Integration of physical activity in reablement for community-dwelling older adults: a scoping review protocol

The objectives of this scoping review are to map existing evidence of how physical activity strategies are integrated and explored in studies of reablement for community-dwelling older adults and to identify knowledge gaps.

Reablement is a home-based interdisciplinary practice that aims to improve function and independence among persons receiving home care services. There is insufficient knowledge of what constitutes reablement and how it affects older adults' function and independence. Physical activity is known to influence older adults' function, but it is unclear how physical activity is integrated into reablement interventions.

This review will consider studies that investigate or explore multidisciplinary and time-limited (less than six months) reablement for community-dwelling older adults. There will be no restrictions regarding study design. Studies focusing on professionals working with reablement and carers of reablement participants will also be included. Studies focusing on persons who need end-of-life care or on reablement provided in long-term care facilities or housing arrangements with 24-hour care will be excluded.

PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, PsycINFO, AMED, PEDro, CINAHL, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and Google Scholar will be searched for studies published from 1996. Studies published in English, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and German will be considered for inclusion. Study selection will be performed independently by two reviewers, and data will be extracted by two reviewers using predefined data charting forms. Data will be presented in a narrative summary.