Home-modification interventions addressing falls and participation in activities of daily living among older adults: a scoping review protocol

Introduction Falls are the second leading reason for incidental or unexpected deaths worldwide. Many older adults who fall, regardless of whether they are injured or not, tend to experience fear of fall and this can lead to decreased participation in activities of daily living (ADLs). Subsequent falls lead to weakness, a decline in physical functioning, increased chances of falling and a negative impact on the instrumental ADLs. Here, we present our scoping review protocol to appraise the literature to describe and explain the home-modification interventions used by occupational therapists to address falls and participation in ADLs among community-dwelling older adults. We are aiming to review the available home-modification intervention protocols, facilitators and barriers to such interventions, and the experiences of occupational therapists and clients after receiving these interventions.

Methods and analysis This scoping review protocol follows existing guidelines for scoping reviews with a particular attention on Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and Colquhoun et al (2014). We will include the following databases: Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and Google Scholar. We plan to conduct the literature search from August 16, 2020 to September 15, 2020. Two reviewers will independently screen eligible studies for inclusion. We will extract the bibliographic data, study design, details of the intervention provided, outcomes and experiences of occupational therapists and clients, and further organise them for better understanding.

Ethics and dissemination As secondary data analysis, this scoping review does not require ethics approval. Results will summarise and disseminate the existing literature related to home-modification interventions provided by occupational therapists addressing falls and participation in ADLs among community-dwelling older adults. We plan to disseminate the results through peer-reviewed journals and conferences, targeting occupational therapists, other rehabilitation workers, researchers and policy makers.