Benefits of Early Intervention Occupational Therapy Within Different Settings: A Literature Review

Benefits of Early Intervention Occupational Therapy Within Different Settings: A Literature Review

BACKGROUND: Early intervention occupational therapy in different settings produces beneficial outcomes in children's development. Occupational therapy (OT) has various settings: school-based, clinic-based, home-based, and community-based. This literature review aims to assess occupational therapy interventions offered in these different settings to inform occupational therapists and patients of occupational therapists of different settings that could provide beneficial outcomes for child development. OBJECTIVE: How early intervention of occupational therapy benefits children placed in school-based settings in comparison to children who are exposed to early intervention OT in a clinical or home-based setting. METHODS: CINHAL Ultimate, Gale Academic OneFile, MEDLINE Complete, and American Journal of Occupational Therapy were databases used to find peer-reviewed articles. Search terms "occupational therapy," "children," "outcomes," "different settings," and "comparison” were used. Eight articles that met the inclusion criteria were applied to the literature review. RESULTS: The results of present studies of occupational therapy settings and their benefits on early intervention differ from study to study. One study followed a scoping review approach, one was a mixed-design study, one was cross-sectional, one was a case study, one was a randomized control trial, and three were systematic reviews. The populations targeted were children aged 0-12 and school-based occupational therapists. Intervention effectiveness and future occupational therapy developments display varying results. CONCLUSION: The studies within this literature review conclude that it depends on the child what intervention may work best for them. Specific research that should occur next is a prospective cohort study that compares groups of children side by side with similar therapeutic goals. With pre-testing and post-testing, observations can be made about which setting is statistically and clinically more beneficial to child development.