An Agenda for Occupational Therapy's Contribution to Collaborative Chronic Disease Research

BACKGROUND: To meet the needs of adults with chronic diseases, Canadian health care is moving toward more interdisciplinary, collaborative practice. There is limited high-quality evidence to support practice in this area. Occupational therapists can play a significant role in this area of practice and research. PURPOSE: To develop an agenda of priority areas within collaborative chronic disease research to which occupational therapy can make a contribution. METHODS: The project involved literature and Internet review, a consensus meeting with a range of stakeholders, a survey of occupational therapists, and synthesis of findings to create a research agenda. FINDINGS: An interdisciplinary and intersectoral group of stakeholders identified seven main priority areas. One priority is specific to occupational therapy while the remaining six cross disciplines. IMPLICATIONS: The research agenda can support funding applications and encourage interdisciplinary research collaboration to ultimately produce research evidence that can benefit people with chronic diseases.