Contribution of occupational therapists to the field of risk and disaster management: a scoping review protocol

Abstract

Introduction: Disasters bring human, socioeconomic, and environmental consequences and exacerbate situations of vulnerability. Both highly industrialized core countries and those facing economic difficulties are subject to these events. In Brazil, the COVID-19 pandemic and the collapse of dams highlight difficulties in anticipating and responding to these types of events. Actions of occupational therapy in the field of emergencies and disasters are scarce in the literature, notably in the sphere of prevention. Objective: To explore the evidence of the contribution of occupational therapists in the field of risk management and disasters based on the characteristics, priorities, and main areas of interest of intellectual production in occupational therapy. Method: A comprehensive search will be conducted in the journals Disasters, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, and Risk, International Journal of Risk Reduction, and Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, as well as in the databases Occupational Therapy Literature Search Service (OTDBASE), PubMed, and Web of Science. Inclusion Criteria: Actions and experiences in the field of occupational therapy, notably those of occupational therapists in risk and disaster management, found in peer-reviewed studies adopting quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, without temporal restriction. The approach advocated by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) for study selection, critical appraisal, and data collection and synthesis will be used.