F E AT U R E
A Model Life: How a Queensland OT Left her Mark on Functional Cognition Felicity Fay, Founder at OT Do and Cathy Hill, Founder at OT Do
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n care settings around the country, a simple task of lacing a thread has become the preferred method of screening a person’s functional cognitive ability. The Allen’s Cognitive Levels screening tool (ACL) is a standardised, evidence-based assessment approach. It determines what a person can do (rather than what they can’t), or what is meaningful and realistic when considering occupational performance. Occupational therapist Delaune Pollard has played a key role in the ACL’s uptake, dedicating her adult life to the application of the Cognitive Disabilities Model (CDM), which informs all aspects of the ACL tool.
Who is Delaune Pollard? As a young graduate from the University of Queensland in 1961, Delaune Pollard had little idea that her career path would take her on such a diverse journey. It was also a path that would indelibly shape the care of people living with disabilities and alter the perception of disability to a model of ability.
Delaune Pollard
36 otaus.com.au
Moving through the spectrum of human care, Delaune’s remarkable story encompasses academia, politics, and community and peak organisations. Her journey took her to Pennsylvania, the epicentre of functional cognition study. She became a lobbyist and advocate for those who did not have a voice, and mentored and taught the many who followed her example.
A Model Takes Shape
A knowledge of the impacts of a cognitive disability on occupational performance needs to be understood and applied to ensure the best outcomes and the selection of the ‘best fit’ strategies for individuals. The CDM helps us to recognise the cognitive complexity of tasks that people are able to engage in (Can Do) by assessing their functional cognitive capabilities to perform. This is then considered alongside the activities they want to do (Will Do), and how social and environmental barriers and enablers may impact (May Do). What we now understand as ‘functional cognition’ is a term that Delaune introduced in a 2005 publication, Allen’s Cognitive Levels: Meeting the Challenges of Client Focused Services (Pollard, D. V. and Olin, D., 2005). This core construct recognises the link between brain function and task behaviour. For therapists, the connection between function and cognition removes the stigma of disability or impairment, and shifts the focus towards interventions that build on abilities. The guided use of the ACL enables caregivers to plot abilities on a series of rubrics, much like a teacher fills in learning outcomes for students. When the level of functional capacity is known, strategies can be implemented to help the client succeed in the activities they can and wish to do.
