Can strengthening older adults’ problem-solving skills through occupational therapy improve their occupational performance? A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Older adults' occupational performance is challenged due to chronic health conditions and aging processes and their functioning often deteriorates over time. Thus, their occupational performance cannot be expected to remain stable in the long term after an occupational therapy intervention. Older adults may therefore need to strengthen their problem-solving skills during occupational therapy not only to solve current occupational performance issues but also to maintain their improvements and deal with new such issues a later point in time. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to identify, analyse and present current scientific knowledge about the effectiveness and contents of occupational therapy interventions aimed at improving older adults' occupational performance by strengthening their problem-solving skills.
Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsykINFO will be searched systematically to identify trials of occupational therapy interventions aimed at improving older adults' occupational performance by strengthening their problem-solving skills. We will include randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental trials in populations aged 65+. Three reviewers will independently screen and select references, extract data and assess the quality of included studies using the Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool.
Discussion: The findings can inform and inspire clinical practice and will help to identify the need for further research.