Abstract
This article reports on the evidence for mental health occupational therapy in peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2013. Descriptive and inductive methods were used to address this question, with evidence from CINAHL, OTDBase, PSYCInfo, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar® included. Many articles ( n = 1,747) were found that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 47 different methods were used to develop evidence for mental health occupational therapy, and evidence appeared in 300 separate peer-reviewed journals. It takes on average 7 months for an article to progress from submission to acceptance, and a further 7 months to progress from acceptance to publication. More than 95% of articles published between 2000 and 2002 were cited at least once in the following decade, and around 70% of these citations were recorded in non-occupational therapy journals. The current evidence base for mental health occupational therapy is both substantial and diverse.
Highlights
Peer-reviewed journals are the primary source of credible evidence for clinicians to use in practice
To answer the first and second research questions, the inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) Articles formally published between 01/01/2000 and 31/12/2013; (b) articles published in English; (c) articles published in peer-reviewed publications; (d) articles where at least one author self-identified as an occupational therapist, consumer of occupational therapy services, or organization representing the profession; and (e) articles for which full text was available
There were 1,747 peer-reviewed articles written by occupational therapists in English about mental health occupational therapy between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2013, for which full text could be accessed
Summary
Peer-reviewed journals are the primary source of credible evidence for clinicians to use in practice. Prior to 2000, the American Journal of Occupational Therapy in 2008 and 2009 reported an analysis of journal articles on mental health (n = 7) published as part of the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Centennial Vision (D’Amico, Jaffe, & Gibson, 2010). The articles in this small sample addressed intervention effectiveness, instrument development, and descriptive research. Much of the evidence was descriptive (50%), there were several control trials (40%) Both D’Amico et al (2010) and Acharya (2013) only included a very small percentage of the overall evidence base for mental health occupational therapy. Their samples would have been influenced by the publication policies of the single journals from which they were drawn
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
