Priority 1 from the Occupational Therapy PSP

UNCERTAINTY: How does occupational therapy make a difference and have impact on everyday lives?  (JLA PSP Priority 1)
Overall ranking 1
JLA question ID 0100/1
Explanatory note The purpose of this question is to explore the unique contribution that occupational therapy makes to people who access services and the impact it has on their everyday lives. 
Evidence

Evidence addressing this question is largely anecdotal in nature or from conference abstracts (eg. Stuart-Neil, 2016) and there are no research studies directly addressing this question. This is an area of uncertainty.
Stuart-Neil, L. (2016). "It is the little things which really matter to patients...College of Occupational Therapists 40th Annual Conference and Exhibition and the Specialist Section - Trauma and Orthopaedics Annual Conference, 28-30 June 2016 - Harrogate, England." British Journal of Occupational Therapy 79: 128-129.

Health Research Classification System category Generic Health Relevance
Extra information provided by this PSP
Original uncertainty examples What impact does occupational therapy make to people's lives? ~ How do Occupational therapists explain how they can make a difference to people's lives ~ how can we evidence the difference to a persons life as a result of OT intervention in community mental health rehabilitation and recovery? ~ What do they feel would have happened/ life have been like without OT?
Submitted by Occupational therapists, Carers, Students, Services Users, People with a different interest, Other
PSP information
PSP unique ID 0100
PSP name Occupational Therapy
Total number of uncertainties identified by this PSP. 66  (To see a full list of all uncertainties identified, please see the detailed spreadsheet held on the JLA website)
Date of priority setting workshop 27 July 2020