Older Adults' Experiences of Occupational Therapy Predischarge Home Visits: A Systematic Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research

Abstract

Background: Occupational therapists in many countries routinely perform predischarge home visits. Although there have been repeated calls to ascertain whether predischarge home visits are clinically and cost effective, there has been a tendency to neglect users' perceptions and experiences of this intervention. Objective: The objective was to conduct a systematic thematic synthesis of older adults' perceptions and experiences of predischarge home visits. Method: The search strategy was an electronic database search. Conference proceedings were hand searched and universities and occupational therapy professional bodies within Europe, Australia and North America were contacted. Results: Forty-four studies were initially identified, of which 13 studies (7 published, 6 unpublished) were selected for detailed screening. Only three qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria and, from this synthesis, two main themes emerged from the data. The first theme was older adults' perceptions of home visits and the second theme was acceptance of occupational therapy. Conclusion: Only a limited body of research has been conducted. This is surprising given the number of predischarge home visits that are performed. This thematic synthesis of qualitative research has highlighted that insufficient attention has been paid to older adults' perceptions of predischarge home visits.