The Consequences of COVID-19 Pandemic on Occupational Therapy Practice: A Systematic Review

Introduction: COVID-19 circumstances and related restrictions affected health care service delivery. Health care service delivery, including occupational therapy, transitioned from usual face-to-face therapy to telehealth. Purpose of the systematic review was to examine the experiences using telehealth in occupational therapy. Methods: PubMed, Science Direct, CINAHL, Cochrane, OT seeker, Web of Science, and the Sage journal databases was searched. The PRISMA protocol was followed and applied to the review. Articles not including occupational therapy, letters to editor and editorials were excluded from the review. Evidence levels for the articles were determined based on the ranking system by OCEBM Levels. Results: Articles describing the use of telehealth in occupational therapy services were included. Eleven studies rated levels V, IV, and II reached the review criteria and five themes were identified. The emerged themes were: (a) development of new skills, (b) therapist attitudes toward telehealth, (c) user satisfaction with telehealth services, (d) need for interprofessional collaboration, (e) positive and negative factors in service delivery. Conclusions: There is limited evidence on occupational therapists’ perceptions in using telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only occupational therapists but also other health professionals should be more encouraged and supported by teams, management, and policies to be part of telehealth services in times of pandemics. Innovative strategies should be developed in occupational therapy to provide continuous service delivery aimed in maintaining occupational therapy goal, engagement, and participation for occupational therapy users. Providing telehealth services, not just in occupational therapy, should be administered and supported through legislation.