Examination of the Literature Review Essay

I selected Guidetti and Tham’s (2002) paper because I am fascinated by the work of occupational therapists. They are tasked, by the nature of their profession, to assist people with impairments or disabilities in achieving competence in their daily activities and consequently, they empower these individuals to grab hold of their limitations and transform them in a fashion that nurtures their sense of control and brings peace of mind to their loved ones who lives with them. The paper sought to elucidate the strategies utilized by occupational therapists in their self-care intervention process with neurologically-impaired clients, specifically those who had had stroke or spinal cord injury. The study tapped the qualitative research design. Specifically, it employed a modified phenomenology approach called EPP (empirical, phenomenological, psychological) method in generating and analyzing the data. The purpose of EPP method is â€Å"to describe the essence, structure and character of the studied phenomenon† (Guidetti & Tham, 2002, p. 260). Although it informs the research question, the literature review (as well as the reference list) is not sufficient to build a platform for the â€Å"need to provide a definition and description of the concept of self-training and the typical therapeutic strategies used by therapists† (Guidetti & Tham, 2002, p. 258). It lacks relevant scientific texts. It is understandable that there is no existing study on the subject, but there is more scientific information in the literature about the therapeutic strategies in adjacent fields which could add valuable background to the introductory problem identification as well as to the incisive discussion of the results later on. In the introduction section, the scholars presented the important variables of the research question finely (i. e. , meaning of self-care, therapeutic strategies), but failed to include a review of empirical literature, simply stating that â€Å"there is a lack of empirical studies identifying the therapeutic strategies in self-care training† (Guidetti & Tham, 2002, p. 258). Although the statement may be correct, there are still many relevant studies worth reviewing that would guide the inquiry. It may not necessarily be those on self-care therapeutic strategies utilized by occupational therapist with persons who have neurological disorders, but also those studies on strategies used by the same professionals on rehabilitating persons with orthopedic injuries, lymphedema or amputees which do not specifically addressed the phenomenon, but may have implications for the study. In addition, the physical therapy literature on similar issues could also add important insights. A look at the reference list of the article reveals that it is limited in three ways. First, five of the papers in this list were written by either one of the same two authors, in collaboration with other scholars. Second, there are only three occupational therapy journals where they garnered articles for the review (i. e. , Occupational Therapy International, American Journal of Occupational Therapy, and Clinical Rehabilitation). Finally, the doctoral dissertations/theses reviewed in the paper came only from Sweden. This is not ideal especially in a journal with international circulation. The authors could have scoured articles from other journals of similar discipline that are available like British Journal of Occupational Therapy, Journal of Occupational Science, OT Practice, International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, Journal of Integrated Care, etc. Further, they could have utilized the abstracts available in the Dissertation Abstracts International to offset the Swedish-focused dissertation reviews in the study. In qualitative studies, an in-depth, exploratory literature review is vital to discover what currently exists in the body of knowledge about the concerned phenomenon (Taylor & Bogdan, 1998). Thus, the article’s literature review and reference list in this regard only supported halfway the research question. Much could have been done. References Guidetti, S. , & Tham, K. (2002). Therapeutic strategies used by occupational therapists in self-care training: A qualitative study. Occupational Therapy International, 9(4), 257-276. Taylor, S. J. , & Bogdan, R. (1998). Introduction to qualitative research methods (3rd ed. ). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.