Cognitive Orientation for Daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) is an intervention to promote participation in daily activities. Three core principles were used when developing CO-OP, including client-centredness, performance-based skill acquisition and problem-solving. It was initially developed for children with developmental co-ordination disorder but has since been expanded to be used with many different populations, including people with Asperger's syndrome, cerebral palsy, stroke and traumatic brain injury. CO-OP has seven key features:

• Client-centred goal setting

• Global problem-solving strategy (goal-plan-do-check)

• Session by session goals and homework

• Dynamic performance analysis to address breakdowns in performance

• Enabling principles (The Canadian Model of Client-Centred Enablement)

• Guided discovery

• Participation from other stakeholders, including parents and teachers

Let's have a more in-depth look to some of the core features.

• Dynamic performance analysis (DPA): is a strategy used by occupational therapists to identify a breakdown in occupational performance. DPA can be used to help therapists develop and prioritize strategies that will support a client's skill acquisition and achieve their goals.

• Goal-Plan-Do-Check: Each client, in collaboration with an occupational therapist, chooses their own Goal. The Plan is the course of action that the client and therapist will take to achieve the set Goal. The next step is Do, which involves performing the necessary steps to complete the Plan, and Check is used to evaluate whether the Goal was achieved.

• Guided Discovery: reflects how the client and occupational therapist interact during therapy. The therapist asks questions and provides cues or hints so clients can identify performance issues and solutions on their own.

Reference: Rodger, Sylvia, and Ann Kennedy-Behr. Occupation-Centred Practice with Children: A Practical Guide for Occupational Therapists. John Wiley & Sons, 2017.