goals suggests that these individuals identified different types of self-care and productivity problems than samples in previous studies. The results of this study indicate that the COPM can facilitate person-centered, culturally responsive assessment with individuals who are homeless.

Building productive roles: occupational therapy in a homeless shelter.

SUMMARY Project Employ is a grant-funded program providing occupational therapy services to persons who are homeless. At Project Employ productive role involvement is the primary program outcome. Choices for productive role involvement are keyed by the person's interests and preferences, assessment is an ongoing process, prevocational training and rapid job placement are both available, and support and work-place interventions, while not unlimited, can continue for up to two years. This article describes the process of assessing factors that act as supports or barriers to productive role functioning and shares intervention methods that support role competence and adaptation in this vulnerable population.

Project Employ: engineering hope and breaking down barriers to homelessness.

The homeless population in the US has dramatically increased in the past two decades. People who are homeless often lack skills sets such as stress management and social skills, independent living skills, and skills for vocational and leisure engagement. Best practice vocational education and training programs for individuals who are homeless recognize that success in the worker role often hinges on a person's capacity to manage day-to-day living. Life skills and pre-employment training are essential components of vocational programs but no more important than interpersonal skill development including anger management, developing self esteem and motivation, building goal setting capacity, and skills for money management, personal budgeting and self-advocacy. These areas of performance have all been traditionally included in occupational therapy's domain of practice. This article describes Project Employ, a grant funded supportive employment program that has grown out of collaboration between Duquesne University's Department of Occupational Therapy and Bethlehem Haven, an emergency shelter and residential recovery program and primary service provider for homeless people in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The purpose of this article is to describe the history, structure and outcomes of Project Employ.