Doing, Knowing, Being: Meaningful and occupational performance-based cognitive assessment with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Introduction: Assessing the impact of cognitive changes on occupational performance with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a recognised challenge in clinical practice. Objectives: This study explored clinical utility through descriptions and reflections of occupational therapists’ experiences using the PRPP Assessment with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Northern Territory. Method: Thirteen participants were purposefully recruited. Criteria included the following: experience working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and trained in the PRPP Assessment. Four focus groups were held, audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach. Each transcript was systematically and inductively coded. Shared meaning was identified across the data to develop themes. Practice Implications: Five themes were identified: the importance of contextual considerations, success of the PRPP Assessment in practice, embedding the PRPP Assessment in practice and facilitating meaningful, occupationally focussed assessment. The final theme: PRPP Assessment aligns practice with professional values: being, knowing, doing encompass a process of change following PRPP Assessment training. Participants described a sense of being re-connected to occupational therapy values through the assessment; they described knowing more about cognition, observing cognition, its impact on daily life and the intersection between cultural differences and cognitive impairments. This culminated in the process of doing where participants described the PRPP Assessment as facilitating them to practice in alignment with their values. Conclusion: Participants identified a profound connection between the PRPP Assessment and their occupational therapy values when using this approach to assess cognition in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.