Perceived barriers to implementing occupation-based intervention

Abstract

Introduction: Occupation-based intervention (OBI) is defined as an intervention using a clients’ occupation and purposeful activities as a treatment medium to achieve the client’s goals. Several barriers to practising OBI have been reported in previous studies. However, limited research has been done to identify these perceived barriers to applying OBI in Malaysia’s various occupational therapy practice areas. Objective: This study aimed to identify perceived barriers to applying OBI in Malaysia’s three main occupational therapy practice areas including physical, psychiatry and paediatric. Method: A cross-sectional study design was employed, and participants were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy. Data was collected using an online survey from a Delphi study. Results: Two hundred ninety-eight Malaysian occupational therapists aged between 22 and 56 years old participated in this study. The study identified several perceived barriers from the client factors, the contextual factors, occupation as treatment modalities and logistical issues. A statistically significant difference was found in the perceived barriers of applying OBI between different areas of occupational therapy practice (p=.013), working experience (p=.003), and position of occupational therapists (p=.001). Conclusion: This study suggests that perceived barriers to applying OBI were influenced by the area of practice, working experience and position of the occupational therapists. The results highlight the need to identify potential solutions to applying OBI through research and education.