Occupational Therapy Group Interventions in Oncology: A Scoping Review

Patients with cancer frequently experience difficulties with everyday activities. This scoping review explores occupational therapy group interventions in oncology, an area relevant to occupational therapy practitioners, but one that has limited evidence.

This scoping review examines the association between occupational therapy-based oncology groups and improved functional activity of daily living outcomes for adults with cancer. It poses the following research question: Are occupational therapy groups associated with improved functional outcomes for adults with cancer?

Searches of MEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED, OTseeker, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, and OTDBase were completed for peer-reviewed articles published from 1997 to 2018.

Inclusion criteria were articles published in English and occupational therapy-based groups for adults with cancer.

Eight articles matched the inclusion criteria. The articles reviewed were 2 randomized controlled trials, 1 case study, 1 descriptive exploratory research study, 1 mixed-methods study, 2 pretest-posttest studies, and 1 longitudinal prospective comparative study.

Occupational therapy groups led to a significant increase in occupational performance and satisfaction, an improvement in functioning, and a decrease in fatigue. Engagement in important roles and occupations and sharing the experience with others were also highly valued. This review provides support for the implementation of group-based occupational therapy interventions in oncology. Further research is required in this area, particularly in the inpatient setting with men included in the sample.

This scoping review demonstrates the benefits of group-based occupational therapy interventions for adult patients with cancer.