Barriers and facilitators of participation in intervention research by mental health occupational therapists

Abstract

Statement of context: Occupational therapists in clinical practice are required to deliver interventions within clinical trials to demonstrate the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions. Challenges to participation in intervention research by occupational therapists working in community mental health have been identified and require further investigation. Critical reflection on practice: A cross-sectional online survey of occupational therapists working in mental health was used, and obtained a 50% (n ¼ 144) response rate. Limited time, large generic caseloads, and lack of skills and experience in research were identified barriers to participation in occupational therapy intervention research. Occupational therapists had limited dedicated time to carry out occupational therapy interventions and outcome measurement was limited. Implications for practice: Occupational therapy roles need to be regained in adult community mental health alongside routine outcome measurement. This will enable occupational therapy interventions to contribute to community mental health services and support participation in clinical trials of occupational therapy interventions.

A qualitative investigation of influences on occupational therapists’ research involvement in Ireland

“…These results are largely consistent with the findings from similar research by Waine et al (1997) as well as Birken et al (2017), regarding occupational therapists' perspectives on and involvement in research -particularly through the identification: of time, funding, caseload, lack of resources, staffing, the priority of clinical practice, confidence, personal cost and the perceived relationship between…”

“…over 20 years), as well as the recency of Birken et al’s (2017) research, which suggest that, from an organisational culture perspective, the barriers identified have, indeed, been established over time and may be difficult to overcome in the absence of an updated ‘rethinking’. Moreover, the consistency of these findings also suggest that the results of the current research may not be specific unto an ‘Irish context’ as elicited from the participants, given that the same barriers – largely associated with organisational culture – were also found in Canada (Waine et al, 1997) and the United Kingdom (Birken et al, 2017). Indeed, future research on the longevity of these issues is required.…”

Barriers and facilitators of clinician and researcher collaborations: a qualitative study

“…The majority of clinician participants wanted to be more involved in research studies but were unable to get involved to the extent they would like to. This finding is supported by other research that suggests that clinicians want to undertake research, but the majority do not have protected time and if they do, the opportunity is often lost because of competing clinical demands [11,[28][29][30]. Clinicians in our study were frustrated they were not involved in the development of research studies and are usually first aware of a particular study when they are asked to recruit participants from their caseload.…”

A gardening and woodwork group in mental health: a step towards recovery

“…Difficulty aligning occupational therapy principles and client-centeredness with the predominant symptom-focused or observational outcome measures may be one contributing factor to occupational therapists relying on qualitative feedback or individual testimony rather than group measures. One survey completed by 144 occupational therapists working in adult community mental health indicated that 41% did not measure the outcomes of their interventions (Birken et al, 2017).…”