Occupational Therapy Program With a Learning Goal That Includes Multiple Goal Categories: A Case Report of a Cancer Survivor

TL;DR

An occupational therapy program helped a cancer survivor improve quality of life by setting diverse learning goals across multiple categories.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel approach to goal-setting in occupational therapy by incorporating multiple goal categories for cancer survivors.

Findings

Setting learning goals in leisure, psychological, and social domains improved the patient's quality of life.

Focusing solely on walking-related goals could have led to emotional decline due to low achievement probability.

Incorporating diverse goals led to re-engagement in hobbies and social activities.

Abstract

Successful goal-setting in occupational therapy can enhance cancer survivors' quality of life by fostering participation in meaningful and purposeful activities. To this end, strategies to prevent goal-setting failures are essential. This report describes the case of a cancer survivor who underwent occupational therapy with the incorporation of a learning goal across multiple categories.

The participant, a 73-year-old male patient, attended four weekly one-hour occupational therapy sessions. Initially, he lacked motivation for activities beyond walking, delaying goal-setting. Solely focusing on walking-related performance goals, as derived from the participant's narrative, would likely have led to emotional decline due to low goal-achievement probability. Instead, the therapist introduced learning goals encompassing leisure, psychological, and social domains. Concretely, the participant resumed playing Goban, a cherished pastime from his youth, which fostered positive experiences and alleviated loneliness. Gradually, he re-engaged in hobbies and began participating in activities, such as karaoke and social dining, resulting in improved quality of life.

This improvement underscores the importance of setting diverse learning goals beyond a single category. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects of this approach on goal-setting success rates and quality of life in cancer survivors with a range of cancer types.