How has the philosophy of pragmatism been addressed in occupational therapy and occupational science? Protocol for a scoping review

Abstract

Introduction: The Philosophy of Pragmatism has been recognized for its importance in the initial development of occupational therapy in the early twentieth century in the United States. This perspective has regained attention as an approach that is fruitful for understanding contemporary challenges in the field. Despite this renewed interest, there are no review studies that examine the affordances of pragmatism in the occupational therapy and occupational science peer-review literature. Objective: To present the scoping review protocol. Method: The protocol was developed guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Results: This protocol presents a comprehensive plan to conduct the scoping review. The study aim is to identify the state of knowledge about how the philosophy of pragmatism has been addressed in occupational therapy and occupational science in peer-reviewed literature in the past ten years, specifying subquestions. The inclusion criteria encompasses English, Spanish and Portuguese peer-reviewed literature (conceptual and research studies), with any population and in any physical, geographic, field of practice, and cultural context. The protocol presents the collaborative team strategy for searching databases (PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, MedLine, and Embase) and for selection of papers. Data extraction will include key information from the papers presented in an evidence table. The use of pragmatism in theoretical and methodological aspects will be extracted from the papers, and thematically analyzed. Conclusion: We inform the research community about our intentions to understand the repercussions of pragmatism in occupational therapy and occupational science by making publicly available the comprehensive plan for conducting the study.