Occupational Therapists’ Use of Digital Technologies to Support People With Disabilities in Engaging in Occupation: A Scoping Review Protocol

Abstract

Introduction Digital tools such as virtual reality, mobile applications and digital devices are being implemented across various healthcare practice settings. Engagement in occupations is central to occupational therapy, supporting health and quality of life. Occupational therapists support people with disabilities to participate in occupations by enhancing their abilities or adapting tasks and environments. However, literature rarely specifies how digital technologies are used by occupational therapists, with whom they are implemented, when and where they are delivered, what occupations are addressed or the enablers and barriers that influence the uptake of digital technologies in practice. This scoping review will map and synthesise the existing evidence on how occupational therapists use digital technologies to support people with disabilities to engage in occupations. By identifying the types of technologies used, their purposes, target populations and practice contexts, this review will inform the effective use of digital technologies by occupational therapists and their clients.

Methods and analysis This review will be conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological framework for scoping reviews and reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. To identify relevant evidence, we will search several electronic databases, including CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, ERIC and OTseeker. Search limits will include full-text articles published in English from 2020 onwards. Title and abstract screening will be conducted independently by at least two reviewers against the inclusion and exclusion criteria followed by full-text review. Data extraction will use a structured form to capture key information such as study characteristics, types of digital technologies, country, participant information, occupation-based focus of intervention and reported outcomes. The extracted data will be analysed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, with findings presented in tables, narrative summaries and other descriptive formats.