The Group Process in Occupational Therapy

When looking for an article to review concerning the group process in OT, I first started searching databases. During my search, I found a few articles that were abstracts only without the full article available. The one article that I found which really peaked my interest is a clinical trial. The title of this study is "Effects of Individual and Group Occupational Therapy on General Self-Efficacy, Psychological Well-Being, Personal Independence and Occupational Therapy in Older Adults". I really found this study to be interesting and read more about it. I followed a link to see the results of the study. Unfortunately, those results have yet to be reported due to this study being relatively recent. However, examining the information I do have, I found the idea behind this study very intriguing and beneficial to expanding the knowledge on utilizing group therapy within the domain of occupational therapy.

The main objective of this study is to determine whether individual and/or group occupational therapy leads to changes in generalized self-efficacy and psychological well-being, and to identify the type of therapy that has the best effects on the population of older adults. The research uses a randomized experimental intervention study with a pre-post design. The trial compares two groups with one being subjects who receive individual therapy and the other being subjects who receive group therapy to improve overall independence. The study also used valid and reliable statistical analysis as well as well-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria for the participants.

I particularly enjoyed reading the information describing the idea behind the clinical trial. I found it interesting that the researches want to determine the effects of group therapy for OT versus an individualized treatment session for OT. I also liked the population the researchers chose for this sample. Using an older adult population provides a great outlook on how useful group therapy can be for OT. Specifically because the older adult population may lack the motivation to participate in therapy alone versus in a group. I am interested in what the results will be once they are reported. However,  I suspect that the researchers will find that OT intervention for independence and self-efficacy in older adults is more beneficial when implemented within a group versus one-on-one.