Developing an Intervention to Improve Occupational Participation for Justice-Involved People with a Personality...

Area of Science:

• Occupational therapy and public health.
• Forensic psychology and criminal justice research.

Background:

• Occupational participation, defined as engaging in meaningful activities and roles, is crucial for health and desistance from crime.
• Justice-involved individuals with personality disorders face unique challenges in community reintegration and occupational engagement.
• Developing targeted interventions is essential to improve outcomes for this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an intervention aimed at enhancing occupational participation for justice-involved individuals with personality disorders.
• To achieve expert consensus on intervention components and content through a Delphi survey.
• To identify and evaluate factors influencing occupational participation and their modifiability in this population.

Main Methods:

• A four-stage research project was conducted, with this study detailing the third stage.
• A Delphi survey involving 30 multi-disciplinary experts was employed over three rounds.
• Participants rated 28 factors for influence and modifiability, and reached consensus on intervention statements.

Main Results:

• Experts reached consensus on 121 statements regarding intervention components and content.
• Most identified factors were rated as highly influential for occupational participation.
• However, only a limited number of these factors were considered easily modifiable for this population.

Conclusions:

• Intervention development must carefully consider the balance between the influence of specific factors and their potential for modification.
• The findings will guide the manualization and modeling of interventions for occupational participation in this group.
• This research contributes to improving health and justice outcomes for justice-involved individuals with personality disorders.