Date Presented 03/28/20
Refugees across the world are an ever-growing population, including in the United States. The purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review of research from 2014–2018 relevant to OT practice with refugee populations. Twelve peer-reviewed research articles were examined. A trend of more published evidence-based interventions emerged compared to earlier reviews, in addition to assessing needs of this nontraditional population. Implications for OT practice will be presented.
Primary Author and Speaker: Joseph Cipriani
Additional Authors and Speakers: Megan Davis, Emily Gralinski, Stephanie Monforte, Jacqueline Strausser
PURPOSE: Refugees across the world are an ever growing population, including in the United States, with a recent estimate putting the world refugee population at 25.4 million persons (UNHCFR, 2018). As a person who is unable or unwilling to return to his/her country of nationality because of a fear of persecution, refugees are faced with many challenges across multiple areas of occupations. The purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review of research from 2014–2018 relevant to occupational therapy practice with refugee populations. Previously, two scoping reviews had been conducted (Bennett, Scornaiencki, Brzozowski, Denis & Magalhaes, 2012; Huot, Kelly, & Jin Park, 2016) on the needs of refugees, No new scoping reviews have occurred on research published since 2013, and no previous scoping review attempted to include interventions within the scope of practice of occupational therapy.
DESIGN: The study design used a scoping review method, which comprehensively collects current literature about a topic, so the researchers can examine the extent of research activity, summarize and disseminate research activity, and identify gaps in the current literature (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005).
METHOD: Arksey and O’Malley (2005) define a 5-step process to conduct a scoping review. First, the research questions were defined. The research questions were such: a) how does immigration affect the daily occupations of refugees, b) what factors affect performance patterns, c) what types of intervention strategies have been used, and d) what factors influence effective implementation of interventions? Next, relevant studies were identified via an online search of the EBSCOhost system with all databases selected, using the search terms “occupational therap*” AND “intervention” OR “needs” AND “immigrant” OR “refugee” OR “asylum seeker” OR “forced migrant.” The reference lists of located articles were also searched. Studies were selected via inclusion criteria of peer-reviewed articles published between 2014-2018 in English that identified either needs of refugees, intervention strategies used, or both, within the scope of occupational therapy practice. The senior researcher served as the content expert as to questions if the study was relevant to practice, as well as using the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (3rd ed.) as a guide. Fourth, a spreadsheet was created to chart each article as to location, study population, research design, identified needs and/or interventions, and key results. Lastly, and currently in process, the chart was reviewed to discover themes, using a process similar to that defined by Huot et al. (2016, p. 188).
RESULTS: Twenty-two articles were located via our search, of which 12 met the inclusion criteria for review. As noted, all 12 articles were charted in summary form. Using the research questions as a guide, the research team, by consensus, is developing commonalities, categories and finally themes. This process is ongoing as this submission occurs. One early finding is that compared to the previous 2 scoping reviews, a shift is occurring in the research base, with a greater proportion of articles elucidating intervention approaches vs. only needs, with an emphasis on measuring outcomes of these approaches.
CONCLUSION: With the data analyzed to date, we see an emerging interest in evidence-based practice interventions, which can have a significant impact on occupational therapy practice serving this historically under-researched non-traditional population relocated to the US and other host countries.
References
Arksey, H. & O’Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8, 19–32. doi: 10.1080/1364557032000119616
Bennett, K. M., Scornaiencki, J. M., Brzozowski, J., Denis, S., & Magalhaes, L. (2012). Immigration and its impact on daily occupations: A scoping review. Occupational Therapy International, 19, 185-203. doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12261
Huot, S., Kelly, E., & Jin Park, S. (2016). Occupational experiences of forced migrants: A scoping review. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 63, 186-205. doi: 10.1002/oti.1336
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2018). Figures at a glance. Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.
