Therapy Journals Research Articles

Myth of Political Neutrality

This editorial discusses the roles and meaning of the “political” in music therapy journals and publication processes and calls into question the value and expectation of political neutrality. It also outlines the articles included in the March 2024 issue.

An international study of diversity in occupational therapy research- A bibliographic review of English research literature.

The cornerstone of a strong profession is the research that supports its knowledge base and practice. However, little is known about the range of international occupational therapy research. To explore the range and diversity of the international occupational therapy research from published peer reviewed literature in English during the year 2018. Limited to 2018, a review was conducted of sources from i) health-related search engines using search terms associated with occupational therapy practice, and ii) content pages of occupational therapy publications. Articles were excluded if they i) had no occupational therapy author, ii) were not peer reviewed, iii) not in English, and iv) did not include primary data collection (e.g., opinion pieces, position statements, study protocols). Of articles selected for analysis, data were extracted and synthesized according to the study's origin country, publishing research journal, the characteristics of the represented research, and its alignment with World Federation of Occupational Therapists research priorities. A total of 4,169 articles were retrieved from the search (i.e., 3,459 from health-related search engines and 710 through a manual search of occupational therapy journals). After exclusions, 2,345 articles were included for analysis. The review identified English published research was predominantly conducted in economically privileged countries. In addition, it revealed several research priorities that need further development such as evaluating the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions.

Problematization of knowledge and practices in Brazilian occupational therapy: the construction of critical thinking between 1979 and 1996

: This article proposes to present, in a descriptive and analytical way, the historical constitution of critical thinking in Brazilian occupational therapy between 1979 and 1996. It is a theoretical and historical research, which took as its object some key discussions on historical-epistemological foundations of occupational therapy through a reflective and critical reading of texts. The study made use of the previous research database on the national occupational therapy literature from 1956 to 2017 through a scoping review. Books, master's dissertations, abstracts from scientific event annals and articles from national occupational therapy journals were used. The descriptive and analytical presentation of the results is organized into three distinct periods: (i) emergence of the first counter-hegemonic records at the end of the 1970s, published in event annals; (ii) production of critical studies in historical-epistemological foundations, published in master's dissertations and books from 1987 to 1990 and; (iii) critical elaborations on the hegemonic biomedical thought, the institutionalizaton of people and the technical-procedural model, published in occupational therapy journals from 1990 to 1993/6. The historical period between 1979 and 1996 marks the emergence of critical thinking in Brazilian occupational therapy. These elaborations contributed to make visible a certain ethical-political position that would serve as a foundation for the emancipatory practices that would happen in the following decade.

Occupational Concepts: An Underutilized Resource to Further Disabled People and Others Being Occupied: A Scoping Review

Background: Being occupied is an important factor in human well-being and ranges from paid and unpaid work to activities of daily living. Various occupational concepts that do not contain health in the phrase such as “occupational justice” are employed to engage with the social barriers people experience in being occupied. The aim of this study was to understand better to what extent the non-health occupational concepts are used in the academic literature to discuss the social barriers disabled people face in being occupied and whether these occupational concepts are used to enrich discussions in areas that impact the reality of occupation in general such as equity/equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), science and technology governance, well-being and the impact of environmental issues. Methods: a scoping review of academic abstracts employing SCOPUS, the 70 databases of EBSCO-HOST and Web of Science was performed. Results: We found 24,104 abstracts for the 28 occupational concepts we used in general and 624 abstracts in conjunction with disability terms. Of these 28 occupational concepts, “occupational performance” was mentioned the most (in 9739 of the 24,104 and 397 of the 624 abstracts). The next concept “occupational engagement” was already present in one tenth or less. Occupational justice was present in 700 of the 24,104 and 14 of the 624 abstracts. Furthermore, within the 24,104 and 624 abstracts EDI, science and technology governance, environmental topics, and well-being measures were rarely or not mentioned. Most of the 624 abstracts originated from occupational therapy journals. Only 23 of the 624 abstracts originated from journals with “disability”, and none with “disability studies” in the title. Conclusion: Non-health occupational concepts are underutilized in discourses that focus on decreasing the social barriers to being occupied in general and in relation to disabled people, which is a missed opportunity and should be fixed.

Music Therapy in Shelters for People Who Are Unhoused: A Scoping Review

Abstract A scoping review of publications pertaining to music therapy interventions with people who are unhoused and living in shelters was implemented to determine if the available evidence supports professional advocacy and program development with this underserved population at the present time. Searches using EBSCOHost, PsycINFO, ProQuest, and search engines for music therapy journals resulted in 294 publications. Specification of inclusion criteria (population-context-concept) resulted in 13 articles for review to determine the types of evidence, key characteristics of participants and interventions, and gaps and limitations in the literature. An overview of therapists’ descriptions of their sessions’ goals, interventions, and recommendations, combined with information from shelter staff and former participants, provides practical information for interventions and future research. However, the diversity within the small collection of articles prevents generalizations and provides only a glance at possibilities, not a foundation, for professional advocacy and program development.

Fast and Slow Thinking in Narrative Recovery: Pluralistic Trauma Processing during Covid-19

How can writing about the collective cultural trauma of the Covid-19 pandemic help in an autobiographical illness narrative about coming to terms with pre-existing Dissociative Identity Disorder? This disorder is characterised by inner plurality, autobiographical amnesia, and difficulties in discerning past from present times. Thinking about how to recall let alone organise such a life story might appear, at first, to be an impossible challenge. Might slow-thinking (coined by Kahneman 2011) through critical reading of comparisons between personal experiences and collective cultural experiences of trauma be a resolution? This lived experience account shares how the pandemic triggered fast-thinking dissociative symptoms but in so doing, gave me the story pieces to start forming a narrative about my earlier childhood trauma. Through slow, comparative readings of this personal experience with classic literary and collective cultural experiences of historical traumas, a co-produced narrative emerges. As a result, instead of the therapeutic creative writing modes that are gaining much traction in third sector mental health programmes and wellbeing forums (such as therapy journals, expressive writing or drama role play, see for instance Sampson 2007), the focus here is on how auto-ethnographic self-therapy can also provide new directions for narrative recovery in pluralistic trauma processing.

US Departments of Pharmacy practice single terminal‐degree tenure‐track scholarly activity

AbstractIntroductionBibliometric analysis of publications is a valuable tool for quantification of academic productivity and impact. United States (US) Departments of pharmacy practice scholarship by tenure‐track (DPP‐TT) faculty is vital for future evolution of the field.ObjectivesTo quantify journal and faculty metrics based on scholarly activity among US DPP‐TT faculty over a 10‐year period.MethodsA search of PubMed was performed of single terminal‐degree DPP‐TT faculty from January 01, 2010 to 31 December, 2019. DPP‐TT faculty housed in DPP were determined through online published faculty rosters in American Association Colleges of Pharmacy rosters or college/school internet sites. For each DPP‐TT faculty publication, the journal name, journal impact factor (JIF), and number of citations were collected. DPP‐TT faculty members' Hirsch index (h‐index) and National Institutes of Health iCite weighted relative citation ratio (RCR) value were determined. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance were used to compare data across demographic strata.ResultsOne hundred and thirty‐seven institutions employed 1805 single terminal‐degree pharmacy practice faculty that produced 12 670 (7.0 ± 16.3/10 years/faculty member) publications. The number of citations/publications was (mean ± standard deviation [SD]) 24.7 ± 80.8 cited most frequently in medicine, pharmacy education, and drug therapy journals with a JIF of 4.7 ± 11.5. Individual faculty members' h‐index was 6.5 ± 8.9 with a mean iCite weighted RCR of 22.1 ± 65.3. Individual metrics increased with academic rank progression (p < 0.0001).ConclusionThese national single terminal‐degree DPP‐TT faculty metrics are similar to other healthcare professions, including publishing in high‐quality medicine, pharmacy education, and drug therapy journals.

Scopus based bibliometric and scientometric analysis of occupational therapy publications from 2001 to 2020

Background: Occupational therapy (OT) is one of the allied health professions, with its first journals in 1920. The main objective of this study was to find out the publication trend in the field of OT research for the period of 2001-2020 using the principles of bibliometrics and scientometrics. Methods: The data was retrieved from Scopus from the past 20 years (2001-2020). VOSviewer software was used to find year-wise publications in OT-specific and non-OT-specific Journals along with top journals, countries, organisations, authors, cited articles, and highly used keywords. Results: There was a steady growth of OT articles over the past 20 years. Scopus indexes 16 OT-specific journals are identified. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, British Journal of Occupational Therapy Journal, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, and Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy are the leading publications and citations. A comparison of OT-specific and non-OT journals inferred that the OT-specific papers are three times more published in non-OT journals. There is a trend in publishing multidisciplinary medical journals than OT journals. The US publishes the most articles, followed by the UK, Australia, Canada, and Germany. Though the US alone produced a considerable number of articles (9517), only five organisations are listed in the top 20, compared to Canada (n=6) and Australia (n=5). Australia represents the highest number of published authors (n=11/20). Canada represents a highly cited author from the top-cited publications. The five common keywords used by OT-authors are "occupational therapy", “rehabilitation”, “stroke”, “physical therapy,” and “activities of daily living”. This study lists top-20 journals along with their CiteScore and Journal Impact Factor. Conclusions: This study will help the budding researchers in OT to select a suitable quality journal for publication and, further, helpful for research promotion, researcher incentivising, grant allocations, and policymakers in the OT field.

Single-group studies in leading physical therapy journals commonly make inappropriate conclusions regarding treatment effect modifiers. A systematic review

BackgroundCharacteristics that identify patients who respond differently to certain interventions are called treatment effect modifiers. Some studies inappropriately report the presence of treatment effect modifiers without adequate study designs. ObjectivesTo evaluate what proportion of single-group studies published in leading physical therapy journals inappropriately report treatment effect modifiers, and to assess whether the proportion varies over time or between journals. MethodsA systematic review was conducted of studies published in eight leading physical therapy journals since 2000. Eligible studies were single-group studies (e.g., cohort study or secondary analysis of treatment arm of randomised controlled trial) that investigated any condition, treatment or outcome. Studies that suggested participants with certain baseline characteristics responded better/or worse to the treatment, were considered to have reported inappropriately. Studies reporting that participants with certain baseline characteristics had improved outcomes but did not state it was due to the treatment were considered to have reported appropriately. The proportion of inappropriate reporting was compared over time and between journals. ResultsOf the 145 included studies, 73 (50.3%) were categorised as inappropriately reporting treatment effect modifiers. The proportion of inappropriate reporting was highest in the most recent period, 2018 – 2022 (59.6%) and 2006 – 2011 (55.6%). The proportion of inappropriate reporting varied substantially between journals from 0% (Journal of Physiotherapy) to 91.7% (Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy). ConclusionsA large proportion (50.3%) of single-arm studies in leading physical therapy journals inappropriately report treatment effect modifiers. This inappropriate reporting risks misleading clinicians when selecting interventions for individual patients.

Measurement of School Engagement in Elementary School Students: A Scoping Review.

School engagement is the extent to which students commit to and participate in school activities, including internal thoughts, emotions, and observable behaviors. It is critical to children's academic outcomes and mental health. Occupational therapy practitioners support children at school to maintain mental well-being and meet their school outcomes. However, how occupational therapy practitioners should measure school engagement among elementary school students remains unclear. To identify and characterize how elementary school students' school engagement is currently measured. PsycINFO, Eric, CINAHL, and A+ Education databases. Two reviewers screened titles and abstracts, and one reviewer completed full-text screening and data extraction using Excel. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guided this review. Studies published between 2015 and 2021 were included if full text was available, written in English, and used a measure designed for elementary school-age students. Studies were excluded if they used no school engagement measurement; used only infant, adolescent, or adult scales; were not available for review; and did not meet the inclusion criteria. The review included 125 studies. A range of self-report, observational, teacher-report, and caregiver-report measures of school engagement were identified. Behavioral school engagement was most commonly measured. Included studies were primarily published in education and psychology fields, with none published in occupational therapy journals. A range of school engagement measurements can be found in the literature, but no consensus exists on a validated school engagement measurement for occupational therapy practice. What This Article Adds: This review provides occupational therapy practitioners with a comprehensive understanding of (1) the importance of school engagement to mental health and (2) the range of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement measures currently available for use with elementary school-age children, thereby enhancing the profession's knowledge and scope of practice in school engagement.

Comment on "Serum Raman spectroscopy combined with multiple classification models for rapid diagnosis of breast cancer".

This paper comments recent findings about Raman spectroscopy application for breast cancer detection published in the Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy journal by Li etal. Despite the high performance of the proposed approach for breast cancer detection by means of Raman spectroscopy analysis of serum, the proposed results may be ambiguous due to overestimation of classification models.

Gender Composition in Occupational Therapy Journals’ Editorial Boards

This paper analyses the Editorial Board (EB) distribution of Occupational Therapy journals from a gender perspective. The "Occupational Therapy" field in the Scimago Journal and Country Rank (SJR) and the "Occupational Therapy" term in the title search of the Journal Citation Report (JCR) were used to find the Occupational Therapy-specific journals. The following indicators were calculated: Editorial Board Member (EBM) gender distribution by journal, publisher, subject speciality, country, and journal quartile. Thirty-seven journals were located, including 667 individuals, 206 males (31%) and 461 females (69%). Referring to the EB positions, most members (557) were EB members, 70 were listed as Associate Editors, and 20 as Editorial Leaders. The results show that the proportion of women in the EB's of Occupational Therapy journals represents a majority. Regarding the distribution by gender of the EBMs, six journals had a female proportion below the cut-off point revealed in this study (69%). Four did not reach parity, with female representation below 50%. Additionally, the balance among the EBMs is significantly underrepresented compared to the percentage of female Occupational Therapy practitioners.

Evidence for Implementing Tiered Approaches in School-Based Occupational Therapy in Elementary Schools: A Scoping Review.

Internationally, it is suggested that school-based occupational therapy (SBOT) has an important role in supporting inclusion in educational settings. In SBOT, multitiered service delivery models are identified as a way forward to maximize school inclusion. Therefore, identifying evidence for the implementation of tiered interventions in SBOT is vital. To identify and map evidence in the occupational therapy literature relating to SBOT interventions delivered in elementary schools for all children, for those at risk, and for those with identified diagnoses. Peer-reviewed literature published in 14 occupational therapy journals between 1990 and 2020, indexed in the EBSCOhost database. Included studies were those within the scope of SBOT that reported on school occupations and focused on elementary school-age children (excluding kindergarteners or preschoolers). Forty studies met the criteria. Individual-tier intervention studies (n = 22) primarily reported direct interventions with children at risk or with identified diagnoses (Tier 2 or Tier 3), focusing mostly on remedial approaches. None adopted a whole-school approach. Despite handwriting and self-regulation being dominant areas of concern, these studies were not explicitly related to inclusion outcomes. Evidence for implementing multitiered models primarily used indirect, collaborative consultation, embedded in the school context (n = 18). These studies identified positive school staff and child outcomes when collaboration was timely, consistent, and authentic. More rigorous individual-tier intervention studies are required to inform the design and implementation of multitiered interventions in SBOT and to support participation and inclusion in schools. What This Article Adds: This scoping review provides evidence to support occupational therapists' professional reasoning in developing evidence-based, contextual, educationally relevant multitiered models of intervention in SBOT.

New Name, New Format!

New Name, New Format!

Controvérsias e debates em torno da terapia ocupacional: uma análise das produções bibliográficas na América do Sul (2010-2018)

Abstract Considering that occupational therapy practices act in spaces of daily life where there is a plurality of existences, it is imperative to build heterogeneous practices from the historical-social contexts that produce them. In South America, debates have emerged that challenge the prevailing north-Eurocentric and Anglocentric discourse due to its claim to universality, objectivity, and neutrality, bringing with its positivist scientific reasoning and dualistic logic. This article aims to present seven debates identified in some of the written productions of Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile between 2010-2018, both in older occupational therapy journals in the region and in books of collective authorships that discuss occupational therapy. A mapping of controversies is carried out through a documentary review and analysis of 133 journal articles and 53 book chapters. The issues they discuss are related to occupational therapy practices around the social; communities and territories; human rights; knowledge and knowledge production; the critical; gender and feminisms; and Latin America and the global south. It is possible to conclude that each debate condenses different historical moments, from which plural and unfinished forms of occupational therapy are produced that make visible controversial issues that have given them richness and heterogeneity, allowing to stress the asymmetries of power and give political relevance to the practices that are produced from South America for the local-global context.

Interviewing Peter Lang

This interview took place 15 years ago on 26th January, 2007 when Peter Lang was visiting Smaro Markou’s centre in Athens. It was originally published in Metalogos, The Greek Systemic Therapy Journal and we thank Fany Triantafillou and team for their generosity in allowing us to re-produce it here. The interview has a new introduction and conclusion by Smaro Markou in which she offers some context and recent reflections on this meeting and on Peter’s contribution to the systemic field.

State of the Journal, 2022.

The American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT) had another successful year reaching our highest 2-yr impact factor in history (2.813) and regaining our position as the highest ranking occupational therapy journal in the world. Our expanded social media platforms and online resources continue to expand access and help occupational therapy practitioners translate research into practice. The journal's goals moving forward include enhancing opportunities for student involvement, enhancing standards for rigor and reporting, and updating official AJOT documents and resources to reflect best practices for bias-free language and the use of race/ethnicity data in research publications.

Optimizing Occupations, Habits, and Routines for Health and Well-Being With Lifestyle Redesign®: A Synthesis and Scoping Review.

Lifestyle Redesign® originated as a preventive occupational therapy intervention for healthy older adults, and it was found to be both effective and cost effective in the Well Elderly Studies initiated in the 1990s. Building on that empirical foundation, the scope of Lifestyle Redesign has been greatly expanded as a general intervention framework addressing prevention and chronic condition management in a wide range of populations, settings, and conditions. Yet until now, its full scope, defining characteristics, and supporting evidence have not been clearly and succinctly described, limiting its potential reach and impact. To outline the definition and key characteristics of Lifestyle Redesign, provide a scoping review of its evidence base and future directions for research, describe its current applications, and make recommendations for its use in clinical practice. We searched PubMed and CINAHL, tables of contents of 10 occupational therapy journals, and citations in two seminal Lifestyle Redesign publications to identify articles published in 1997-2020 that described quantitative outcomes (for n ≥ 20) of interventions meeting the defining characteristics of Lifestyle Redesign. Our scoping review yielded 12 publications providing supportive evidence for Lifestyle Redesign's positive impact on a range of health and well-being outcomes among both well populations and those with chronic conditions. Lifestyle Redesign has the potential to meet a growing need in clinical and community settings for health care services that address prevention, health promotion, and chronic disease management. What This Article Adds: Current evidence supports the use of Lifestyle Redesign to improve health and well-being for a range of client populations. This review outlines its defining characteristics and current applications to improve its implementationin clinical practice and expand related research efforts.

Profile of Pediatric Occupational Therapy Practice in Kuwait: A Qualitative Study

Pediatrics specialty is the most occupational therapy practice in Kuwait. Therefore, the purpose of this survey is to establish a profile of pediatric occupational therapy practice in Kuwait. Moreover, it aims to recognize the most common diagnoses that are referred to the pediatrics occupational therapy in Kuwait as well as identify the most common assessments, frame of reference, and intervention techniques that are used in the area of practice. In addition, there are also many studies conducted about pediatric occupational therapy profiles in Australia, Canada, and United States, However, there are no studies about pediatric occupational therapy profiles in Kuwait (Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 2005). Therefore, the importance of this research is to follow a successful role model similar to Canada, Australia, and the United States. The Methodology was is ex post facto survey that is adapted to conduct the data. The sample is all pediatric occupational therapists working in both Ministry of Health and the privet educational sector in Kuwait receive the survey. The sample size was 260 therapists but the responding participants were 217 therapists. The result showed that the most commonly used assessments were the Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration, Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, and the Sensory Profile.

Reimagining art therapy for the digitally-mediated world: a Hexagonal Relationship

ABSTRACT Art Therapists have long been aware of the intersubjective complexities that are evoked in art therapy in relation to images, art-making and their attendant processes. These have often been understood with reference to the psychodynamic concepts of transference and countertransference. In this paper we ask, what happens to these processes when art therapy moves online and becomes digitally-mediated? How do the dynamics of ‘the Virtual’ affect the image and art-making, and the therapeutic relationship? Drawing on Schaverien and Jung’s ideas about transference and countertransference, we propose a new model or ‘map’ of Art Therapy which helps to think about these questions, which we call a ‘Hexagonal Relationship’. To date, published literature has tended to foreground the logistics and practicalities of moving art therapy online, with consideration of complex interpersonal dynamics occupying less of a central space in emerging narratives about digitally-mediated art therapy. We suggest that applying our model to practice could potentially support art therapists to access deeper, less conscious and perhaps more symbolic levels of material in online work, in service of the client’s process. We invite art therapists and clients to consider our model with reference to their own experiences of digitally-mediated art therapy, and to test out our questions and hypotheses in their own contexts. Plain-language summary Art Therapists work with the idea that the images made in art therapy are affected by the relationship between the person making the image (often known as ‘the client’), the art therapist, and the environment in which the art therapy session takes place. Making and reflecting on images is a way of understanding and working with whatever is going on for the client, both in their ‘external’ life and also in their ‘internal world’ (for example, their thoughts, feelings, imaginings and beliefs). A lot of art therapy now happens online, particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are all part of the digital world in terms of how we communicate and relate with others. We think it is helpful to consider how art therapy (including the therapeutic relationship, art-making processes and the images made) might be affected by the digital environment and so we have written this paper to explore these ideas. We show readers a diagram of what we call the ‘Hexagonal Relationship’ to help explain what we mean. We think this will help us to understand more of what happens in art therapy in the digital world, making this kind of therapeutic help more effective and meaningful for clients and their art therapists. We hope that clients and art therapists will test out these ideas for themselves and come into a conversation with us (perhaps through papers like this one, published in art therapy journals) about how well our ideas stand up to actual experience.