Goal-directed training: Linking theories of treatment to clinical practice for improved functional activities in daily life

Abstract

Background: Goal-directed training is an activity-based approach to therapy. Meaningful, client-selected goals are used to provide opportunities for problem solving and to indirectly drive the movements required to successfully meet the task demands. This is in contrast to interventions that focus on changing body functions. Here, the principles of goal-directed training will be studied through two case studies with the aim of linking theories of treatment to clinical practice. Principles illustrated: The approach is based on the dynamic systems motor control theory and occupation-based therapy models, which suggest that movement patterns emerge from the interaction between the person's abil..