Meaning and Purpose of Digital and Adaptive Gaming: A Scoping Review

Digital gaming is a popular leisure occupation for people across the lifespan. Occupational therapy practitioners should understand the meaning and purpose of digital gaming for people with disabilities. This scoping review explores peer-reviewed literature investigating the meaning and purpose of digital gaming for people with disabilities. A structured search of the literature (2006-2023) was performed with four databases following the JBI Guidance for Scoping Reviews. Three independent reviewers completed article screening, selection, and extraction using a scoping review approach. Forty-eight included articles covered a range of diagnoses, settings, contexts, and outcomes. Studies explored exergaming as a therapeutic tool, outcomes of virtual reality gaming, digital gaming for cognitive retraining and the experience of disabled gamers. Limited studies examined meaning and purpose as a primary outcome. Future research around outcomes of meaning and purpose could contribute to knowledge and skills to support gaming as an occupation.