Mr Patrick Dodds1
1NeuroRehab Allied Health Network, Australia
Biography:
Patrick has been practising as an Occupational Therapist in Australia and the UK for over 17 years. He has a broad range of experience assisting people from all walks of life regain their independence and achieve their goals at home, in the community, and in the workplace. He has extensive experience in complex home modifications, complex equipment prescription, neurological rehabilitation and chronic disease management. Pat is the Head of Clinical Services at NeuroRehab Allied Health Network where he champions quality improvement programs such as introducing a wheelchair credentialling framework and excellence in client-centered multi-disciplinary goal setting.
Abstract:
Many barriers exist to collaborative person-centred goal setting, such as cognitive and communication impairments, time, use of a proxy, cultural/linguistic diversity. The diverse perspectives of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) also presents a challenge in alignment. This presentation explores the process of identifying an effective multidisciplinary goal setting and outcome measurement tool for a private practice delivering community-based allied health services. Our initiative aimed to select the best tool for full MDT use and implement training to ensure high-quality, person-centred, and collaborative goal setting. After a literature review and tool trials, we selected the Multi-Disciplinary Goal Attainment Measure (MGAM) as the most suitable option. MGAM is a valid, sensitive, Australian-made tool that ensures goal setting is collaborative, meaningful, and responsive to client needs.
Key steps:
Conducting a literature review, leading to shortlisting of Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and MGAM.
– Forming a working party to trial COPM, leading to MGAM’s selection.
– Collaborating with MGAM authors for accurate implementation.
– Delivering workshops to 120+ therapists across six disciplines.
– Developing digital resources and processes to ensure consistent MGAM use.
Conclusion:
The MGAM has excellent utility as a collaborative goal setting and outcome measure tool. It is simple, efficient, and can be flexibly paired with the values of the client and any allied health discipline. MGAM's client-rated measures facilitate shared decision-making, enhance client participation and strengthen person-centred care. Refresher training on setting SMART, MDT-oriented, participation-based goals was found to be highly beneficial for therapists of all levels of experience.