Occupational Therapy Interventions To Promote Co-Occupations Among Infants And Parents Experiencing Postpartum Depression : A Scoping Review

This scoping review aims to map the existing literature on occupational therapy interventions that promote co-occupational interaction between parents experiencing postpartum depression (PPD) and their infants. PPD is a significant mental health condition characterized by persistent low mood, anxiety, fatigue, and reduced functional capacity, with important implications for early caregiving and parent-infant interactions. Parents experiencing PPD may demonstrate reduced responsiveness, diminished engagement in caregiving activities, and difficulty in establishing consistent interaction patterns, which can adversely affect infant well-being and development. Disruptions in early parent-infant interactions are associated with adverse socioemotional, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes. Within occupational therapy, co-occupation refers to shared activities involving mutual engagement, reciprocity, and emotional connectedness, such as feeding, play, and caregiving routines. These interactions are central to caregiver-infant bonding and developmental outcomes. Occupational therapy interventions may support co-occupational engagement through strategies such as parent coaching, structured routines, play-based interaction, and support for caregiving activities. This scoping review will follow the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley, with reporting aligned to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A comprehensive literature search will be conducted across Scopus, CINAHL Ultimate, PubMed, and Web of Science using the Population–Concept–Context (PCC) framework. The review process will include identifying the research question, study identification, study selection, charting the data, and collating, summarizing, and reporting the results. Data synthesis will involve a descriptive numerical summary and a qualitative framework-based analysis. The numerical summary will describe study characteristics such as design, year, geographical location, population, intervention types, and context of delivery. The qualitative analysis will be guided by the Person–Environment–Occupation (PEO) model, with findings mapped across person-related factors (e.g., parental mental health, responsiveness), environment-related factors (e.g., home, community, healthcare settings), and occupation-related factors (e.g., feeding, play, caregiving). Results will be presented using summary tables and narrative synthesis, highlighting patterns across PEO domains. Where possible, a conceptual map will illustrate relationships between occupational therapy interventions, co-occupational engagement, and associated outcomes. The review is expected to identify intervention types, contexts of delivery, and functional outcomes, while highlighting gaps in the literature. Findings will inform clinical practice, guide future research, and support the development of theory-informed, family-centered occupational therapy interventions.