Occupational Therapy Interventions Supporting Leisure and Social Participation for Older Adults With Low Vision: A Systematic Review.

IMPORTANCE: Evidence supports interventions for social participation for older adults with low vision.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review examined the evidence for interventions within the scope of occupational therapy practice to maintain, restore, and improve performance and quality of life in leisure and social participation for older adults with low vision.

DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, OTseeker, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched for articles published from January 2010 to March 2017 that described interventions within the scope of occupational therapy practice for older adults with low vision (mean age 55+).

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA COLLECTION: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines were followed and applied for this review. Exclusion criteria included publications outside of the period of the study, participants with mean age <55 yr, and interventions outside the occupational therapy scope of practice.

FINDINGS: The search yielded 455 articles, of which 3 Level III studies met the inclusion criteria. Low evidence with high risk of bias was found for interventions supporting social participation. Group therapy, more hours of direct service over a shorter duration, and fitting with low vision devices resulted in improvements in social participation and other outcomes.

CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Little evidence exists to support occupational therapy interventions in the areas of leisure and social participation. More research is needed in these areas.

WHAT THIS ARTICLE ADDS: There continues to be a need for research studies in the areas of leisure and social participation.