Effectiveness of Health Promotion, Management, and Maintenance Interventions Within the Scope of Occupational Therapy for Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review examined the effectiveness of health promotion, management, and maintenance interventions within the scope of occupational therapy to improve occupational performance and quality of life (QOL) and decrease health care utilization for community-dwelling older adults.

METHOD: Thirty-eight articles representing 36 studies were included in the review. Articles were published 2008-2015 and described studies of participants with a mean age of 65 or older who were living in the community.

RESULTS: Strong evidence supports the use of group, individual, or a combination of group and individual interventions to improve occupational performance. Group interventions were also effective at improving QOL. The evidence was insufficient that any of these interventions decreased health care utilization.

CONCLUSION: Addressing health promotion, management, and maintenance is within the scope of occupational therapy practice and has been shown to improve occupational performance and QOL for older adults. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.