Expressive Art to Facilitate the Development of the Occupational Profile: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Background. The American Occupational Therapy Association and the American Medical Association have changed CPT codes to require a completed occupational profile at every evaluation and re-evaluation session for reimbursement as of January 1, 2017. A revitalization of art in occupational therapy has led to a recent increase in the evidence supporting the use of expressive art in practice. The benefits of expressive art can directly enhance the occupational profile required by these changing reimbursement requirements.

The use of the term ‘occupational profile’ in occupational therapy and occupational science literature: A scoping review

“…Of the research papers included in this review, mixed method approaches were most used ( n = 11); quantitative methods were used in 10 papers and qualitative methods were employed in four. One study was a scoping review (Eschenfelder and Gavalas, 2018).…”

“…Of the papers that included definitions, over half (56%) included occupational history and experiences, values and interests (AOTA, 2017(AOTA, , 2021Berg and LaVesser, 2006;Eschenfelder and Gavalas, 2018;Mahoney, 2014). The following terms were also included in the definitions: patterns of daily living (AOTA, 2017(AOTA, , 2021Berg and LaVesser, 2006;Eschenfelder and Gavalas, 2018), engagement (Berg and LaVesser, 2006;Eschenfelder and Gavalas, 2018), work (Goffer et al, 2019;MacKinnon et al, 1994), leisure (Goffer et al, 2019;MacKinnon et al, 1994), strengths (Lee et al, 2011;Metzinger and Berg, 2015), weaknesses (Lee et al, 2011), environmental supports and barriers (Mahoney, 2014), enjoyment and satisfaction (Goffer et al, 2019).…”

“…Despite the widespread use of the term 'occupational profile', only one scoping review has examined the term to date. Eschenfelder and Gavalas (2018) explored the evidence regarding the effectiveness of expressive art techniques to enhance the occupational profile of clients with communication deficits. Although the review focused on occupational profiles, it failed to explore the use of the term in occupational therapy or occupational science literature.…”