Occupational Therapy in Schools Paper Published

We are pleased to share a new publication led by Javiera Salazar Rivera, an Occupational Therapist from Chile and PhD student with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Exeter co-supervised by Chris Morris.

This review describes available research evaluating interventions delivered by Occupational Therapists (OTs) in schools. This scoping review identified 50 studies on school-based interventions delivered by OTs, using a systematic methodological approach. It also identified the outcomes targeted from an OT perspective, which interventions were evaluated, how they were designed, and with reference to tiers of support and services models: universal, focalized and intense. The majority of which were pre-post studies addressing mostly school performance and conducted with students aged five to eight years old, with difficulties primarily in fine motor skills and diagnoses such as autism. Interventions were provided across all three tiers of support, but most were focalized interventions addressing academic tasks, particularly handwriting.

Salazar Rivera J, Alsaadi N, Parra-Esquivel EI, Morris C, Boyle C (2023). A Scoping Review of Interventions Delivered by Occupational Therapists in School Settings. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 1-25.