Evidence to Inform Occupational Therapy Intervention With Adults With Intellectual Disability: A Scoping Review

Abstract

were published in a peer-reviewed journal, (3) included content about people ages 18 yr or older with primary or coexisting ID at any level, and (4) included information relevant to occupational therapy practice (e.g., related to occupational performance strengths and needs of people with ID). Articles were excluded if they (1) were literary criticism (e.g., book reviews, editorials) or conference proceedings; (2) were gray literature (e.g., dissertations, government reports); or (3) included only participants with physical, developmental, or cognitive disabilities without ID (e.g., adult-onset muscular dystrophy, high-functioning ASD, dementia). To establish reliability, three authors independently screened 20 titles and abstracts for inclusion, compared their decisions, discussed their reasoning, and came to consensus, documenting any clarification regarding inclusion and exclusion criteria. These authors conducted this reliability consensus of 20 articles three times until they reached 90% consistency. Map the DataWe identified 3,402 articles for screening (1,203 PsycINFO; 1,102 CINAHL; 732 Scopus; and 365 PubMed). A total of 826 duplicates were removed, resulting in 2,576 articles to be screened. After reviewing titles and abstracts, we deemed 2,007 articles irrelevant to the research question, leaving 569 articles to be assessed for inclusion. Two authors conducted full-text screenings of each article, and three authors discussed and came to consensus regarding any disagreements about inclusion to ensure reliability. Of the 569 articles assessed, 410 were excluded, leaving 159 that met the inclusion criteria (Figure 1).To analyze the full text of included articles, we extracted key information (e.g., purpose of the study, sample characteristics, types of evidence provided, areas of occupation addressed, measures used, implications for intervention) from each article into a shared Excel (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA) spreadsheet. For each article, one author completed the initial data extraction, and a second author reviewed and added to this information. The articles were divided into three major categories on the basis of the type of evidence that the article provided: descriptive, assessment, or intervention. Evaluate and Summarize FindingsTo develop codes for the 57 intervention articles, three authors independently reviewed extracted data, proposed inductive codes and descriptions, and deliberated initial codes. These authors reviewed the extracted data and referred to the full articles until they reached consensus about the coding structure, which developed into intervention outcome categories and intervention strategy categories. Subsequently, these authors assigned each article outcome and strategy codes, as appropriate, and used a shared audit trail to track individual coding. These authors also discussed differences in coding and referred back to full-text articles until reaching consensus. ResultsOf the 159 articles that met the inclusion criteria for the larger scoping review, data were extracted ...

Predictors of Productivity and Leisure for People Aging with Intellectual Disability

“…As well as addressing the accessibility of the physical environment, there are opportunities for occupational therapists to support adults aging with ID in other domains of life (Blaskowitz et al, 2021). Descriptive statistics in this study showed many people aging with ID don't have friends outside of their home, and require support for ADL.…”

“…This could include working at an individual level with adults aging with ID and their support staff to analyze activities and occupations that best match their abilities and interests, and providing specialized advice to support their participation in meaningful work and leisure activities. Occupational therapists can play a significant role in advocating for and implementing occupation-focused approaches that enable adults with ID to continue to participate in meaningful work and leisure opportunities as they grow older (Blaskowitz et al, 2021; Johnson et al, 2019). Occupational therapists can work directly with adults aging with ID, or through consultative or coaching approaches with support staff or family members to facilitate participation in work or leisure occupations (Johnson et al, 2019).…”

“…These studies have identified barriers within the physical home environment can hinder participation in ADL, and community participation (Ashley et al, 2019;Kåhlin et al, 2016). Blaskowitz et al (2021) and Washington et al (2021) also highlighted the role of occupational therapy in the creation of environments that support participation for adults with ID. The present study extends the work of previous research, as it includes a broader range of living situations, including residential centers, community group homes, and people living independently, or with family.…”

“…There is growing international evidence describing occupational therapy practice with people with ID. Blaskowitz et al (2021) and Johnson et al (2019) outlined a broad scope of occupational therapy practice with adults with intellectual disabilities, including training, prompting, activities of daily living (ADL), health management, community participation programs, vocational training, advocacy, building social capital, environmental modification, and assistive technology. These studies examined adults aged 18 years and older with an ID, and focused on identifying current and future areas for occupational therapy practice development.…”

Technology for Adults with Intellectual Disability: Secondary Analysis of a Scoping Review

“…The authors followed scoping review procedures as outlined by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) and determined the research question for the larger scoping review to be: What is the scope of the evidence related to OT practice with adults with ID? Keywords and controlled vocabulary terms (e.g., "cognitive impairment," "intellectual disability," "mental retardation," "occupational therapy") were developed by a consulting librarian and custom searchers were completed in PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus (Blaskowitz et al, 2021;Mahoney et al, 2021). Citations and abstracts from the searches were maintained in Covidence (Veritas Health Innovation, 2019), a web-based review management system.…”