Priority 10 from the Occupational Therapy PSP

There is a lack of economic evaluations of occupational therapy service delivery. It is acknowledged that many will feel uncomfortable at the thought that 'cost' might be prioritised over other measures, such as the outcomes and experiences of the people who access occupational therapy services. In the context of limited public funding, and the expectation that statutory services spend tax-payers' money wisely, it is important that the profession can demonstrate that our services make a difference to people's lives and are cost-effective in doing so.

This question therefore aims to provide evidence about the extent to which different occupational therapy services and interventions offer value for money and are therefore worth investing in.

There is currently one systematic review (Green and Rod, 2017) that considers econonic evaluations in OT (which concludes a lack of robust evidence). Studies published after this study focus on specific areas. The area has not be comprehensively researched. This is an area of uncertainty.
Brandt, Å., et al. (2016). "Effectiveness of the "Cancer Home-Life Intervention" on everyday activities and quality of life in people with advanced cancer living at home: a randomised controlled trial and an economic evaluation." BMC Palliative Care 15: 10-10.
Clarke, C. E., et al. (2016). "Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of physiotherapy and occupational therapy versus no therapy in mild to moderate Parkinson's disease: a large pragmatic randomised controlled trial (PD REHAB)." Health technology assessment (winchester, england) 20(63): 1-96.
Green, S. and R. Lambert (2017). "A systematic review of health economic evaluations in occupational therapy." British Journal of Occupational Therapy 80(1): 5-19.
Health, C. A. f. D. a. T. i. (2017). Occupational Therapy for Chronic Pain Management Using the Biopsychosocial Approach: A Review of the Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness and Guidelines.
Health, C. A. f. D. a. T. i. (2017). Occupational Therapy Interventions to Prevent Opioid Relapse: Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness and Guidelines.
Nagayama, H., et al. (2017). "Cost effectiveness of the occupation-based approach for subacute stroke patients: result of a randomized controlled trial." Topics In Stroke Rehabilitation 24(5): 337-344.
Nagayama, H., et al. (2016). "Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Occupation-Based Occupational Therapy Using the Aid for Decision Making in Occupation Choice (ADOC) for Older Residents: Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial." Plos One 11(3): e0150374-e0150374.
Nagayama, H., et al. (2016). "Cost-effectiveness of Occupational Therapy in Older People: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials." Occupational therapy international 23(2): 103-120.
Pizzo, E., et al. (2018). "COST-UTILITY ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN DEMENTIA (COTID-UK) VERSUS USUAL CARE: RESULTS FROM VALID, A MULTI-SITE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL IN THE UK." Value in health 21: S340‐S341.
Rahja, M., et al. (2018). "Economic evaluations of occupational therapy approaches for people with cognitive and/or functional decline: A systematic review." Health & Social Care in the Community 26(5): 635-653.
Sackley, C. M., et al. (2016). "An Occupational Therapy intervention for residents with stroke-related disabilities in UK Care Homes (OTCH): cluster randomised controlled trial with economic evaluation." Health technology assessment (winchester, england) 20(15): 1‐138.
Sampson, C., et al. (2014). "An introduction to economic evaluation in occupational therapy: cost-effectiveness of pre-discharge home visits after stroke (HOVIS)." British Journal of Occupational Therapy 77(7): 330-335.
Sturkenboom, I. H. W. M., et al. (2015). "Economic evaluation of occupational therapy in Parkinson's disease: A randomized controlled trial." Movement Disorders: Official Journal Of The Movement Disorder Society 30(8): 1059-1067.
Wales, K., et al. (2018). "A trial based economic evaluation of occupational therapy discharge planning for older adults: the HOME randomized trial." Clinical Rehabilitation 32(7): 919-929.