Health Prevention Interventions for Adults in the Community: A Scoping Review of Intervention Characteristics

Abstract

This scoping review was designed to determine which adults receive preventative health interventions, the types of interventions for modifiable risk factors, the health professionals, including occupational therapy practitioners providing these interventions, and where they are delivered to adults in the community. The databases searched were PubMed, Ageline, and CINAHL and included research meeting the inclusion criteria and published between 2016–2021. All included studies addressed health prevention. 5,399 articles were screened with 83 of these included in the final review. Older adults, White and Black individuals, and females were the most prevalent individuals and groups to receive health prevention interventions and occupational therapy professionals were involved in 5% of the reviewed studies. As there is a need for preventative health interventions to help reduce negative health outcomes and occupational therapy professionals have important skills in health prevention this study illustrates the types of health prevention provided to adults receiving intervention in the community and points to areas of opportunity for occupational therapy professionals.

Keywords:

• Chronic conditions
• health prevention
• health promotion
• population health

Acknowledgements

This manuscript has not been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Author’s contributions

Drs. Lucas Molitor and Naber participated in the conceptual design of the study. All authors engaged in data collection, article screening, and were involved in drafting and editing of this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

None of the authors declare competing financial interests. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Whitney Lucas Molitor

Whitney Lucas Molitor, PhD, OTD, OTR/L, BCG is Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of South Dakota, 414 E. Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA.