To Örebro University

Introduction: Managing daily life activities requires time management and organizing skills. Individuals with cognitive disabilities commonly have poor ability to manage time, which often results in decreased ability to properly manage daily life activities. An intervention aimed to increase time management skills is "Let’s get organized" (LGO).

Objective: The current pilot study was designed to explore the outcome of the LGO with regards to time management skills, executive functions and satisfaction with daily occupations among individuals with cognitive disabilities.

Method: Persons with mental and neurodevelopmental disorder with decreased ability to manage time in daily life according to self-rated measures, were recruited by their local Occupational Therapist. All participants took part in LGO, which is a 10-week manual based group intervention with weekly meetings. Each session has a separate theme, with a common structure and goal to improve time management skills and to implement the use of a calendar in daily life. Measured outcomes were time management skills (Assessment of Time Management Skills), executive functioning (Weekly Calendar Planning Activity) and overall satisfaction with daily activities (Satisfaction with Daily Occupations).

Results: In all 55 persons participated in the study. Preliminary results from a subgroup indicate significant improvements in time management skills, in aspects of executive functioning and in overall satisfaction with daily occupations.

Conclusion: The LGO seems to be a promising intervention to improve time management skills and satisfaction with daily occupations in the short term. The used instruments appear to be sensitive to capture change from LGO.