A brief measure of vocational activity and community participation: development and reliability of the Activity and Participation Questionnaire

Objectives: Social and economic marginalization are significant problems for many people living with mental illness. Clinicians and policy-makers have increased their focus on these aspects of recovery. Current outcome measures, however, do not support this focus, and detailed functional measures are not suitable for routine clinical use. This report describes the development and test-retest reliability of the Activity and Participation Questionnaire (APQ6); a self-report measure of vocational activity and social participation for routine use in community mental health services. Method: The APQ6 was developed from concepts of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Labour Force Surveys and Census. Field testing and consumer consultation were undertaken in New South Wales (NSW) mental health rehabilitation services. Test-retest reliability trials were conducted simultaneously by research teams in NSW and Queensland. Results: Pairs of short-cycle test-retest reliability interviews were obtained from 129 mental health service consumers. Consumer feedback and test-retest reliability results at question and item levels indicate good construct validity. The measure has utility as both a telephone and a personal interview in community mental health settings. Conclusions: The reported psychometric properties support the proposed use of the APQ6 as a recovery-orientated measure focusing on vocational activity and community participation. The APQ6 is being introduced for routine use by NSW mental health services.