Occupational Therapy Interventions for the Improvement of the Quality of Life of Healthy Older Adults Living in Nursing Homes: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate current scientific evidence on the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions for the improvement of the quality of life of healthy adults over 65 years old living in nursing homes.

Data source

PubMed, Web of Science, Dialnet, Scopus, Cochrane, Cinahl and SciELO databases searched between 2012 and 2022.

Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

a) Studies involving occupational therapy interventions in residential settings (nursing homes or community residential settings), b) Studies conducted on a population of healthy adults over 65 years old, c) Studies with a level of evidence 1a-1b to 3a-3b, d) Studies containing the MeSH descriptors in the keyword list.

Data Extraction

For each study included in the review, key information was collected and entered into a data extraction form based on Cochrane recommendations, using Microsoft Excel v.16.16.21 software.

Data Synthesis

Descriptive summary of study characteristics and summarized methodological quality of the studies.

Results

Six of the articles met the inclusion criteria and were categorised into “promotion of active ageing” and “meaningful activities and quality of life”. Overall, the strength of evidence was moderate, and the risk of bias was low.

Conclusion

Occupational therapy intervention programmes structured around the opportunity to choose meaningful activities can improve the perceived quality of life of healthy older adults living in nursing homes.