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Open research questions in Occupational Therapy Practice and Research

428 gap statements mined from Occupational Therapy Practice and Research papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 3,097 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • Lack of practical, clinic-level tools or aligned patient-facing supports to enable sustained practice change. Need for a national, evidence-informed roadmap to enhance cultural safety and equity in outpatient rehabilitation.

    From Awareness to Action: Co‐Designing Culturally Safe and Equitable Rehabilitation in Canada – Protocol for the Two‐Phase Ireach Qualitative Study · 2026 · DOI

  • Despite many voicing their opinions, no studies have considered the extent to which occupational therapy using ASI with children might be implemented in a way that aligns with occupation-centred practice.

    Exploring the alignment between occupational therapy using Ayres Sensory Integration® with children and occupation‐centred practice: An observational study · 2026 · DOI

  • The Parenting Occupations and Purposes (POP) Framework conceptualises parenting occupations and their underlying purposes, but its validity in real-world contexts has not been tested.

    Testing the applicability of the Parenting Occupations and Purposes Framework in an Irish context · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on how to support occupational participation in civilian roles and activities to facilitate smoother transitions.

    An exploration of the changes to occupational participation during military‐to‐civilian transition: The experiences of Australian Defence Force members · 2026 · DOI

  • There is limited information about why students decide to study occupational therapy as a course in Australian higher education.

    Influences on students' decisions to study occupational therapy at a regional Australian university: A mixed methods study · 2026 · DOI

  • Currently, there is limited evidence about the convergent validity between the Adult/Adolescent Sensory History (ASH) and the Sensory Processing Measure 2–Adult Form (SPM-2-Adult).

    The Convergent Validity Between Two Adult Self-Report Sensory Processing Scales · 2026 · DOI

  • Despite certain integration obstacles identified in the literature, this practice remains poorly documented.

    La pratique des ergothérapeutes en groupe de médecine de famille au Québec : une étude qualitative descriptive exploratoire · 2026 · DOI

  • This highlights the need for further research on the unique role of occupational therapy within interprofessional teams and along the care continuum for more generalizable findings.

    Role of Occupational Therapy for Persons Experiencing Long COVID: A Rapid Review · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited research explores how IFPs shape the development of Canadian occupational therapists in the early stages of their careers.

    Exploring the Lived Experiences of Canadian Occupational Therapists in International Fieldwork · 2026 · DOI

  • Knowledge on occupational participation of individuals with neuromuscular disorders is scarce, particularly during their transition to adulthood.

    Participation Patterns of Youth With Duchenne–Becker Muscular Dystrophies Across Four Settings · 2026 · DOI

  • Different analytical methods yielded divergent results, with limited evidence of an immediate change.

    Evaluating the PRPP Intervention for individuals with brain injury at local inpatient rehabilitation facilities: multiple baseline designs · 2025 · DOI

  • Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) impacts occupational participation in adulthood, yet little is known about its multidimensional pattern (including objective and subjective dimensions).

    Exploring the multidimensional occupational participation of young adults with developmental coordination disorder · 2025 · DOI

  • Further research is needed to explore the evidence for adapting and using interventions from acute and subacute mental health settings in secure forensic settings, and whether the Royal College of Occupational Therapy guidelines for practice in secure settings could be adapted for use in forensic solitary confinement settings.

    The work of forensic occupational therapists in solitary confinement: An international survey · 2025 · DOI

  • Occupational therapists are ideally placed to support young adults experiencing psychosis with employment, but evidence on contemporary occupational therapy practice in this area is lacking.

    “If you want to work, let's work out how to make this happen”: An interpretive description study of occupational therapists' perspectives of supporting young adults experiencing psychosis with their employment · 2025 · DOI

  • While leisure activities have been shown to enhance mental well-being and social participation, there is limited research on the specific effects of structured leisure-based occupational therapy interventions on individuals with schizophrenia.

    The effects of leisure-based occupational therapy interventions on well-being and life satisfaction in individuals with schizophrenia: Pre–post intervention mixed-methods study. · 2025 · DOI

  • Although LR-OT later expanded to chronic condition management and inspired numerous programme adaptations for different contexts and populations, systematic reporting of intervention modifications remains scarce.

    Adapting Lifestyle Redesign ® : Navigating Fidelity and Contextual Fit Across Four Case Examples · 2025 · DOI

  • Occupational therapists play a key role in the rehabilitation of those injured in MVAs yet there is lack of evidence to inform occupational therapy practice.

    Occupational Therapist Perspectives: Factors Influencing Recovery Following Motor Vehicle Accident Injury · 2025 · DOI

  • Some gaps identified include limited knowledge, lack of in-depth content, and limited interprofessional collaboration.

    How Much is Universal Accessibility Actually Taught in Canadian Occupational Therapy Programs? · 2025 · DOI

  • To date, little is known about its compatibility with preventive occupational therapy, notably with Lifestyle Redesign (LR), a landmark intervention that shares similarities with SP.

    Linking Social Prescribing and Lifestyle Redesign ® : A Step Toward Health and Equity? · 2025 · DOI

  • Further research on the psychometric properties of the SPM2-HF and Child SP2 is recommended.

    Convergent validity between the school‐age versions of the Sensory Processing Measure 2 (SPM2) and the Sensory Profile 2 (SP2): A pilot study · 2024 · DOI

  • Despite aligning with mental health reform priorities, including promoting client centredness and participation, the role of occupational therapists in mental health, particularly in acute psychiatric inpatient units, is poorly understood.

    The occupational therapy role in acute psychiatric inpatient units in Australia: A mixed methods study · 2026 · DOI

  • This methodology enabled the researcher to inductively frame theory grounded in data in an area with limited literature.

    Exploring the occupational therapy goal‐setting process with immigrant families of children with disabilities in the Australian context · 2026 · DOI

  • However, occupational balance has not been thoroughly described in this population.

    Occupational balance, quality of life, occupational performance, and disease‐related factors in people with multiple sclerosis: A case–control study · 2025 · DOI

  • To date, few studies have investigated the correlations between the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (A/ASP) and the Sensory Processing Measure 2-Adult Form (SPM-2-Adult).

    Convergent validity of two adult self‐report sensory scales: Comparing the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile and the Sensory Processing Measure 2–Adult Form · 2024 · DOI

  • The study is limited to privately funded outpatient rehabilitation settings because models of care delivery and implementation differ substantially between publicly funded and private practice environments…

    From Awareness to Action: Co‐Designing Culturally Safe and Equitable Rehabilitation in Canada – Protocol for the Two‐Phase Ireach Qualitative Study · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Occupational Therapy Practice and Research

Most recent work

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Lack of practical, clinic-level tools or aligned patient-facing supports to enable sustained practice change (“From Awareness to Action: Co‐Designing Culturally Safe and Equitable…”, 2026); (2) Despite many voicing their opinions, no studies have considered the extent to which occupational therapy using ASI with children might be implemented in a way that aligns with occupation-centred practice (“Exploring the alignment between occupational therapy using Ayres Sensory…”, 2026); (3) The Parenting Occupations and Purposes (POP) Framework conceptualises parenting occupations and their underlying purposes, but its validity in real-world contexts has not been tested (“Testing the applicability of the Parenting Occupations and Purposes Framework…”, 2026); (4) Future research should focus on how to support occupational participation in civilian roles and activities to facilitate smoother transitions (“An exploration of the changes to occupational participation during…”, 2026); (5) There is limited information about why students decide to study occupational therapy as a course in Australian higher education (“Influences on students' decisions to study occupational therapy at a regional…”, 2026). 428 gap statements have been mined from Occupational Therapy Practice and Research papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 3,097 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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