AN EXPLORATION INTO THE USE OF GROUP WORK AS A CORE COMPONENT OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY INTERVENTION IN AN OLDER ADULT PHYSICAL REHABILITATION HOSPITAL SETTING.
Abstract
Occupation is a core component of occupation based practice promoted within
occupational therapy provision. Within literature the growth of the body of knowledge and
evidence has developed to confirm the importance of occupation and health and well
being. Occupational therapists commonly work with all age groups and within a variety of
settings. In the small evidence based occupational therapy literature available, the
importance of occupation based interventions is often stated, alongside group work as a
core component of occupational therapy interventions.
Whilst there seems to be an agreement across the profession that group work is a core
component within occupational therapy and can be used as a beneficial occupation based
intervention there is little literature to evidence the following; in which settings and with
which client group, group work is seen to be most beneficial and why or whether it is
generally a useful occupational therapy occupation based intervention which can be
successfully used across a wide variety of occupational therapy services and service users.
Moreover, patient care is rarely one dimensional, the collective skills of healthcare workers
can have the greatest impact on patient outcome, and hence why multidisciplinary working
and group work should be at the forefront of focus.
As this is such a broad topic within occupational therapy, for the purpose of this literature
review, a specific service area and service user group will be identified and explored. An
older adult physical rehabilitation hospital setting is the area of interest due to personal
employment and interest through individual research around the ageing population. This
literature review identifies a gap in current occupational therapy literature. It provides an
in depth exploration of literature exploring our ageing population and the potential
benefits of using group work as a core occupational therapy intervention in an older adult
physical rehabilitation hospital setting.