Domain and Process

Client factors

Client factors are specific capacities, characteristics, or beliefs that reside within the person and that influence performance in occupations. Client factors affect performance skills and engagement in occupation. All clients (i.e., persons, groups, and populations) possess client factors.

Group of seniors sitting on yoga mats with arms raised in the air

Occupational therapy practitioners often evaluate and analyze client factors because they affect engagement in occupation. Some client factors, such as pain, memory, and strength, are affected by the presence or absence of a medical condition or a disability. Other client factors are affected by the client's life stage and life experiences.

Categories of client factors

There are three main categories of client factors: Values, beliefs, and spirituality; body functions; and body structures.

Values, beliefs, and spirituality: What clients think is important, what they think is true, and how they see their connection to the people and world around them. This category of client factors influences a client's motivation to engage in occupations. Occupational therapy practitioners consider a client's values, beliefs, and spirituality to better understand their unique personal context and provide client-centered services.
Body functions: The complex way different systems of the body work together so that clients can use performance skills to engage in occupations. Examples of body functions include executive functioning, visual acuity, strength, mobility, and awareness of the body's position in space. Occupational therapy practitioners evaluate and analyze body functions to create adaptations, modifications, and plans for remediation in order to improve occupational performance and participation.
Body structures: The parts of the body that are used to engage in occupations. Examples of body structures include limbs, the brain, the spinal cord, blood vessels, and organs. Occupational therapy practitioners evaluate and analyze body structures because of their influence on health, wellness, and connection to occupational engagement.

Reference

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(Suppl. 2), 7412410010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001

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