occupational therapy research proposal topics

61 Best Occupational Therapy Research Topics

Occupational therapists help people of all ages to recover and improve their physical, sensory, and cognitive activities. More than half of occupational therapists work in hospitals, while others work in nursing homes, educational facilities, and homes. But what does it take to be an occupational therapist? It would be best to study occupational therapy primarily up to the master’s level . Students are assigned projects as part of their course work through the studies. That is why we have selected the best occupational therapy research topics for your next assignment.

In occupational therapy, students always have trouble handling research projects. If you study occupational therapy and feel like you need help selecting a research topic, do not hesitate to contact us. Our writers go the extra mile and assist you in writing a top-notch research paper.

Do You Need Help in Selecting an Occupational Therapy Research Topic?

When you search “occupational therapy research topics, “it is not easy to trust platforms that offer academic consultation services. However, we offer expert writing services and professional research tips to keep your data confidential when you order from us.

Need help doing your assignment?

Often, occupational therapy students have a large workload which prevents them from doing every task on time. And when you have limited time, it becomes challenging to select a research topic.

We hope the tips below help you in your subsequent research:

1. Select a topic that interests you

When you select a topic that interests you, the research process becomes fun and engaging.  

2. Narrow your topic

If your topic is too broad, it loses focus. Therefore, you should narrow down your scope to cover all the relevant information on the topic.

3. Review your research guidelines

Make sure that the research topic meets the requirements. If some of the guidelines are unclear, you should consult your professor or HelpForHomework to explain . 

4. Read your class notes  and do background research

Reading your notes helps in doing background checks on a topic. Knowing more about your research topic helps you develop a compelling argument for your paper.

5. Consider your audience

You should select a topic that is understandable to your audience. The research depends on your level of education as more comprehensive reports are high in the educational spectrum. Further, by identifying your audience, you can arrange details, tone, and supporting information in an appropriate presentation . 

6. Create questions to evaluate your research topic

After finding a research topic, create questions to evaluate it. For example:

• Is the research feasible?
• How attractive is the research topic?
• What has been researched?
• What is the problem to be solved?
• What is the solution to the problem?
• How is your solution a good one?
• Who is the audience?

Qualities of an Excellent Occasional Therapy Research Topic

As we have recommended, always narrow down to a topic that interests you. After selecting a topic, you should check if it has the following qualities:

Clarity: Your occupational therapy research topic should be straightforward and understandable to your audience.

Complex: Your project topics should not be answerable by yes or no. The topic should be arguable and analytical.

Focused : Once you select a topic, check if it is narrow and focused and answer it thoroughly.

Your final research grade depends on how effective your topic selection is. It would be best if you prepared for your research early. However, if you need help, do not hesitate to contact us. But first, go through the occupational therapy research topics below and tell us what you think.

Hot Occupational Therapy Research Topics

Hot occupational therapy research topics should help you in creating a unique project. Before selecting a topic, you should examine the aspects that are preferable to you and what interests you the most. But it would be best if you did not worry as we have a list of top recommendations to save you .

• Discuss the progress made in a decade in occupational therapy for adults
• Ethics in occupational therapy
• Explain the role of occupational therapy for patients with stroke
• How do diabetic patients benefit from occupational therapy?
• How does culture affect occupational therapy?
• How is occupational therapy important in controlling dementia?
• How is occupational therapy necessary in pain management?
• Is occupational therapy truly occupational?
• Occupational therapy for breast cancer patients
• Occupational therapy in disease prevention
• Role of occupational therapy in disaster preparedness and management
• Role of occupational therapy in functional literacy
• Role of occupational therapy in the management of depression
• Role of occupational therapy in the management of eating disorders
• What is the role of occupational therapy in schools?

Good research topics for occupational therapy

An excellent occupational therapy research topic should be comprehensive and enjoyable to read. When formulating a research topic, you should ensure that you are original, specific, and concrete. We hope you find the best research topic from the list below:

• Benefits of occupational therapy for adult mental health patients
• Between bottom-up and top-down approaches, which method is effective for patients suffering from a stroke?
• Coexistence between teachers and occupational therapists in a school setting
• Discuss the stereotypes in occupational therapy practice
• Evaluate occupational therapy for patients with a brain tumor
• How can occupational therapy be used to prevent human trafficking?
• Interventions used by occupational therapists when treating spinal cord injuries
• Occupational therapy for cancer patients with metastatic disease
• Occupational therapy for inpatient
• Occupational therapy for terminally ill patients
• Occupational therapy in mental health management
• Role of occupational therapy in symptoms control
• The role of occupational therapy for prisoners
• The use of apps in occupational therapy treatment
• What are the therapeutic outcomes of occupational therapy?

Occupational therapy student research topics

It may seem challenging to select the best occupational therapy research topic, so the trick is to narrow down and select one that fascinates you. Always take your time, research a list of topics, and choose the one you can support. Here are some of the topics to consider:

• Critical historical analysis of occupational therapy
• Does occupational therapy affect politics
• Foundations of occupational therapy practice
• Impact of the gender of providing occupational therapy services
• Importance of occupational therapy in school mental health
• Leadership in occupational therapy
• Occupational therapy for children with autism
• Occupational therapy for people who have hip replacement
• Occupational therapy models for families
• Role of occupational therapy for children with sensory modulation disorder
• Role of occupational therapy in managing sleep
• Role of occupational therapy in psychiatry
• Scope of occupational therapy
• Students perception of occupational therapy
• Teacher’s perception towards occupational therapy
• The perspective of sensory integration approach in occupational therapy

Pediatric occupational therapy research topics

Pediatric occupational therapists seek to understand children’s motor skills, cognitive abilities, and social development. The therapists also check factors that may hinder children’s growth or ability to perform certain tasks at a specific age.

While studying pediatric occupational therapy, students go through a hassle in selecting a research topic. That is why HelpForHomework compiled the best 15 Pediatric occupational therapy research topics for you.

• A profile of your country pediatric occupational therapy
• Competency of a pediatric occupational therapist in the USA
• Correlation between obesity and academic achievement
• Discuss how religion and culture affect decision making in pediatric occupational therapy
• Effects of COVID-19 to outpatient occupational therapy
• How effective are the weighted vests in pediatric occupational therapy?
• How effective is the standing frame to children with cerebral palsy?
• Policies governing pediatric occupational therapy
• Risk factors correlating with musculoskeletal complaints from children
• The role of pediatric occupational therapy to children with osteosarcoma
• Treatment methods of lower limb spasticity in children with cerebral palsy
• Treatment of neonatal jaundice
• Use of video occupational therapy modeling for children
• What is the role of pediatric occupational therapy?
• What is your perspective on occupational-based pediatric therapy?

Need Help With Occupational Therapy Research?

Now that you have an occupational therapy research topic, do you need help in writing? Our support department is on standby to help you get top-quality expert papers. Further, if you need more clarification on project topics, do not hesitate to contact us. We assure you of personalized and professional help whenever you consult us for your assignments. Also check out Physical Therapy Research Topics .

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Occupational Therapy : Research Proposal

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Helpful handouts.

• Literature Review How-To
• Literature Review - Annotated Example
• Literature Search Tracking Log
• Literature Review Tracking Log
• Qualitative Data Collection
• Quantitative Data Collection
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Research Design
• Methodology

The Introduction section of the research proposal should provide the reader with an overview of your research.  You want to take the time to briefly explain why you selected your topic and why it is important to your field.  You will then want to express what your research adds to the field and why it is important.  It is helpful for the reader and yourself to use the section to define terms and/or concepts that will be important to your proposal and overall research. The introduction should conclude with your research question(s) or hypothesis(es) and what you aim to learn or achieve by completing this research. Many find it helpful to make the Introduction the last section that they complete.  By doing this, you will have a clearer understanding of your overall research strategy and research question.  

Your introduction should do the following:, explain the problem being investigated and related issues, explain the purpose of investigating the problem, provide relevant background or historical information , explain research trends and relevant theories for the field, define key terms and theories , set parameters and aims for the study, state the proposals research question(s) or hypothesis(es), the literature review section of your research proposal is where you present an analysis of the published literature on your research topic.  the literature review does not need to cover every published paper or book but should survey scholarly literature that is the most important research within your field and on your particular topic.  the goal of the literature review is to analyze the available body of literature and to present how it is related, either through theory, method, or concepts.  you want to show the reader that your research fits any gaps present within the field, therefore making your research new and valuable to the field. , organize your results. , utilize literature review trackers , save all your journal articles to one place , keep track of databases searched and terms used. , group findings., you want to find similarities and differences in the literature. , try grouping by methods, concepts, theories, or findings., look for controversy., is there a debate within your field of study , are some researchers using one theory over another, find the gaps. , you want to find the gaps in the literature to help show that your research is new and important to the field. , do not summarize. , you want to ensure that you are analyzing the literature in your review, don't just summarize each study. .

The Research Design section of your research proposal is where you will explain your research plan and the process and procedures that will go into carrying out your plan. 

You should explain the type of research you will be performing: qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, etc. this determination will impact all other components of your research plan from population to data analysis (pickard, 2013, 52-53)., this section should answer the following questions:, is your study qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods, why have you made this decision, why is this the most appropriate study design, qualitative.

Quantitative 

The methodology section is where you describe exactly how you anticipate carrying out your research.  this section will include detailed explanations of your research methods, data collection, and data analysis (pickard, 2013, 53). , you should be answering the following questions:, what research method(s) are you applying to the study, why have you made this choice, how do you intend to structure the method(s) for your investigation, population , you will first need to determine who will constitute your research population, i.e. who are you studying are you planning on studying a large group of people, or a small group.  this decision will be in part be determined by your research design and methods. , "your research population is the entire set of individuals about which inference will be made." (pickard, 2013, 60). , sampling methods are used when you cannot include everyone in your research population, and therefore there is a need to create a pre-defined 'sample' of your population. within this section, you will need to explain how you plan on obtaining your sample and why this sampling method is the most appropriate and generalizable. , "sampling is the process of selecting a few from many in order to carry out empirical research." (pickard, 2013, 59). , types of sampling techniques:, probability sampling, simple random sampling, stratified random sampling, cluster sampling, quota sampling, purposive sampling, a priori criteria sampling, snowball sampling, data collection, within this section, you will need to explain who you plan to obtain your research data and what type of data you plan on collecting.  will you be performing an experiment with data points, an interview with questions, or will you be utilizing a research instrument the research design and type of data will determine your data collection procedures.  remember that data collection techniques are tied with data analysis, the type of procedure for data collection must match how your data will be analyzed. , examples of data collection techniques:, empirical , research instruments, questionnaires, reliability: measures consistency, validity: does it measure what it's supposed to measure, observations, focus groups , data analysis, in this section, you will need to explain how you plan to analyze the data you collected.  the type of data analysis is based upon the type of data collected and your research design.  you will need to determine if your research is quantitative or qualitative, this will impact how you will analyze your data.  quantitative data analysis involves statistical calculations and procedures, while qualitative does not. , quantitative analysis, frequency distribution, mann-whitney u test, rank order correlation, all parametric statistics, qualitative analysis, comprehending, synthesizing, re-contextualizing, the research ethics section is where you describe how you plan to uphold ethical considerations.  all research involving human or animal participants need to abide by ethical standards. the types of ethical considerations and standards you must consider for your research plan will depend on the type of research design, population, sample, and data collected.  , you must show you understand and acknowledge the ethical boundaries placed on your research plan. , the irb or institutional review board is a type of committee that applies research ethics by reviewing the methods proposed for research to ensure they are ethical. , federal regulations involving human subjects must be reviewed by an irb.  the irb must approve or determine the project to be exempt prior to the start of any research activities. , you must submit your research for irb approval if it meets the following criteria:, you are utilizing human participants, your data collection is systematic and methodical, the goal of your research is to contribute to the generalizable scientific knowledge base of your discipline, informed consent , you will need to obtain informed consent from your study participants.  informed consent is a document that study participants agree to sign acknowledging that they understand what they are agreeing to, what is being asked of them, the purpose of the research, how their information will be used and/or protected, and are aware of any danger to their body or mind. informed consent creates a mutual understanding between researchers and study participants., data ethics, anonymity : the study participants remain totally anonymous during and after the research activity., confidentiality : the identity of the participants will not be revealed when using any data provided by that participant..

References:

Pickard, A.J. (2013).  Research Methods in Information  (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: ALA Neal-Schuman.

Revised with permission:  Research Process and Scholarship Guide , National University Library

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100 Most Influential OT Research Articles

• Post date --> January 4, 2024
• Sticky post

Learn how we review the most influential occupational therapy research. And, see our 2024 list of the most influential OT-related journal articles.

How OT Potential helps you keep up with new research

Approximately 1,000 research articles containing OT are published EACH YEAR. That means roughly 5,000 articles have come out over the past five years!

As busy clinicians, we obviously don’t have time to keep up on all of the evidence. But, we do owe it to our patients to stay on top of the most influential research. 

In our membership community, The OT Potential Club , we find and review the most influential research for you. In our two week rotation, we first share a written review of the research and give you space to discuss it. Then the follow week, we release an episode of the OT Potential Podcast , where we invite an expert guest to help us pull out actionable takeaways. These episodes are AOTA approved courses.

See the process in the video below. You can also sign up for a free trial to see our platform !

See sample journal article reviews and take 2 free CEU courses Sign up for our OT Potential Club free 5-day trial.

How we select OT research to review

Each year to determine the most influential research for us to review we generated a list the 100 most influential OT-related journal articles from the past 5 yeras.

We team up with a research librarian to make this happen. 

For our 2024 list, we searched the Scopus database for articles published from 2019-2023 that had “ occupational therapy ” included in either the title, abstract, or keywords. (By the way, Elsevier’s Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature.) Then, we ranked the list by the number of times the articles had been cited in other journal articles.

The articles with green check marks have already been discussed in the OT Potential Club , and we will continue to work through this list throughout 2024.

To see research we’ve reviewed from past years’ lists check our article, research in the OT Potential Club .

The 100 most cited OT articles from the past five years

✅ = already reviewed in the ot potential club and featured as ceu course on the ot potential podcast.

• Listen to the podcast: Parkinson Disease Evidence Review with Brandy Archie
• Listen to the podcast: Cerebral Palsy and OT Evidence with Iona Novak
• Listen to the podcast: Rheumatoid Arthritis and OT with Cheryl Crow
• Listen to the podcast: OT and Psoriatic Arthritis with Duana Russell-Thomas
• Spinocerebellar ataxia (2019) Nature Reviews Disease Primers
• Considering the potential for an increase in chronic pain after the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) Pain
•   Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process-Fourth Edition (2020) American Journal of Occupational Therapy
•   American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation Guideline for the Treatment of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (2019) Arthritis Care and Research
• Outpatient Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapy Synchronous Telemedicine; A Survey Study of Patient Satisfaction with Virtual Visits during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020) American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Secondary Fracture Prevention: Consensus Clinical Recommendations from a Multistakeholder Coalition (2020) Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
• Long-Term Effects of Breast Cancer Surgery, Treatment, and Survivor Care (2019) Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health
• Cerebral palsy in children: A clinical overview (2020) Translational Pediatrics
• Listen to the podcast: Depression in Neurodegenerative Diseases with Rachel Wiley
• Listen to the podcast: Pediatric OT Evidence Review with Michelle DeJesus
• Pediatric Teleheath: Opportunities Created by the COVID-19 and Suggestions to Sustain Its Use to Support Families of Children with Disabilities (2021) Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics
• Listen to the podcast: Virtual Reality and OT with Christopher Gaskins
• Benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation in covid-19 – a prospective observational cohort study (2021) ERJ Open Res
• Emerging health challenges for children with physical disabilities and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic: The ECHO French survey (2021) Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine
• Cerebral palsy: An overview (2020) American Family Physician
• Complex regional pain syndrome: a narrative review for the practising clinician (2019) British Journal of Anaesthesia
• Social Isolation – The Other COVID-19 Threat in Nursing Homes (2020) JAMA – Journal of the American Medical Association
• Listen to the podcast: CIMT and OT with Catherine Hoyt
• Assessment of Emergency Department and Inpatient Use and Costs in Adult and Pediatric Functional Neurological Disorders (2021) JAMA Neurology
• Canadian guideline for Parkinson disease (2019) CMAJ
• A systematic review of ayres sensory integration intervention for children with autism (2019) Autism Research
• Professional identity: A concept analysis (2020) Nursing Forum
• Sepsis-associated encephalopathy and septic encephalitis (2021) Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy
• Diagnosis and management of functional neurological disorder (2022) BMJ
• Listen to the podcast: OT for Spasticity in Adults with Scott Thompson
• Elements virtual rehabilitation improves motor, cognitive, and functional outcomes in adult stroke (2019) Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
• Clinical Neurorestorative Therapeutic Guidelines for Spinal Cord Injury (2020) Journal of Orthopaedic Translation
• Immersive Virtual Reality Mirror Therapy for Upper Limb Recovery after Stroke: A Pilot Study (2019) American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Best-evidence for the rehabilitation of chronic pain part 1: Pediatric pain (2019) Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Developmental delay: Identification and management at primary care level (2019) Singapore Medical Journal
• Occupational therapy consensus recommendations for functional neurological disorder (2020) Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
• One year in review 2019: Systemic sclerosis (2019) Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology
• Personalized medicine for patients with COPD: Where are we? (2019) International Journal of COPD
• Association of Geriatric Comanagement and 90-Day Postoperative Mortality among Patients Aged 75 Years and Older with Cancer (2020) JAMA Network Open
• Immersive Virtual Reality for the Management of Pain in Community-Dwelling Older Adults (2019) OTJR Occupation, Participation and Health
• Nonpharmacological Interventions to Improve Depression, Anxiety, and Quality of Life (QoL) in People With Dementia (2020) Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
• Occupational therapy for people with dementia and their family carers provided at home (2019) BMJ Open
• Decade of progress in motor functional neurological disorder: Continuing the momentum (2021) Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
• Management of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (2020) Frontiers in Endocrinology
• Multiple sclerosis management during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) Multiple Sclerosis Journal
• Parent perspectives of an occupational therapy telehealth intervention (2019) International Journal of Telerehabilitation
• Breast cancer in adolescent and young adult women under the age of 40 years (2021) JCO oncology practice
• Effects of telerehabilitation in occupational therapy practice: A systematic review (2019) Hong Kong Journal of Occupational Therapy
• Awareness and current knowledge of Parkinson’s disease: a neurodegenerative disorder (2019) International Journal of Neuroscience
• Cognitive reserve and age predict cognitive recovery after mild to severe traumatic brain injury (2019) Journal of Neurotrauma
• Cognitive training for people with mild to moderate dementia (2019) Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
• Physical Rehabilitation in Critically Ill Children: A Multicenter Point Prevalence Study in the United States (2020) Critical Care Medicine
• Quality of life and its related factors for adults with autism spectrum disorder (2019) Disability and Rehabilitation
• Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Is a Team Sport: Institutional Survival Benefits of a Formalized ECMO Team (2019) Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia
• Motor learning in neurological rehabilitation (2021) Disability and rehabilitation
• Guidelines on the diagnosis and management of the progressive ataxias (2019) Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
• Construct validity, test-retest reliability, and the ability to detect change of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure in a spinal cord injury population (2019) Spinal cord series and cases
• Telerehabilitation During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Outpatient Rehabilitation Settings (2021) Physical Therapy
• Loss in services precedes high school exit for teens with autism spectrum disorder (2019) Autism Research
• Construct validity of a revised version of the Occupational Balance Questionnaire (2020) Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy
• Telehealth for the provision of occupational therapy: Reflections on experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) International Journal of Telerehabilitation
• Treatment patterns in children with autism in the United States (2019) Autism Research
• Stroke self-management and the role of self-efficacy (2021) Disability and rehabilitation
• Occupational therapy in the promotion of health and well-being (2020) The American Journal of Occupational Therapy
• Toward a theory-based specification of non-pharmacological treatments in aging and dementia (2020) Alzheimer’s & Dementia
• Efficacy of Virtual Reality Combined With Real Instrument Training for Patients With Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2019) Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Relationships between job satisfaction, burnout, professional identity and meaningfulness of work activities for occupational therapists working in mental health (2019) Australian Occupational Therapy Journal
• Potential benefits of music playing in stroke upper limb motor rehabilitation (2020) Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
• Evaluation of pelvis postural systems in spinal cord injury patients: Outcome research (2020) Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine
• A review of interprofessional training wards: Enhancing student learning and patient outcomes (2019) Medical Teacher
• Effects of virtual reality-based planar motion exercises on upper extremity function, range of motion, and health-related quality of life (2019) Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation
• What is the threshold dose of upper limb training for children with cerebral palsy to improve function? A systematic review (2020) Australian occupational therapy journal
• Listen to the podcast: OT, Plagiocephaly, and Cognitive Outcomes with Amirra Condelee
• COVID-19 and Cerebrovascular Diseases: A Systematic Review and Perspectives for Stroke Management (2020) Frontiers in Neurology
• The use of augmented reality for rehabilitation after stroke: a narrative review (2020) Disability and rehabilitation. Assistive technology
• Listen to the podcast: Pain and OT with Irvin Eisenberg
• Flexor tendon rehabilitation in the 21st century: A systematic review (2019) Journal of Hand Therapy
• An intervention to reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms and caregiver burden in dementia: Preliminary results from a randomized trial of the tailored activity program–outpatient version (2019) International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
• Pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapeutic strategies in difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic literature review informing the EULAR recommendations for the management of difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis (2021) RMD open
• Patient satisfaction with telehealth in rural settings: A systematic review (2020) International journal of telerehabilitation
• Physical, occupational, and speech therapy for children with cerebral palsy (2020) Developmental medicine and child neurology
• Enhanced recovery after surgery trends in adult spine surgery: A systematic review (2020) International journal of spine surgery
• Impact of Sarcopenia on Adverse Outcomes after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (2019) Journal of the National Cancer Institute
• Optimal Terminology for Services in the United States That Incorporate Horses to Benefit People: A Consensus Document (2021) Journal of alternative and complementary medicine
• Improving the quality of life of people with advanced respiratory disease and severe breathlessness (2019) Breathe
• Comparative efficacy of interventions for reducing symptoms of depression in people with dementia: Systematic review and network meta-analysis (2021) BMJ (Clinical research ed.)
• Listen to the podcast: OT & Smart Home Tech Adoption with Carol Chiang
• Contributing to social transformation through occupation: Experiences from a think tank (2019) Journal of Occupational Science
• Moving from cultural competence to cultural humility in occupational therapy: A paradigm shift (2020) The American journal of occupational therapy
• Virtual reality in neurorehabilitation: An umbrella review of meta-analyses (2021) Journal of clinical medicine
• Recommendations for the Nonpharmacological Treatment of Apathy in Brain Disorders (2020) The American journal of geriatric psychiatry
• Evidence-based practice implementation in stroke rehabilitation: A scoping review of barriers and facilitators (2020) The American journal of occupational therapy
• Treatment of neuropathic pain after peripheral nerve and brachial plexus traumatic injury (2019) Neurology India
• Cultural competency and the reproduction of White supremacy in occupational therapy education (2020) Health Education Journal
• Rural-urban disparities in health care costs and health service utilization following pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (2019) Health services research
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Practical Diagnostic and Treatment Guidelines, 5th Edition (2022) Pain medicine
• Interventions to improve upper limb function for children with bilateral cerebral palsy: a systematic review (2019) Developmental medicine and child neurology
• Re-imagining occupational therapy clients as communities: Presenting the community-centred practice framework (2019) Scandinavian journal of occupational therapy
• Occupational therapy, everyday life and the fabric of life: Theoretical-conceptual contributions for the construction of critical and emancipatory perspectives (2020) Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional
• Hyperphosphatemic Tumoral Calcinosis: Pathogenesis, Clinical Presentation, and Challenges in Management (2020) Frontiers in Endocrinology
• Early versus delayed mobilization for in-hospital mortality and health-related quality of life among critically ill patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2019) Journal of intensive care

Need help accessing these articles?

As you can see, each of the articles in our list is hyperlinked for your convenience—and I’m always surprised by how many research articles are free! However, if you find one that is not free, you can also see if it’s available via your AOTA membership in AJOT or via ProQuest with your NBCOT membership. You can read more about these options in our blog post on where to find OT research .

All that being said, some articles you may simply have to purchase. 

Resources derived from our OT research list

As we spend time exploring this research, we’ll continue to systematically pull information that is helpful for OTs. Check out these other blog posts, which incorporate information we find in our research:

• Helpful List of OT Journals
• List of OT Assessments
• OT Documentation

We hope this list fills you with excitement for occupational therapy—and the research that is driving it. And, we hope you consider joining us in our favorite corner of the internet…the OT Potential Club . 🙂

13 replies on “100 Most Influential OT Research Articles”

Thanks for taking the time to research and share these articles, I live by and truly believe that Team Work Makes a Dream Work! I look forward to our club and please count me in 🙂 One way that I would keep up with the latest and greatest was having mini lunch time discussions with my therapy pals. We would switch off who was responsible to bring in an article and share what we learned but most importantly how we can apply it. I think if more DOR could get behind these groups this would make big impacts in our daily practices. Look forward to your next blog! Aloha <3

Hey Monica!!

I am so excited to hangout with you in the OT Potential Club, and talk about ways to apply new research! I agree that lunch time journal clubs are such a great tool for departments. Hopefully the OT Potential Club will make preparing content for these even easier!

Thank you so much for all your support! (And please send some of your warm weather to those of us in the Midwest!)

As a future OT student, I’m curious if you have any insight into the following question. As I read about advancements in childhood development research, it strikes me that OT’s are often not included in these discussions. For instance, I went to a Brookings Institution panel on "A prescription for play" ( https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2018/08/21/a-prescription-for-play/ ) and it would have been great to have an OT on the panel since they work "on the ground" with children. As neuroscience continues to break ground on new issues related to childhood development (i.e. the brain and trauma), why aren’t OT’s being included in these discussions? Is it because they are considered practitioners and not researchers?

Hi Laura, You’ve stumbled onto a huge problem here, and it isn’t specific to OT. One often cited study showed that it takes about 17 YEARS for new medical knowledge to be adopted into practice (and even then only a fraction of best practices actually get adopted.) There is clearly a disconnect between academia and practitioners on the ground. To solve the complex challenges of today and the future, we certainly need new tools and bridge builders to help us shorten this gap!

Thanks – this is helpful to know. And I’m glad it’s just a problem with OT, because it had me wondering what the issue was.

*it’s not just

Hi Laura. As Sarah stated, you’ve stumbled upon a huge problem, that I think IS specific to occupational therapy. The medical and research communities (and general community for that matter) remain under-educated about the existence and value of the occupational therapy profession. We very rarely have a seat at the table, as you recognized. Occupational therapy, though being around for over 100 years, continues to be quite insulated. Although this is changing! In my opinion, AOTA has never done an excellent job of marketing us OUTSIDE the occupational therapy community, and thus hasn’t had the skillset to teach us how to market ourselves. This is a challenge I continue to struggle with but am working solidly towards addressing.

A few strategies I use are to always identify myself as an "occupational therapist," instead of an "OT" and I work in the field of "occupational therapy". I also don’t refer to PT in my definition of what occupational therapy is. A third way I do this is to have an elevator pitch of what occupational therapy is ready at all times.

Hope this helps answer your question 🙂

Love, love, love this post and the list!! Ever an inspiration, Sarah!

Ahhh! Thank you! I am consistently inspired by the OT community and can’t wait to hang out with OT practitioners in the OT Potential Club!

I wish there were more exert articles about OT in Mental Health, such a great need for mental health supports now-a-days!

It’s awesome.. Am amazed. I was able to conduct my research problem.

Oh wow! I’m so glad to hear that! What was your research problem?

Thanks for sharing these articles, they are so useful. 🙂

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OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research

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• Description
• Aims and Scope
• Editorial Board
• Abstracting / Indexing
• Submission Guidelines
• Articles from social, psychological, medical and rehabilitation sciences that advance understanding of everyday activities as they influence participation and health
• Original research from occupational therapy that supports evidence based practice to enable participation
• Qualitative and/or mixed methods research from occupational science and other disciplines that provides insight into how humans engage, participate and interact within their cultures and society.  
• Access to current articles, as well as several years of archived content
• Early review of manuscripts online within two months of acceptance
• Access to content in a Journal indexed in MEDLINE/PubMed, CINAHL, and Social Sciences Citation Index

The aim of OTJR is to advance knowledge and science in occupational therapy and related fields, nationally and internationally, through the publication of scholarly literature and research. The journal publishes research that advances the understanding of occupation as it relates to participation and health. The following topics should guide authors seeking to publish in the journal:

• The relationship of occupation to health, well-being and/or quality of life
• The influence of body systems or body function on occupational performance and/or social participation
• The psychometric properties of measures or methodologies that advance understanding of performance, occupation, and participation
• The outcomes or effects of interventions that influence performance, occupation, health, and/or quality of life
• The effectiveness and efficacy of occupation-based interventions
• The influence of the social, built, or natural environments on occupational performance;
• Qualitative or mixed methods research from occupational science and other disciplines that provide insight into how humans engage, participate and interact within their cultures and society.
• Other topics relating to occupational therapy practice that will lead to improving the lives of people as they seek to fully participate in family, work, community and society.
• Clarivate Analytics: Current Contents - Social & Behavioral Sciences
• Clarivate Analytics: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
• PubMed: MEDLINE

For a Word document version of the author guidelines, please download the Word version attached .

Introduction       Editorial Board       Aims and Scope       Types of Manuscripts       Open Access Publishing Option Manuscript Submission Manuscript Preparation       ORCID       Patient Consent       Research Data Author Guidelines – All Manuscript Types       Formatting       Inclusive Language Guidelines       Cover Letter       Title Page       Key Words       Abstract       Plain Language Summary (PLS)       Main Document       References       Tables & Figures       Funding       Supplemental Materials Review Process Information Artificial Intelligence Author Guidelines for Revisions       On acceptance and publication       OnlineFirst Publication       Access to your published article       Promoting your article       Appealing the publication decision Contributor’s publishing agreement

Introduction OTJR:  Occupational Therapy Journal of Research   is published quarterly by the American Occupational Therapy Foundation, Inc. This peer-reviewed journal offers empirical and review articles to readers interested in advancing the understanding of occupation as it relates to participation and health. The journal invites manuscript submissions that conform to its purpose and scope (see aims and scope below) without regard to the professional affiliation of authors. The journal encourages submissions of original research reports of translational or basic research studies with quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods designs.

Editorial Board A current listing of members on the Editorial Board can be found at:  https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/otjr-occupation-participation-and-health/journal202285#editorial-board

Aims and Scope The aim of OTJR:  Occupational Therapy Journal of Research   is to advance knowledge and science in occupational therapy, occupational science, and related fields, nationally and internationally, through the publication of scholarly literature and research. The journal publishes research that advances the understanding of occupation as it relates to participation and health.

The following topics may guide authors seeking to publish in the journal:

• The influence of body systems or body function on occupational performance and/or social participation 
• Original research from occupational therapy that supports evidence-based practice to enable participation
• Occupational development in all ages of the lifespan, i.e., the occupation of children, the importance of occupation in maintaining health in aging
• The influence of the social, built, or natural environments on occupational performance
• Qualitative or mixed methods research from occupational science and other disciplines that provide insight into how humans engage, participate, and interact within their cultures and society
• Other topics relating to occupational therapy practice that will lead to improving the lives of people as they seek to fully participate in family, work, community, and society

Types of Manuscripts OTJR:  Occupational Therapy Journal of Research   publishes:

• Full-length original research articles , which include empirical translational or basic research studies with quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods designs.
• Review articles,  including systematic literature reviews, meta-analyses; evidence-based reviews, integrative reviews, or scoping reviews.
• Brief Reports  that represent a short report of original research that is pilot or exploratory in nature or addresses a discrete research question and lacks broad implications
• Book reviews ,
• Letters to the editor , and
• Forum proceedings that inform and/or advance the science of occupational therapy. Submissions will be determined by invitation from the Editor-in-Chief, or topic proposals may be submitted directly to the Editor-in-Chief for consideration.
• Invited reviews or commentaries, by invitation from the Editor-in-Chief. Topic proposals may be submitted directly to the Editor-in-Chief for consideration.

OTJR does not accept research protocol or occupational therapy education  focused manuscripts.

Open Access Publishing Option OTJR offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice program. This allows you to publish your article with a CC-BY license.

Please visit the  Sage Choice website  for additional information, pricing and eligibility for possible discounts or waivers. For more information on open access options and compliance at Sage, including self-author archiving deposits (green open access) visit  Sage Publishing Policies  on our Journal Author Gateway.

Should you wish to submit for Open Access publishing, you may identify your submission as Open Access upon submission.

Manuscript Submission Manuscripts addressing one or more of the above purposes are acceptable for submission. Please read the guidelines below then submit manuscripts to: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/otjr .    Manuscripts considered for publication with OTJR:  Occupational Therapy Journal of Research  must be submitted solely to OTJR and must not have been previously published elsewhere.

During the submission process, authors must indicate if they have a financial interest in or serve as a consultant, reviewer, or evaluator for any product or company mentioned in the article. As part of the submission process, authors will be required to warrant that: (1) authors are submitting their original work; (2) authors have ownership rights in the work; and (3) authors have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by them. Accordingly, authors are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal; it is not being considered for publication elsewhere, and it has not already been published elsewhere.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures, or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. If academic, hospital, or business affiliations are given or are referred to in the manuscript, it is the responsibility of the author to obtain permission from the proper authorities to use the names of such. All letters of permission should be submitted with the manuscript. If applicable, authors should describe the role of the study sponsor, if any, in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing the report; and the decision to submit the report for publication. If the supporting source had no such involvement, the authors should so state. If applicable, authors must declare whether they had assistance with study design, data collection, data analysis, or manuscript preparation. If the manuscript reports on a registered clinical trial and has been assigned a trial registration number from a public trials registry, authors should provide this information.

Please see the Sage guidelines on prior publication and note that OTJR:  Occupational Therapy Journal of Research  may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers. Please note this in your submission and include the DOI for the pre-print in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the pre-print server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy. If the paper is accepted, authors must include a link on the pre-print to the final version of the paper.

Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.

Manuscript Preparation ORCID As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID . ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized. 

The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If authors already have an ORCID ID, authors will be asked to associate that to the submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do. Click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Authors’ ORCID ID will become part of the accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable only to the authors. ORCID ID is published with the  accepted article so that fellow researchers reading the article can link to the authors’ ORCID profile and from there link to the authors’ other publications.  

If authors do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

Patient Consent Authors are required to ensure the following guidelines are followed, as recommended by the  International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information, including patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that a patient who is identifiable be shown the manuscript to be published. 

Identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential. Complete anonymity is difficult to achieve, however, and informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific meaning and editors should so note. When informed consent has been obtained it should be indicated in the submitted article.

Research Data At Sage we are committed to facilitating openness, transparency, and reproducibility of research. Where relevant, The Journal encourages authors to share their research data in a suitable public repository subject to ethical considerations and where data is included, to add a data accessibility statement in their manuscript file. Authors should also follow data citation principles. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway , which includes information about Sage’s partnership with the data repository Figshare.

Author Guidelines – All Manuscript Types The following guidelines adhere to Sage and OTJR:  Occupational Therapy Journal of Research’s   Editorial Policies, and must be used prior to, and while developing and submitting a manuscript. When submitting manuscripts, authors will be asked to confirm that they have read these guidelines and that their submission adheres to the guidelines. Manuscripts that do not conform to these guidelines will be returned to the author without review.

Formatting All manuscript submissions must be typed in Times New Roman, with a 12-point font size. The line spacing must be double-spaced throughout the manuscript, including the title page, abstract, main document, references, acknowledgments, figure legends, and tables. Each page should be  numbered sequentially. Each page should have 1-inch margins on all sides, with the right side of the text unjustified.

Authors should submit the manuscripts prepared in accordance with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition ( http://www.apastyle.org ). The Journal also adheres to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (2010) of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Do not use error-prone abbreviations (see www.ismp.org/Tools/errorproneabbreviations.pdf for a complete list).

Reporting Guidelines The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline ( https://www.penelope.ai/equatorwizard ). Below are some examples:

• Randomized trials : All randomized controlled trials should include a completed CONSORT flow chart  as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist as a supplementary file.
• Systematic reviews : Systematic reviews should include a completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and a completed PRISMA checklist as a supplementary file.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives .

Inclusive Language Guidelines OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research   recommends :

• Names of conditions are more specific than categories of conditions or general references, such as "people with disabilities." The language to use for disability is evolving. The important part is to maintain the integrity of all individuals as human beings.
• Person-first language emphasizes the person, not individual's disabling or chronic condition (e.g., person with paraplegia, people with substance use disorders, people with intellectual disabilities)
• Identity-first language can be used when the disability becomes the focus, which allows the individual to claim the disability and choose their identity rather than permitting others to name it or select terms with negative implications (e.g., blind person, autistic person, amputee)
• It is permissible to use either approach or to mix person-first and identity-first language unless, or until, you know that a group or individual clearly prefers a specific approach.
• Neurodiversity is a term that has been embraced by many advocacy movements by, and on behalf of, affected individuals, such as people with autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities, because it shows there are natural variations in brain differences.
• Refer to individuals with disabilities as “patients” or “clients” within the context of a health care setting.

OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research  requests that authors  avoid :

• Avoid “othering” terms, slurs, and excessively negative labels.
• Avoid pictorial metaphorics or negativistic terms that imply restriction (e.g., “wheelchair bound”), excessive and negative labels (e.g., “AIDS victim”), and slurs (e.g., “cripple”).
• Avoid euphemisms that are condescending when describing individuals with disabilities (e.g., “special needs,” “physically challenged,” “handi-capable”).
• Avoid reducing people with disabilities to a list or group of deficiencies.

Cover Letter Every manuscript submission must be accompanied by a cover letter, addressed to the Editor-in-Chief. In the cover letter, please make sure to specify the type of submission (e.g., full-length research article, book review, letter to the editor, or forum proceeding). Include a general description of the submission and its content. For book reviews, include the book under review in the general description. Also, provide a rationale for why the submission will make a substantive contribution to the journal. During the submission process, copy and paste, and upload the cover letter into the designated section.

Title Page Every manuscript submission must include a Title Page, uploaded as a separate file. During the submission process, select “Title Page” from the file designation pull-down menu. The Title Page should include the following:

• Manuscript title : The title should be a maximum 12 words without any abbreviations.
• Authors:  All contributing authors should be listed on the title page with their professional designations and affiliations. Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors. The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who: (i) made a substantial contribution to the concept and design, acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data, (ii) drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content, (iii) approved the version to be published. Please refer to the ICMJE Authorship guidelines .
• Corresponding author:  Include the mailing and email address of only the corresponding author.
• Acknowledgements section:  For the purposes of anonymous peer review, include acknowledgements grant/contract support, and information concerning previous presentation of the material at symposia or conferences in an "Acknowledgements" section of the title page, and not in the main manuscript submission. Once a decision has been reached regarding publication, this section will appear in the manuscript prior to the references. All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the "Acknowledgements" section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chair who provided only general support. Authors should disclose whether they had any writing assistance and identif ythe entity that paid for this assistance.
• Declaration of conflicting interests section:  The policy of OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research  requires a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles. Please include any declaration in a "Conflict of Interests" section on the title page. If no declaration is made, the following will be printed under this heading in your article: "None declared." Alternatively, you may wish to state that "The Author(s) delcare(s) that there is no conflict of interest." When making a declaration the disclosure information must be specific and include any financial relationship that all authors of the article have with any sponsoring organization, editorial, publisher, and the for-profit interests the organization represents, and with any for-profit product discussed or implied in the text of the article. Any commercial or financial involvements that might represent an appearance of a conflict of interest need to be additionally disclosed in a covering letter accompanying your article to assist the Editor in evaluating whether sufficient disclosure has been made within the Declaration of Conflicting Interests provided in the article. For more information, please visit the Sage Journal Author Gateway .
• Research ethics section and patient consent:  For all submissions, on the title page please include the full name of the Institutional Review Board and an Ethics Committee reference number. In the methods section of the manuscript please include appropriate anonymous information only. All other manuscript files should be devoid of author information (example: name, institution, city) to facilitate the anonymous peer review process. When reporting studies involving human subjects, authors must indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of relevant institutional or national bodies and consistent with the revised (2000) Helsinki Declaration and typescripts must include a statement that the research protocol was approved by the appropriate ethical committee. All papers reporting animal and human studies must report approval, or a letter stating the study was exempt, obtained from the local Ethics Review Board or Institutional Review Board (or the equivalent for countries other than the US and Canada). Also, the manuscript must report whether appropriate informed consent procedures were used; that all subjects were informed of the study's risks and benefits, that their participation was voluntary, and that their identity would not be disclosed. Authors must also confirm appropriate handling of confidentiality and data security.
• Trials:  If you are submitting a trial and it has been registered, please include this full information on the title page. Please also include the anonymized information in the methods section of the paper. In line with the Declaration of Helsinki 1975, revised Hong Kong 1989, we encourage authors to register their clinical trials (at  http://clinicaltrials.gov  or other suitable databases identified by the ICMJE,  http://www.icmje.org/publishing_10register.html ).
• For book reviews:  The title page should include the following information about the book in reference format using APA 7th edition: Author Last Name, Author name. (YEAR).  Book title.  Place of publication: Publisher, Date of publication.

Key Words When submitting the manuscript in ScholarOne, authors must select three identifying key words from the available options. The keywords should reflect the manuscripts content area and/or methodology. Key words do not need to be listed on the manuscript files or title page.

Abstract Articles should include an abstract that clearly and concisely summarizes the manuscript. The abstract should be written in one paragraph and contain the following headings: rationale OR background, objectives, methodology, results OR findings, and implications OR conclusion. Abstracts should be no more than 150 words, which is inclusive of required headings. During the submission process, copy and paste the abstract into the designated section.

Plain Language Summary (PLS)

Please include a PLS with your submission. The PLS should contain a plain language title of up to 50 words and a summary of up to 300 words. The PLS should provide an engaging and understandable summary of the research, avoiding technical jargon, and clearly reflect the findings, merits, and limitations of the research using non-technical language. PLS must be suitable for a broad range of non-researchers that may benefit from this knowledge translation, such as: clinicians, service users and/or family members, policy makers, or members of the media.

The PLS publishes directly below the scientific abstract and are open access making it available online for anyone to read. Peer review of the PLS will be conducted following our PLS reviewer guidelines . When submitting, authors should enter their plain language title and plain language summary into the box provided in the submission system. The PLS does not need to be provided in the manuscript text or as a separate file. Manuscripts without a PLS, or a PLS which is a direct copy of the scientific abstract, will be returned. If the article type does not require an abstract and therefore does not require a PLS please enter “N/A” in each box.

If you need professional help writing your Plain Language Summary, please visit our Author Services portal.

Requirements for Anonymous Peer Review - All Submissions In order to facilitate this double-anonymous peer review, authors are required to submit:

• A  version of the manuscript  which has had any information that compromises the anonymity of the author(s) removed or anonymized. This version  will be sent  to the peer reviewers.
• A  separate title page  which includes any removed or anonymized material. This  will not be sent  to the peer reviewers.

Main Document Word Limit per Submission Type Word limits for manuscript submissions, and whether references are included within the word limits will vary by submission type, as outlined below. Words contained in Tables, Figures, or Supplementary Files are NOT included in the word count.

Original Research Article and Occupational Science Section   Full-length research articles may include data-driven quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods designs. When the journal announces a call for a Special Issue, the Special Issue should adhere to the guidelines listed here, in addition to in the information stated in the call for papers.

• Introduction: The introduction should include: a literature review of the topic, clearly defined objectives/hypotheses/aims/research questions, and a rationale for conducting the study. Objectives should identify the specific aim or outcome of the study.
• Methods: The methods section shoudl clearly outline the: study design, setting and location, process of participant selection and eligibility criteria, participant consent, measures/variables/assessments, outcomes, data collection and analyses. Please state whether an ethics or institutional review board approval was obtained; if not, provide a rationale.
• Results: The results section should provide a clear interpretation of the results, consistent with the quantitative, or qualitative, or mixed methodology used.  
• Discussion: The discussion section should: restate the purpose of the study, explore the study findings in comparison to the current literature, address study limitations and strengths. Discussion should include an emphasis on the implications of the research to occupational therapy practice or occupational science.
• Conclusions: The conclusion section should: answer the study’s objectives/hypotheses/aims/research questions, include how the manuscript contributes to the further improvement/ understanding of occupation, participation and/or health, and address how the manuscript contributes to the evidence base of occupational therapy practice and/or the advancement of occupational science.

Brief Reports

A Brief Report is a short report of original research that is typically pilot or exploratory in nature or that addresses a discrete research question and lacks broad implications. The research can be of any design. A brief report may present an update on previously reported work if it includes new data, results, etc. Authors should follow author guidelines for reporting original research to the extent possible, given the established word limit.

Forum Proceedings Foru m Proceedings should include the following:

• Introduction: The introduction should include a literature review of the topic, the history and purpose of the present forum, information on prior forums on this topic (if applicable), the rationale for conducting a forum on this topic (e.g., why this format, why now, and why with these stakeholders), and outline the objectives of the forum. Objectives should identify the specific aim or outcome of the forum.
• Methods: The methods section should outline participants, partners, and organizations, specifically: who convened the forum, and who were the invited participants and/or stakeholders at the forum, and their roles. Descriptive statistics of participant demographics (e.g., discipline area, credentials, levels of expertise, etc.) should be provided if possible. The setting and procedures for the forum should be outlined, specifically: the location, duration, and description of forum agenda and areas of focus; how were panels convened, and by whom; and whether there is an external reference/archive to the forum contents and/or presentations. Please note whether an ethics or institutional review board approval was obtained; if not, provide a rationale. Data evaluation should be outlined, specifically with regards to how participant feedback was obtained, evaluated, and integrated into the outcome of the forum; and how consensus was reached.
• Results: The results section should summarize specific outcome recommendations and the level of consensus for each, as applicable.
• Discussion: Discussion should further explore each outcome/recommendation for future directions and priorities, pertaining to clinical practice, research, public health, and/or policy. Discussion should further situate outcomes in relation to existing evidence or literature when feasible.
• Conclusions: Conclusions should be completed as per the guidelines for full-research article submissions.

Book Reviews Book reviews should provide a brief and clear description of the contents of the book, including scope and structure. Reviews must provide brief information about the author and the background of the book (example: if the book is a result of a PhD dissertation). The review should evaluate the boo k’s strengths and weaknesses, and provide examples of each. Authors may wish to consider the following questions when summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of the book:

• What are important contributions that this book makes?
• What contributions could have been made, but were not made?
• What aspects where missing?
• How does this book stand out when compared to others in the field?
• To which audience(s) will this book be most helpful?

If needed, use quotations to provide an example of the writing style and/or statements that are particularly helpful in illustrating the author(s) points. The review should assess the book’s  place in the field of occupational therapy and/or occupational science, including comments on the potential value and impact of the book.

Letters to the Editor Letters should provide thoughtful scientific criticism, rebuttal, or personal data relating to research articles or commentary published in OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research . No more than five citations and references can be included. Unless specifically indicated to the contrary, all letters will be assumed to be for publication and will be subject to the same editorial revision policies as other manuscripts.

References Submit References in the main document and format to APA 7th edition style. Please note that references may be included in the word limit , dependent on the type of submission as outlined in the “Word Count” table above. The author must assume responsibility for the accuracy of references. Old citations should relate to the original work in the field, classic work related to the topic, or, in rare cases, the only other relevant work.

Tables & Figures The manuscript submission should have a maximum of five tables and figures, combined. Tables and Figures are NOT counted within the word limit.

Instructions for Tables are as follows:

• Submit Tables in a separate document, with each Table on a new page within a word processing document (e.g., DOCX).
• Tables may be submitted in separate documents as per the preference of the author.
• Format each Table according to APA 7th edition, with proper numbering and a table title.
• Indicate the location of the table in the manuscript with a placeholder (example: <Insert table 1 here>).
• During submission, select “Table” from the file designation pull-down menu.

Instructions for Figures are as follows:

• Submit each Figure in a separate file.
• Submit Figures as digital images with high resolution (at least 300 dpi) in JPEG or TIFF format.
• Submitting images that are embedded into Word or PowerPoint® files are NOT acceptable.
• Figures will be printed in black and white only. Figure legends should not be included in the digital image. Instead, indicate the location of the figure in the manuscript with a placeholder that represents the figure legend (example: <insert figure 1 here>)
•  During submission, select “Figure” from the file designation pull-down menu.

Funding To comply with the guidance for Research Funders, Authors and Publishers issued by the Research Information Network (RIN), OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research additionally requires all Authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading . Please visit  Funding Acknowledgement s o n the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding or state in the acknowledgments section that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Supplemental Materials Supplemental material is published electronically on the journal website and does not appear in the print version of the journal but is readily accessed from the journal’s table of contents as well as by a hyperlink within the pdf file of the manuscript. In general, supplemental materials may include information that is of value but is not critical for readers to understand the main outcomes of the study and may also include results that enhance or extend the findings.

Reference to supplemental material should be made in the main text of the paper (e.g., Supplemental methods, Supplemental Figure 1, Supplemental Table 2, etc.), and their legends/titles should be labeled in the same way. The files should also be labeled with “supplement" (or "supp," "supplementary," etc.) in the file name. Please select “Supplementary File” from the file designation pull-down menu when uploading these files during the submission process.

Supplemental Materials should be submitted in the format for publication because Supplemental Materials are not type-set or edited by the publisher and are not provided with the page proofs.

Artificial Intelligence

Use of Large Language Models and generative AI tools in writing your submission

Sage recognizes the value of large language models (LLMs) (e.g. ChatGPT) and generative AI as productivity tools that can help authors in preparing their article for submission; to generate initial ideas for a structure, for example, or when summarizing, paraphrasing, language polishing etc. However, it is important to note that all language models have limitations and are unable to replicate human creative and critical thinking. Human intervention with these tools is essential to ensure that content presented is accurate and appropriate to the reader. Sage therefore requires authors to be aware of the limitations of language models and to consider these in any use of LLMs in their submissions:

• Objectivity: Previously published content that contains racist, sexist or other biases can be present in LLM-generated text, and minority viewpoints may not be represented. Use of LLMs has the potential to perpetuate these biases because the information is decontextualized and harder to detect.
• Accuracy: LLMs can ‘hallucinate’ i.e. generate false content, especially when used outside of their domain or when dealing with complex or ambiguous topics. They can generate content that is linguistically but not scientifically plausible, they can get facts wrong, and they have been shown to generate citations that don’t exist. Some LLMs are only trained on content published before a particular date and therefore present an incomplete picture.
• Contextual understanding: LLMs cannot apply human understanding to the context of a piece of text, especially when dealing with idiomatic expressions, sarcasm, humor, or metaphorical language. This can lead to errors or misinterpretations in the generated content.
• Training data: LLMs require a large amount of high-quality training data to achieve optimal performance. However, in some domains or languages, such data may not be readily available, limiting the usefulness of the model.

Guidance for authors

Authors are required to:

• Clearly indicate the use of language models in the manuscript , including which model was used and for what purpose. Please use the methods or acknowledgements section, as appropriate.
• Verify the accuracy, validity, and appropriateness of the content and any citations generated by language models and correct any errors or inconsistencies.
• Provide a list of sources used to generate content and citations, including those generated by language models. Double-check citations to ensure they are accurate, and are properly referenced.
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Enablers and challenges to occupational therapists’ research engagement: A qualitative study

Laura di bona.

1 Engagement Manager/Occupational Therapist, Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK

2 Honorary Research Fellow, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Jennifer Wenborn

3 Senior Clinical Research Associate/Occupational Therapist, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK

4 Dementia Research Centre, Research and Development, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

Becky Field

5 Research Associate/Occupational Therapist, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Sinéad M Hynes

6 Lecturer, School of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

Ritchard Ledgerd

7 Clinical Researcher/Occupational Therapist, Dementia Research Centre, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

Gail Mountain

8 Professor of Health Services Research, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Tom Swinson

9 Senior Research Assistant, Dementia Research Centre, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

Introduction

To develop occupational therapy’s evidence base and improve its clinical outcomes, occupational therapists must increase their research involvement. Barriers to research consumption and leadership are well documented, but those relating to delivering research interventions, less so. Yet, interventions need to be researched within practice to demonstrate their clinical effectiveness. This study aims to improve understanding of challenges and enablers experienced by occupational therapists who deliver interventions within research programmes.

Twenty-eight occupational therapists who participated in the Valuing Active Life in Dementia (VALID) research programme reported their experiences in five focus groups. Data were analysed thematically to identify key and subthemes.

Occupational therapists reported that overwhelming paperwork, use of videos, recruitment and introducing a new intervention challenged their research involvement, whereas support, protected time and a positive attitude enabled it. The impact of these challenges and enablers varied between therapists and organisations.

Challenges and enablers to research involvement can be identified but must be addressed within individual and organisational contexts. Multifaceted collective action to minimise challenges and maximise enablers can facilitate clinicians’ involvement in research. Using this approach should enable occupational therapists to increase their research involvement, thus demonstrating the clinical effectiveness of their interventions.

Developing research-active clinicians and organisations has become a National Health Service (NHS) priority because of their positive impact on both clinical outcomes and the United Kingdom (UK) economy ( Boaz et al., 2015 ; Department of Health (DH), 2006 ). For occupational therapists, incorporating research activity into their interventions and services is a requirement of their code of ethics and professional conduct ( College of Occupational Therapists, 2015 ). When asked, the majority of occupational therapists report that they wish to be involved in research, but find it hard to do so, thus most are not ‘research active’ ( Pighills et al., 2013 ; White et al., 2013 ). While this is the case, occupational therapists, alongside other allied health professionals in similar positions, risk being marginalised within healthcare delivery due to an inadequate evidence base ( Pain et al., 2015 ).

There are many ways in which occupational therapists can engage with research. This has been termed a ‘research continuum’, ranging from activities that all occupational therapists should be doing, such as reading research literature, at one end, to research leadership activities, for the minority, at the other ( Pighills et al., 2013 ). In England, the Department of Health’s five-year strategy for research and development, Best Research for Best Health ( DH, 2006 ) led to increased investment in research infrastructure and capacity building for clinicians at all stages of this continuum. This included establishing the Health Education England/National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) clinical academic pathway to increase research capacity and leadership, and collaborations for leadership in applied health research and care (CLAHRCs) to increase applied research and its implementation ( National Institute for Health Research, 2016a , 2016b ). However, some research roles, such as healthcare professionals delivering research interventions and being research participants themselves, have received less focus despite the importance of this role for successful intervention development and research implementation ( Hysong et al., 2013 ; Newall et al., 2009 ).

Occupational therapists have been integral to the success of a number of research studies by virtue of their role in delivering the interventions being investigated (for example Eriksson et al., 2013 ; Killaspy et al., 2015 ; Sturkenboom et al., 2014 ). The increasing research on occupational-therapist-delivered interventions is a real opportunity for the profession to extend its evidence base. However, there has been little consideration given to how to recruit and engage healthcare professionals as research participants and what might be the challenges and enablers to doing so ( Hysong et al., 2013 ; Newall et al., 2009 ). The Valuing Active Life in Dementia (VALID) research programme involves occupational therapists in intervention delivery and has investigated the challenges and enablers to their engagement.

The VALID research programme

The VALID research programme aims to develop and evaluate a community occupational therapy intervention for people living with mild to moderate dementia and their family carers: Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia–UK (COTiD-UK) ( Wenborn et al., 2016 ). The programme builds on research of an intervention, community occupational therapy in dementia (COTiD), developed and found to be clinically and cost effective in the Netherlands ( Graff et al., 2006 , 2007 , 2008 ). The VALID research programme follows the Medical Research Council’s framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions and as such consists of a number of phases, including a randomised controlled trial ( Medical Research Council, 2008 ). The research reported in this paper was conducted within the initial multisite ‘development’ phase of the research programme, which customised the intervention to the UK setting and tested its feasibility in practice.

This development phase involved occupational therapists participating in a number of research activities (detailed in Table 1 ). Firstly, occupational therapists were trained in the COTiD intervention, ( Graff et al., 2006 , 2007 ). Secondly, they delivered this intervention to people living with dementia and their family carers. In some sites this also involved occupational therapists recruiting research participants and seeking informed consent. Finally, occupational therapists provided data about their activities within, and experiences of, the VALID research study. This included video recording intervention sessions, completing questionnaires about their own skill acquisition, detailing the time and content of the occupational therapy sessions provided and participating in a focus group.

Occupational therapists’ research responsibilities.

This paper reports findings of focus groups in which occupational therapists discuss their involvement in the VALID research study, specifically what challenged or enabled their involvement.

To improve understanding of the challenges and enablers experienced by occupational therapists who deliver an intervention within a research study.

Literature review: challenges and enablers to research participation

A number of studies have described the research challenges and enablers as experienced by occupational therapists internationally (for example Eriksson et al., 2013 in Sweden, Gutman, 2009 in the USA, Pighills et al., 2013 in Australia, White et al., 2013 in the UK). Also for other allied health professionals and nurses (for example Akerjordet et al., 2012 in Norway, McMaster et al., 2013 and Newall et al., 2009 in Australia). Three challenges to research involvement appear to be most frequently cited by occupational therapists and other healthcare professionals: lack of time, money and skills ( Akerjordet et al., 2012 ; Gutman, 2009 ; McMaster et al., 2013 ; Pighills et al., 2013 ). Conversely, two enablers of research involvement are also widely cited: providing support and positive attitudes towards research ( McMaster et al., 2013 ; Pain et al., 2015 ; Pighills et al., 2013 ; White et al., 2013 ). However, these studies have tended to focus on identifying general challenges and enablers to research engagement, often at unspecified stages of the research continuum.

In contrast, little has been documented about the experiences of healthcare professionals who get involved in delivering the intervention component of research. Only two, non-UK based, studies were identified: one of occupational therapists ( Eriksson et al., 2013 ), the other of nurses ( Newall et al., 2009 ), in both cases participating in randomised controlled trials. Both studies found that clinicians placed great value on taking part in research and that this motivation and the support of others acted as enablers to their participation. However, Eriksson et al. (2013) highlighted that a lack of time and/or experience and anxiety about skills were challenges to research participation. Both studies also identified that difficulties with research participant recruitment challenged their own involvement ( Eriksson et al., 2013 ; Newall et al., 2009 ). Healthcare professionals, therefore, appear to report similar challenges and enablers to research engagement regardless of their profession or type of engagement along the research continuum. However, how these factors interact or how they apply to healthcare professionals delivering interventions within research programmes is not yet sufficiently understood.

Qualitative methods were selected as they are most appropriate for understanding participants’ experiences of little understood topics ( Silverman, 2013 ), in this instance occupational therapists’ challenges and facilitators to research involvement. Qualitative methods can also facilitate deeper understanding of the contexts in which interventions will be delivered ( Vernooij-Dassena and Moniz-Cook, 2014 ). Focus groups were chosen, in preference to interviews, to enable opinions to be gathered from more people and enable them to explore and clarify their views in a supportive environment ( Kitzinger, 2000 ).

An indicative topic guide was developed by the research team aiming to elicit opinions on three topics; firstly, how the COTiD intervention should be adapted for the UK context; secondly, the most and least effective elements of the training provided for delivering the intervention; and thirdly, enablers and challenges to research participation. Data about the first two topics informed the development of the COTiD-UK intervention and training and will be reported separately. Data collected in relation to the last topic were used when planning the next phases of the VALID research programme and are reported here.

Recruitment

Ten English healthcare organisations participated in the development phase of the VALID research programme, which included these focus groups ( Wenborn et al., 2016 ). Each organisation was asked to identify occupational therapists who could participate in the study. Forty-four occupational therapists participated, and all met the eligibility criteria of being registered as an occupational therapist with the Health and Care Professions Council, with experience of working in the community and/or with people living with dementia and their family carers. All were invited to attend a focus group after they had completed the COTiD training and delivered the intervention.

Ethical issues

The study was approved by the Yorkshire and the Humber – Leeds West National Health Service (NHS) Ethics Committee (reference number 12/YH/0492) on 16 November 2012. The study was also granted NHS research and development approval (reference number 13762). Occupational therapists provided signed informed consent. Data were anonymised and stored securely following usual data management procedures.

Participants

Twenty-eight (64%) occupational therapists from eight (80%) of the participating healthcare organisations took part in focus groups, with between two and eight occupational therapists representing each organisation. Twenty-six (93%) were women. Seven (25%) were band five (junior occupational therapists, 13 (46%) band six (specialist occupational therapist), six (21%) band seven (highly specialist occupational therapist) and two (7%) band eight (lead occupational therapist).

Data collection

Five focus groups were conducted with between five and eight occupational therapists attending each. Four members of the research team facilitated the focus groups, two facilitating each, with the exception of one smaller group with just three attendees that was facilitated by one person. The groups were audio recorded. Facilitators completed observational notes and reflexive analysis during and immediately following focus groups to document additional key information, such as participants’ facial expressions, gestures and researchers’ thoughts and interpretations. Audio recordings were independently transcribed verbatim and anonymised. Transcripts were checked for accuracy and missing data by focus group facilitators. As it was not possible to identify all focus group participants from the recorded transcript, each was identified only as a facilitator or participant.

Data analysis

Thematic analysis was carried out ( Guest et al., 2012 ). This involved each researcher reading one or two transcripts, ascribing codes, categories and then themes to the data. The research team discussed and iteratively checked these against the transcripts, looking for evidence of themes, categories and codes being confirmed or disconfirmed, to ensure trustworthiness and credibility ( Mays and Pope, 2000 ). Once there was agreement on the overall themes, categories and codes were then reapplied to the transcripts.

Two main themes emerged describing occupational therapists’ ‘research challenges’ and ‘research enablers’, each with four subthemes. See Figure 1 for details.

Occupational therapists’ research engagement: challenges and enablers.

Research challenges

Within the theme of research challenges, four subthemes were identified: ‘overwhelming paperwork’, ‘videos’, ‘recruitment’ and ‘delivering a new intervention’. These topics were raised by participants in all focus groups.

Overwhelming paperwork

There was a general consensus that research involvement had led to engagement in a range of additional administration and reporting tasks. For some, paperwork and emails presented a real challenge both in terms of volume and because these were updated during the course of their involvement. One therapist stated:

I have felt so overwhelmed, I have actually just dumped the whole lot and done nothing. I am just so confused and all the changes … (Focus group 2 participant).

However, whilet many appeared to agree with this sentiment, for others, additional administrative tasks were accepted as an essential, if time consuming, part of the research process.

The occupational therapists were required to video record the intervention sessions and then transfer the videos to the research team via an encrypted USB memory stick. Many described this as challenging, although different aspects were raised in different focus groups. Firstly, some had never used video recorders before, so had to learn this new skill, which not everyone found easy. Secondly, the quality of the video recorders was criticised for having limited battery life and being difficult to position in order to get all three participants in view (person living with dementia, carer and occupational therapist). One therapist, who had encountered many challenges, stated:

We spent countless, I cannot tell you how many frustrating countless hours with these video recorders that don’t video, that don’t charge, that don’t do this (Focus group 4 participant).

Thirdly, the impact of the cameras on rapport building was viewed by some as a good ice-breaker but more often they were viewed negatively. For instance:

When the camera goes off as well … everything comes out (Focus group 4 participant).

A number of occupational therapists described this phenomena of ‘opening up’ when cameras had been switched off, as this was usually when the therapist was due to leave, resulting in increased time pressures as they stayed to listen to what people had held back from saying on camera. Finally, therapists described difficulties in transferring videos from the camera on to computers to view them and then onto USB memory sticks to send to the research team. In some cases, this was because of a lack of familiarity and skills with the technology, in other cases because their organisations required special permission to enable them to use the software provided or had inadequate hardware.

Three recruitment-related challenges were reported. Firstly, those responsible for recruiting people living with dementia and their family carer to receive the COTiD intervention stated this was time consuming and required additional paperwork to be completed.

Recruitment … there was a lot of phone calls and visits before you actually get someone to say yes please … so juggling that with everything else (Focus group 3 participant).

Secondly, the plan of having service users recruited in readiness for occupational therapists to start working with alongside attending the COTiD training did not work out for a variety of reasons across the organisations. This meant that some therapists had a delay between completing their COTiD training and having service users ready to work with. One therapist summed up the difficulties this caused:

I suspect if I had done the couple straight away … I would have remembered a bit more … been a bit more enthusiastic (Focus group 5 participant).

Finally, some therapists reported that the service users recruited were not appropriate for the intervention, making it harder to deliver. For instance, stating they had volunteered altruistically for the study rather than because they wanted or were appropriate to engage with the intervention.

Delivering a new intervention

Occupational therapists had to learn to deliver a new intervention, COTiD. They expressed inconsistent, different opinions on the intervention aims and design; for example, whether or not it had the right amount of structure, was the right length or was person-centred enough. However, the majority appeared to appreciate working in an occupational therapy profession-specific way, for example:

It really does give you an opportunity to go back to the core of OT and spend some quality time (Focus group 3 participants).

For most, working in ways that were different to routine practice was challenging:

With the way memory services work we go in with a plan and we do it and we go out so this has been quite difficult to take a step back (Focus group 5 participant).

For some, the necessary level of scrutiny of their work to meet the research protocol requirements was also quite challenging:

Well I felt I was going to get slated as soon as that film went to someone to watch … you’re in the fear of have you done wrong (Focus group 4 participant).

Research enablers

Within the theme of research enablers were four subthemes, ‘peer support’, ‘management support’, ‘protected time’ and ‘positive attitudes towards research’. Each subtheme was identified in every focus group, with occupational therapy participants initiating discussion of the topic.

Peer support

All occupational therapists participated in peer support groups where they shared their experiences of participating in VALID, most also supported each other outside of these groups. They described three mechanisms by which this support enabled their research involvement. Firstly, by creating a safe environment for occupational therapists to practise clinical skills, such as standardised interviews, which they might not otherwise be using in day to day practice. Secondly, it enabled them to share feelings about research involvement and its challenges. Finally, it was useful to clarify quickly the required research procedures. For instance:

… somewhere to ask questions, like oh my goodness what do I do with this one rather than me ringing XX (lead researcher) (Focus group 1 participant).

While all who expressed an opinion described peer support as a positive enabler of research involvement, practical challenges to ensuring it happened were identified. Firstly, if there were not many occupational therapists within a geographical location, they either had to travel a long way for peer supervision or have it with such a small group that there were fewer experiences, views and expertise to be shared. However, if there were more therapists involved, finding a mutually convenient time and location to meet was difficult.

Management support

Occupational therapists reported differing experiences of management support. While all had management permission to engage in the study, some described additional mechanisms by which managers had facilitated their research involvement. Firstly, by championing VALID within their organisation, highlighting its importance to other colleagues and managers and encouraging occupational therapists to prioritise it within their workload. Secondly, by negotiating specific time, such as a day or two a week away from their usual role to focus solely on VALID. Finally, linking therapists with their research and development departments, who had subsequently provided further support, for instance with recruitment of participants and using the video cameras and associated software and hardware. One occupational therapist stated:

We couldn’t have done it without xx our OT (lead)… the amount of work that she has done (Focus group 3 participant).

In contrast to these positive experiences, some participants described having multiple managers with differing levels of enthusiasm and support for the research. Where support was more ambivalent, research involvement became more challenging. One occupational therapist stated:

Managers need to be on board… it was as if I was going off doing my own thing having a good time (Focus group 2 participant).

Occupational therapists, therefore, described how management support enabled research involvement in multifaceted ways, but highlighted that they often had more than one manager and it was easier when all were actively supportive.

Protected time

All occupational therapists who expressed an opinion stated that having protected, funded time, to focus solely on VALID was a major enabler of research involvement. In contrast, those participating in VALID without allowances made for their usual roles, described it causing tension within teams, as they were less available for other work. One therapist described it as ‘balancing two jobs’ [Focus group 1 participant], and some described feeling that this compromised the quality of both their clinical and research work. Most of those without protected time reported completing much of their research paperwork, intervention preparation and sometimes even the intervention, in their own time. Generally, risk management, crisis and generic work took priority. For instance:

By the time I got back to the office and you’ve got a semi crisis on VALID’s gone out the window (Focus group 4 participant).

In contrast, the minority who had protected time, such as 1 or 2 days a week focusing solely on VALID, did not describe the same difficulties.

Positive attitudes towards research

Occupational therapists mostly expressed positive attitudes towards research involvement. Some spoke with great enthusiasm about how participating in research had given them the opportunity to deliver an intervention they valued. COTiD was described positively by many as being ‘core OT’ and by some as person-centred and less time pressurised than much of their other work. One participant stated:

I was having this discussion with my manager, he said to me, ‘what is different?’ and I said ‘what is different is the quality’ (Focus group 3 participant).

For others, it was involvement in the research process itself that they valued, describing benefits for themselves as increasing their research understanding, capacity and experience. Some felt that by participating in VALID they were contributing to the development of the occupational therapy profession on a local and national level.

On a local level it’s very exciting for us to have this research to try and raise the profile of OT so you know I think it’s a fantastic opportunity to be part of it (Focus group 5 participant).

Occupational therapists reported that overwhelming paperwork, use of videos, recruitment and introducing a new intervention challenged their research involvement, whereas support, protected time and positive attitudes enabled it. These enablers and challenges broadly concur with those identified in previous studies of clinicians’ participation in randomised controlled trials ( Eriksson et al., 2013 ; Newall et al., 2009 ). They are also similar to those identified at other stages of the research continuum, such as implementing evidence-based practice and research leadership development ( Akerjordet et al., 2012 ; Gutman 2009 ; McMaster et al., 2013 ; Pain et al., 2015 ; Pighills et al., 2013 ; White et al., 2013 ).

Implementing a research study within clinical practice was found to be a complex, multistage process. While there were commonalities in the research challenges and enablers identified by occupational therapists, the degree of their impact varied. This is consistent with understandings from implementation science that individual and organisational contexts are hugely influential, to the extent that what one person considers a challenge, another may consider an enabler ( Damschroder et al., 2009 ; May et al., 2016 ). Normalisation process theory helps explain how new practices are operationalised in healthcare and other settings ( May and Finch, 2009 ). It describes four mechanisms through which changes to practice are implemented ( May and Finch, 2009 ):

• coherence (sense making and meaning);
• cognitive participation (personal engagement);
• collective action (organisational engagement and interaction to implement);
• reflexive monitoring (reflection and appraisal).

This offers a useful way to consider how the challenges and enablers identified impacted on occupational therapists in this study.

Attitudinal challenges and enablers

Occupational therapists were required to change their practice by implementing COTiD, a new intervention, and adhering to VALID research procedures. Consistent with previous research, most described this as challenging, despite contrasting opinions about the intervention and research involvement ( Damschroder et al., 2009 ; Eriksson et al., 2013 ; May and Finch, 2009 ). Normalisation process theory explains that changes to practice are more likely to be adopted and viewed positively when individuals have coherence with them, i.e. new processes make sense to them ( May and Finch, 2009 ). Coherence varied between occupational therapists, perhaps in relation to how similar COTiD and the research procedures were to their usual practice, therefore how large the changes were, and how much they approved of the changes. For instance, some who usually provided short-term or more prescriptive interventions appeared to relish the opportunity to work in a more person-centred way, while others did not. Occupational therapists who appeared to have coherence with the research and intervention spoke positively about being involved in VALID, consistent with previous findings that positive attitudes towards research facilitate engagement ( Eriksson et al., 2013 ; Pain et al., 2015 ; Pighills et al, 2013 ; White et al, 2013 ).

Practical challenges

Occupational therapists reported being challenged by recruitment, overwhelming paperwork and using videos. Recruiting service user participants was described as time consuming and challenging, consistent with previous findings ( Hysong et al., 2013 ; Newall et al., 2009 ; Newington and Metcalfe, 2014 ). The importance of recruiting research participants to coincide with the readiness of therapists to work with them has been reported previously ( Gitlin et al., 2010 ), and this current study highlights the potentially negative impact on therapists’ motivation when it does not happen in a timely manner. Using videos and completing research paperwork presented challenges for many reasons, varying between occupational therapists. These included familiarity and confidence with using videos, organising and completing paperwork, compatibility of data transfer with organisational systems and occupational therapists’ and service users’ attitudes to being videoed. Learning new skills has often been described as challenging to research involvement, although usually with reference to research skills ( Akerjordet et al., 2012 ; McMaster et al., 2013 ; Pain et al., 2015 ), although problems using software have also been described previously ( Damschroder et al., 2009 ). Cognitive participation may have influenced the impact of these challenges, in that some occupational therapists who were more personally motivated to engage in the research were perhaps happier to invest more time and energy into learning the necessary skills and processes. Conversely, it may also be that occupational therapists who encountered fewer challenges more quickly gained coherence and this facilitated cognitive participation with the research.

Peer and management support and protected time were identified as enablers, reducing the impact of challenges, consistent with previous findings ( Eriksson et al., 2013 ; McMaster et al., 2013 ; Pain et al., 2015 ; Pighills et al., 2013 ; White et al., 2013 ). The mechanisms by which peer support enables research involvement have not previously been well described, but concur with previous reports that it is valued ( Eriksson et al., 2013 ; Gitlin et al., 2010 ). This study’s findings suggest peer support enables research involvement by increasing confidence through creating a safe environment for practising clinical skills, sharing thoughts and feelings about research engagement and clarifying research expectations.

Management support was identified as a key multifaceted enabler, consistent with previous research ( Newall et al., 2009 ; Pain et al., 2015 ; Perry et al., 2008; Pighills et al., 2013 ) . Management support provided: permission and encouragement for research involvement; assistance in negotiating with information technology departments to resolve software and hardware difficulties; support to negotiate with team members expressing negative attitudes towards research involvement; links to research and development departments to assist with recruitment and paperwork; and in some cases negotiating protected time for occupational therapists to engage in research. Protected time, with reduced clinical caseloads or time away from a usual clinical base, appeared an effective way to minimise clinical pressures, meaning that responding to crises was less likely to take priority over research activity, consistent with previous findings ( Newall et al., 2009 ). When occupational therapists had more time allocated to their VALID work they used it to learn the new intervention and attend to paperwork, therefore diminishing the impact of these challenges, which may have positively affected their attitude to research. Normalisation process theory explains these enablers through collective action as organisations demonstrated their support for research involvement, minimised additional burdens on occupational therapists and positively influenced their sense of coherence and cognitive participation with the research. The impact of reflexive monitoring was less evident, perhaps due to the relatively short-term nature of therapists’ research involvement or because occupational therapists engaged in reflective monitoring within the focus groups.

Implications

The consistency with which enablers and challenges to research are reported suggests they can be pre-empted but that their impact will vary between organisations and individuals. Therefore, while engaging clinicians in research is challenging, research programmes should try to ensure participating clinicians have access to protected research time, peer and management support. Positive attitudes to research should be encouraged and additional research tasks, such as recruiting participants, videoing and paperwork should be minimised. A greater understanding of the individual and organisational contexts in which occupational therapists work is required to assess the likely impact of challenges and enablers. It is, therefore, important to engage all stakeholders, service users, clinicians and managers, during the research planning phase to identify and minimise challenges and maximise the use of enablers ( Eriksson et al., 2013 ; May and Finch, 2009 ). As well as helping practically, doing so may help to foster collective action, increase coherence and cognitive participation with the research, thus increasing the probability of successful implementation.

More in-depth study of enablers and challenges to delivering interventions as part of research studies would be beneficial to increase understanding about their impact, how they interact and vary between professional groups, organisational contexts or research designs. This could be achieved by using methods which gather more in-depth data, or data from a greater number or wider variety of participants. For instance, the themes arising in this study could be used as the basis for wider investigation such as through a quantitative semistructured survey or qualitative interviews.

VALID research programme’s response to identified challenges and enablers

In the next stages of the VALID programme a number of steps were taken to enable occupational therapists’ research involvement. These included replacing video recording the intervention sessions with audio recording, minimising amendments to research paperwork and procedures, and allocating more time to practising use of hardware and software and related procedures within the training. Also, managers were invited to attend the training so as to understand better the requirements, dedicated research staff took responsibility for recruiting and consenting research participants and pre-trial checks were completed to guide research sites towards facilitating clinician involvement. Future publications will report on the impact of these changes.

Limitations

As a focus group study it is not possible to generalise from these findings. It is not known whether these findings reflect the views of the other occupational therapists who participated in the VALID research programme but declined to participate in the focus groups, or whether they are representative of other occupational therapists with similar research experiences. As the focus groups were multipurpose, they may not have captured the full extent of opinions on research involvement. Finally, because transcription was outsourced it was not possible to be confident in ascribing quotations to individual participants.

This study identified that while involving occupational therapists in research is challenging, it can be enabled by providing support, protected time and encouraging positive attitudes. While specific challenges and enablers were highlighted, which were broadly consistent with previous research, the need to consider them within individual and organisational contexts was also highlighted. Therefore, to enable occupational therapists’ involvement in research, multifaceted collective action involving all stakeholders is required to minimise challenges and maximise enablers. It is important to overcome challenges to research involvement so that occupational therapists can contribute to research alongside clinical practice, in line with their code of ethics and professional practice ( College of Occupational Therapists, 2015 ). Also, to demonstrate the clinical effectiveness of their interventions, increase the occupational therapy evidence base and improve outcomes and experiences for service users.

Key findings

Occupational therapists’ research involvement is challenged by implementing research tasks and new interventions but enabled by support, protected time and positive attitudes. Contexts vary the impact of challenges and enablers.

What the study has added

This study has increased understanding of the challenges and enablers of engaging occupational therapists in research, through delivering interventions within research studies.

Acknowledgements

The VALID research team would like to thank the occupational therapists who took part in the focus groups. The VALID research team acknowledge the support of the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network.

Research ethics

Ethical approval was obtained from the Yorkshire and the Humber – Leeds West National Health Service (NHS) Ethics Committee (reference number 12/YH/0492) on 16 November 2012. The study was also granted NHS research and development approval (reference number 13762). All participants provided written informed consent.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article:This manuscript presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s Programme Grants for Applied Research Programme (RP-PG-0610-10108). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

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Before You Start Searching

Clinical and epidemiological question frameworks.

• Searching for Evidence
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• Citing Sources

Step One: Start to formulate a research question or topic.

Aiming for clarity at the beginning of the project can help you get started right. It can be helpful to use one of the question frameworks detailed below.

Step Two: Do some background searching on the topic.

Taking a look in relevant resources to see what's already been written about your topic will help you understand how you can best contribute to the body of literature. It will also help you grasp the terminology around the topic, so that you'll be more prepared to do an effective literature search.

Step Three: Narrow down the question or topic if needed.

You may find that your original topic is too broad. After you have taken the time to evaluate what's already been written about your topic, you'll have a better understanding of what you're interested in.

Step Four: Meet with your librarian.

Try one of these tried and true clinical or quantitative research question frameworks. Not sure where to start? PICO is the most common clinical question framework. and PEO works well for public health and epidemiology.

• Condition, Context, Population
• Aromataris, E., & Munn, Z. (2017). Joanna Briggs Institute reviewer's manual. The Joanna Briggs Institute. Available from JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis .
• Population, Exposure of Interest, Outcome or Response
• Population or Problem, Intervention or Exposure, Comparison or Control, Outcome
• Heneghan, C., & Badenoch, D. (2002). Evidence-based medicine toolkit. London: BMJ Books. https://www.worldcat.org/title/evidence-based-medicine-toolkit/oclc/62307845
• Population or Problem, Intervention or Exposure, Comparison or Control, Outcome, Study Type
• Methley, A. M., Campbell, S., Chew-Graham, C., McNally, R., & Cheraghi-Sohi, S. (2014). PICO, PICOS and SPIDER: a comparison study of specificity and sensitivity in three search tools for qualitative systematic reviews. BMC health services research, 14, 579. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-014-0579-0 .
• Population or Problem, Intervention or Exposure, Comparison or Control, Outcome, Time
• Richardson, W. S., Wilson, M. C., Nishikawa, J., & Hayward, R. S. (1995). The well-built clinical question: A key to evidence-based decisions. ACP Journal Club, 123(3), A12-A12. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7582737/
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Occupational therapy research projects, our research active academics are developing or furthering knowledge in occupational therapy which can be implemented into practice or education..

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Understanding the role of temperature on muscle function in older adults

Writing in the digital age: Keyboard versus pen in adolescents

Functional trajectories of people with chronic critical illness

Parenting across cultures in contemporary England

Can SmartSocks™ help deliver care to people with dementia living in care homes?

Individual-level stroke risk prediction after risperidone treatment in dementia

Developmental coordination disorder

Physical activity and McArdle disease

When reading misfires: the case for letter confusability

Protect mental health COVID-19 study

Using mindfulness to reduce schizophrenia vulnerability

Air pollution, brain health and wellbeing in India

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Refining the psychometric properties of the trinity student profile - a self-report measure of occupational performance difficulties within the student role in higher education. , a stakeholders perspective on the 'kickstart to recovery' football programme in a community mental health service , the development and feasibility of the occupational therapy-led `work and cancer' intervention for women living with and beyond breast cancer , an investigation into an occupation-focused self-management programme for college students experiencing mental health difficulties. , assessment of older adults' decision-making capacity in relation to independent living: the role of occupational therapy .

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Ways to come up with a research topic idea:

1. Write down one or two specific topics of interest to you on your disciplinary (e.g. in P.T., Nursing, O.T., Sturdy Training, Mental Health, etc.).

• In medicine, there may being discrepancies about the favorite techniques for reducing X condition in a safe type of patients. (E.g. pneumonia in patients with Y disease or health condition).
• Dickleibigkeit is a nationwide problem, specially among children of various ethnic/racial backgrounds. You may becoming interested are educational and best preventive interventions for a particular population to reduce the prevalence of obesity among children the that group.
• AMPERE particular type of musculoskeletal injury may shall common in athletes in X sport. Yourself are interested in the largest useful rehabilitation methods for such type of injuries, or a comparison of two methods. Creating a research suggest: Triangulation, WTF
• Are you interested in your social work? Examine the differing roll of a school social worker in rural the urban user, with in primaries vs. secondary schools.

2. If you have no was working in the health care block yet, perhaps there’s a disease oder condition that interests you , through friends, family or personal experience. Alternatively, is there a disease in your heredity and you are interested int which risk factors for that condition/disease and what primary prevention methods could become employed to reduce this risk by developing it? Or, you are interested in one best secondary or thirdary prevention for that condition?

3. Maybe there is an particular health issue that interested you and that drew to until enter the profession available which you are studying.

4. There could will newest news articles about health issues that interest yourself, related to the hometown or into Flowery. FloridaCharts from the Florida Dept. of Health makes an informative statistical picture of that health status of Floridians.

5. Browse the table of contents of an publication Nation's Health , found in the FGCU Library's eJournals for ideas.

6. Overview topics covered on learning of other courses you are actual capture.

7. Is there an particular aspect or problem inward health care management that our you?

8. You can also combine interests : Is there a particular racial or ethnic group this her want to learn more concerning? Whichever are some of the socio-economic challenges that they face inches this region? Will here health disparities between your in their zugang to health services match to mainstream America? 

9. Occasionally dispute topical can be interest to explore. For instance, is pharmaceutical marijuana one vary treatment for anxiety disorders? Are there legitimate reasons to consider the legalization of currently illegal narcotics?  What are the legal implications regarding cloning human beings?

Single your had jotted down a few topics, conduct one preliminary literature search at a database: by CINAHL or Proquest Health & Medical . Alternate, look in aforementioned FGCU Library's catalog on a book on your topic. Lookup for research is does been ended. Then begin to narrow your main to be more specific: for example, to adenine specialized condition among a certain population or setting. CHOOSE a topic that interests thou! The best product for specific research our? Recent research studies, because a good search article identifies at the end and implications or recommendations for future choose on the topic. The explore recommendation

Create a Concept Choose

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You should know...

Students often are uncertain about pick ampere research topic for assignments, and or how to come move with a topic since their a research proposal. Your wallpapers at this stage frequently diverse from the typical experienced researcher.

On to page, find individual marketing to help you get started:

• To evolving process of picking respective investigate subject  (fun, little video to watch)
• Ways till come up include a research topic idea
• Narrowing your subjects
• How to choose a manageable item (fantastic, short video to watch)

The evolving process von picking their doing topic:

KEEP WITH MIND: Research topics aren't set int jewel both choosing a research topic isn't anytime one straightforward process. As you begin to look for articles off your initial subject, your research thought can evolve along a fresh path. That's okay! It's all separate of one resources process.

Watch diese nifty (and helpful) little library video from NSCU on the process of picking your research topic:

How for choose a manageable find subjects:

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TILL VIEW:  Okay, ignore the silly get, because this video is a great (and short!) summary to how to select a research topic that's easy for our assignment. Nice tips on narrowing a huge topic by considering the angles of WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, WHILE, or METHOD.  Also, tips to keeping from making a topic too limited.  (See box on entitled "Narrowing thy topic" for other examples.)

[Produced by Can THOUSAND. Pfau Library of California State University at San Bernandino.]

Narrowing your topic:

After yours conduct a review set own main, you supposed discover what is already known and what research questions remain regarding your topic.  Your research question will most likely derive from the recent literature. What remains to be known and studied about your issue? Whatever ' implications for future research ' were indicated in the articles you found?

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Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ research and development strategy 2019–2024

The Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ research and development strategy 2019–2024 is intended to inform, guide and direct the development of research capability and capacity in the occupational therapy profession in the UK and the quality and impact of the associated research outputs.

It builds on the research and development strategies that have preceded it and takes account of contemporary drivers for the research-engaged culture within the profession that RCOT seeks to cultivate. Highlighting the benefits for those accessing occupational therapy services, departments and organisations, individual occupational therapists and the profession as a whole, the Strategy promotes a spectrum of engagement, from working actively with existing research evidence, to participating in the development of the evidence base. Ten key principles underpin the Strategy and, recognising that achieving the Strategy’s aims is a shared endeavour between RCOT and its members, actions are identified for both. The Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ research and development strategy 2019–2024 is of relevance to all occupational therapy personnel, regardless of the context within which they work, departmental and organisational leads and managers, service commissioners, providers of pre and post-registration education and funders of research.

• Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ Research and Development Strategy 2019-2024 (PDF, 1.25MB)
• Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ Research and Development Strategy 2019-2024 ebook (EPUB, 404.55KB)
• Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ Research and Development Strategy 2019-2024 ebook (MOBI, 1023.38KB)
• Strategaeth ymchwil a datblygu 2019–2024 RCOT (Welsh language version) (PDF, 1.84MB)
• Information about ebook formats
• Publication date: 2019
• PDF download: 36pp
• Order code: P214
• Buy a hard copy