TY - JOUR
T1 - Type of Findings Generated by the Occupational Therapy Workforce Research Worldwide: Scoping Review and Content Analysis
AU - World Federation of Occupational Therapists
AU - Jesus, Tiago S.
AU - Mani, Karthik
AU - von Zweck, Claudia
AU - Kamalakannan, Sureshkumar
AU - Bhattacharjya, Sutanuka
AU - Ledgerd, Ritchard
N1 - Funding information:
Tiago Jesus, completed this work under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number: 90ARHF0003).
PY - 2022/4/27
Y1 - 2022/4/27
N2 - Occupational therapists are needed to meet the health and occupational needs of the global population, but we know little about the type of findings generated by occupational therapy workforce research conducted worldwide. We aim to synthesize these findings and their range of content to inform future investigations. A scoping review with content analysis was used. Six scientific databases, websites of official institutions, snowballing, and key informants were used for searches. Two independent reviewers took selection decisions against the eligibility criteria published a priori in the review protocol. Of the 1246 unique references detected, 57 papers were included for the last 25 years. A total of 18 papers addressed issues of attractiveness and retention, often in Australia, and 14 addressed the issues of supply, demand, and distribution, often in the US. Only these two categories generated subtopics. Many workforce issues were rarely addressed as a main topic (e.g., race/ethnic representation). Cross-national, cross-regional, or cross-professional studies generated more actionable findings. Overall, we found few discernable trends, minimal evidence of research programs, and various gaps in content coverage or in the use of contemporary research approaches. There is a need for a coordinated strengthening of the occupational therapy workforce research worldwide.
AB - Occupational therapists are needed to meet the health and occupational needs of the global population, but we know little about the type of findings generated by occupational therapy workforce research conducted worldwide. We aim to synthesize these findings and their range of content to inform future investigations. A scoping review with content analysis was used. Six scientific databases, websites of official institutions, snowballing, and key informants were used for searches. Two independent reviewers took selection decisions against the eligibility criteria published a priori in the review protocol. Of the 1246 unique references detected, 57 papers were included for the last 25 years. A total of 18 papers addressed issues of attractiveness and retention, often in Australia, and 14 addressed the issues of supply, demand, and distribution, often in the US. Only these two categories generated subtopics. Many workforce issues were rarely addressed as a main topic (e.g., race/ethnic representation). Cross-national, cross-regional, or cross-professional studies generated more actionable findings. Overall, we found few discernable trends, minimal evidence of research programs, and various gaps in content coverage or in the use of contemporary research approaches. There is a need for a coordinated strengthening of the occupational therapy workforce research worldwide.
KW - health workforce
KW - health personnel
KW - human resources for health
KW - occupational therapists
KW - rehabilitation
KW - review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128705695&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph19095307
DO - 10.3390/ijerph19095307
M3 - Review article
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 19
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 9
M1 - e5307
ER -