Understanding the Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance: An Umbrella Review.

Area of Science:

• Occupational Therapy
• Rehabilitation Science
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Occupational performance is crucial for daily functioning.
• Children with developmental coordination disorder, cerebral palsy, and neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as adults post-stroke, often experience impaired occupational performance.
• The Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) is a goal-directed intervention designed to address these challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize evidence from systematic reviews on the effectiveness of the CO-OP approach.
• To evaluate the quality of existing research on CO-OP interventions.
• To identify gaps and future directions for research on CO-OP.

Main Methods:

• Umbrella review methodology.
• Inclusion of six systematic reviews published between 2001 and 2024.
• Focus on studies involving pediatric and adult populations with neurological and developmental conditions.

Main Results:

• The CO-OP approach demonstrates potential benefits for occupational performance.
• Existing evidence is limited by methodological weaknesses, including high risk of bias and small sample sizes.
• Short follow-up periods in many studies restrict conclusions about long-term effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• While promising, the effectiveness of the CO-OP approach requires further investigation through high-quality studies.
• There is a critical need for methodologically rigorous and culturally adaptable research.
• Future research should focus on robust designs and exploring diverse delivery methods to enhance generalizability and impact.