Abstract
IMPORTANCE
Underutilization of hospice occupational therapy may be attributable to a lack of evidence on efficacy.
OBJECTIVE
To conduct a scoping review of occupational therapy outcome studies to ascertain how efficacy is captured in the literature.
DATA SOURCES
PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Scopus, Directory of Open Access Journals, Web of Science, OT Search, and Google Scholar.
STUDY SELECTION AND DATA COLLECTION
Search terms: hospice, palliative care, occupational therapy, rehabilitation, outcome measure, and assessment. Inclusion criteria: research studies in English, centered on adult hospice care, published between January 1997 and September 2017, and investigated occupational therapy efficacy with an outcome measure. Exclusion criteria: systematic reviews, participants not at terminal disease end stages, or intervention program reviews lacking differentiated occupational therapy outcomes.
FINDINGS
Seven articles met the inclusion criteria. Findings include frequent use of noncontrolled, quasi-experimental, prospective research designs; a focus on occupational performance; and no generally accepted hospice occupational therapy outcome measure.
CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE
Outcome measures of participation in end-of-life occupations and environmental influences on occupational engagement are needed to effectively support occupational therapy practice and research with people who are terminally ill.
WHAT THIS ARTICLE ADDS
Occupational therapy in end-of-life care is growing in complexity yet remains low in utilization. This review adds insights into current practice and future research foci for the profession.
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