NOTCE key terms

Any everyday activity that a person needs, wants, or is expected to do, spanning self-care, productivity, and leisure; the core unit of concern in occupational therapy and the target of enablement.

The doing of a chosen or required occupation, shaped by the interaction of the person, the environment, and the demands of the task itself.

Engagement in desired or necessary life situations and roles within a social context, reflecting involvement rather than mere physical ability to perform a task.

Systematic breakdown of a task into its component steps, required abilities, objects, and environmental conditions, used to grade, adapt, or select interventions.

Examination of the specific steps and demands of an activity as performed by a particular person in a particular setting, emphasizing individual capability rather than generic task components.

Deliberately increasing or decreasing the physical, cognitive, or social demands of an activity so that it matches the person's current capacity and progresses toward a goal.

A framework holding that performance arises from the fit among personal capacities, environmental features, and occupational demands; intervention targets whichever element is most modifiable.

Basic self-care tasks such as bathing, dressing, toileting, feeding, and transferring, which underpin independence and are typically assessed before higher-level instrumental tasks.

Community and household tasks such as shopping, cooking, managing money, using transport, and handling medication, which require more complex cognitive and organizational capacity than basic self-care.

Structured measurement of a person's independence in self-care, using observation, interview, or standardized scales to establish baseline function and track change over time.

A standardized or structured tool used to quantify change in a targeted domain, chosen for its reliability, validity, and responsiveness to the intervention being evaluated.

A method in which individualized goals are written at several expected outcome levels and later scored, producing a numerical index of progress toward personally meaningful targets.

A goal written to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, so that progress can be judged objectively and the intervention plan stays focused.

The documented agreement on what will be done, by whom, how often, and toward which goals, including the rationale for chosen approaches and the criteria for discharge.

Collaborative preparation for ending a service episode, covering goal review, community supports, equipment, follow-up, and written handover to the next provider.

The movement of a person between settings or providers, requiring timely information transfer, medication reconciliation, and confirmation that supports are in place.

An approach in which the person receiving services directs goal selection and decision-making, with the therapist providing expertise, options, and facilitation rather than prescriptive solutions.

The professional bond built on trust, respect, clear boundaries, and communication that supports a person's engagement in therapy while protecting against dependency or exploitation.

The limits that keep the practitioner-client relationship focused on service goals, distinguishing acceptable warmth and self-disclosure from dual relationships and exploitation.

Voluntary agreement to assessment or intervention given after the person receives and understands relevant information about purpose, risks, benefits, alternatives, and the right to withdraw.

A person's functional ability to understand information and appreciate consequences sufficiently to make a particular decision at a particular time; presumed unless shown otherwise.

The duty to protect personal health information from unauthorized disclosure, limited by legal reporting requirements, risk of serious harm, and consent-based information sharing.

A legal or regulatory obligation to disclose specified matters, such as suspected child or elder abuse or a fitness-to-practice concern, despite the usual duty of confidentiality.

Statutorily required notification to an authority about defined events, such as abuse, impaired practice, or communicable disease, with timelines and content set by law.

A regulator's determination that a professional has the competence, character, and health to provide safe, ethical care without restriction or with defined conditions.

The range of activities a professional is educated, competent, and authorized to perform, bounded by legislation, employer policy, and the individual's own demonstrated competence.

Transferring performance of a specific task to another person while the delegating professional retains accountability for the decision and for confirming the person's competence.

Structured oversight and support of a worker's practice, including monitoring, feedback, and reflective discussion, with frequency and format matched to risk and experience.

The ongoing process of maintaining and improving knowledge and skills after initial licensure, typically through reflective self-assessment, learning activities, and documented evidence.

Deliberate examination of one's own actions, reasoning, and emotional responses after or during an encounter, used to adjust future practice and identify learning needs.

The cognitive process of gathering and interpreting information, forming hypotheses, and selecting and revising interventions in light of the person's context and response.

Integration of the best available research evidence, the practitioner's expertise, and the person's values and preferences when making decisions about care.

The consistency of a measure across raters, occasions, or items; a necessary but insufficient condition for a tool to be useful in clinical decision-making.

The extent to which a tool or conclusion measures or supports what it claims to, including content, construct, and criterion aspects relevant to the intended population.

The nervous system's capacity to reorganize structure and function in response to experience, learning, injury, and rehabilitation, forming the biological rationale for task-specific training.

Relatively permanent change in movement capability through practice and experience, influenced by feedback, variability, and the way practice conditions resemble real tasks.

Practice of the actual activity the person needs to perform, rather than isolated component drills, on the principle that gains transfer best when practice resembles performance.

Changing physical or social surroundings, through equipment, layout, lighting, or policy, to reduce demand and enable participation without requiring the person to change.

Devices, software, or systems that maintain or improve function for a person with a disability, selected after matching user needs, environment, and training requirements.