Date Presented 04/04/2025
OTPs can play a pivotal role among children placed in foster care. This poster will highlight results from a recent scoping review mapping the evidence on the role of OT in foster care, with implications for clinical practice.
Primary Author and Speaker: Mackenzie Rachel Kent
Additional Authors and Speakers: Kiana Clark, John V. Rider
Contributing Authors: Megan DeArmond
PURPOSE: Foster children are at serious risk for mental health issues and learning and developmental disabilities. Occupational therapy (OT) practitioners can play an essential role in supporting foster children, yet evidence in this area has not been comprehensively gathered and synthesized. Therefore, this scoping review explored the available literature on the role of OT within foster care.
DESIGN: Following JBI methodology for scoping reviews (Peters et al., 2020), authors searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, PsychINFO, OTDBASE, OTSeeker, Social Science Database, Public Health Database, MedNar, and Dissertations and Theses Global in August of 2023.
METHOD: Relevant studies were retrieved and imported into Covidence. Two reviewers independently assessed abstracts and full texts of potentially relevant studies against the inclusion criteria and extracted data from included articles.
RESULTS: 1,607 articles were screened, and 14 met the inclusion criteria. Quantitative (n = 4), qualitative (n = 2), mixed methods (n = 2), and opinion papers (n = 6) were included. Findings indicated that OT assessments and interventions are utilized to target socialization, health and wellness, education, IADLs, and play. Multiple settings were identified, including outpatient, home-based, and virtual. Occupational justice, occupational performance, role competence, health and wellness, enhancement, well-being, and participation were all reported outcomes.
IMPACT STATEMENT: Findings demonstrate that OT services are being provided or recommended for foster children across practice settings. OTs working with this population utilize numerous interventions, leading to important outcomes, many unique to OT. Additional research is needed to understand and examine the impact of OT services among foster children. OT practitioners should emphasize life skills, functional development, and occupational participation when supporting individuals who have experienced foster care.
References
Armstrong-Heimsoth, A., Hahn-Floyd, M., Williamson, H. J., & Lockmiller, C. (2020). Toward a defined role for occupational therapy in Foster Care Transition Programming. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 8(4), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1726
Fraser, K., MacKenzie, D., & Versnel, J. (2019). What is the current state of occupational therapy practice with children and adolescents with complex trauma? Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 35(4), 317–338. https://doi.org/10.1080/0164212x.2019.1652132
Peters, M. D. J., Marnie, C., Tricco, A. C., Pollock, D., Munn, Z., Alexander, L., McInerney, P., Godfrey, C. M., & Khalil, H. (2020). Updated methodological guidance for the conduct of scoping reviews. JBI Evidence Synthesis, 18(10), 2119–2126. https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-20-00167
Smith, M. N. (2022). Occupational therapy’s role in the Foster Care System. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 10(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1850
