Community-Based Occupational Therapy for Syrian Refugees to Improve Social Participation and Occupational Justice

NCT07452874 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 61351342/020-120
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 16
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study aims to examine the effects of a community-based occupational therapy intervention on occupational justice, participation in daily life activities, occupational performance, satisfaction, and overall functioning among Syrian refugees living in Turkey. Refugees frequently encounter social, economic, and environmental barriers that restrict their engagement in meaningful daily activities and negatively affect their sense of autonomy, belonging, and participation. Addressing these complex challenges requires interventions that extend beyond individual skill development and actively target social participation, access to community resources, and justice in everyday occupations. In this study, a structured community-based occupational therapy intervention has been developed based on the Participatory Occupational Justice Framework. The intervention is designed to enhance participants' access to community resources, support engagement in meaningful daily activities, strengthen social participation, and promote empowerment and self-determination. The program consists of group-based, activity-oriented sessions implemented within real-life community settings to facilitate contextualized learning and participation. A total of 16 adult Syrian refugees are planned to be enrolled in the study and assigned to either an intervention group or a control group using a parallel-group design. Participants in the intervention group will receive a five-week community-based occupational therapy program comprising ten structured sessions. Participants in the control group will receive a single informational session focusing on daily life and available services in Turkey. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline and immediately after the intervention using standardized measures of occupational justice, occupational performance and satisfaction, participation in daily activities, and overall functioning. The findings of this study are expected to provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of community-based occupational therapy interventions in promoting occupational justice, participation, and functional well-being among refugee populations. The results are also anticipated to contribute to the development of rights-based, inclusive, and participation-focused rehabilitation practices for forcibly displaced communities.

Conditions

Refugees; Occupational Injustice

Keywords

Community-based occupational therapy; Refugees; Occupational justice; Social participation; Occupational performance; Participatory Occupational Justice Framework

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Occupational Justice Scale for Refugees (OJS-R)

  Occupational justice will be assessed using the Occupational Justice Scale for Refugees (OJS-R), a 30-item interviewer-administered scale developed to evaluate occupational injustice experiences among refugee populations. The scale includes five subdomains: occupational deprivation, occupational alienation, occupational marginalization, occupational discrimination, and occupational imbalance. Higher total scores indicate higher levels of occupational injustice. The measure will be used to evaluate changes in participants' occupational justice perceptions following the intervention.

  Baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately after the 5-week intervention period

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM)

  Baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately after the 5-week intervention period

• World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0)

  Baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately after the 5-week intervention period

Study Arms (2)

Community-Based Occupational Therapy Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in this arm will receive a structured community-based occupational therapy intervention developed based on the Participatory Occupational Justice Framework. The intervention will consist of ten group-based sessions delivered over five weeks, focusing on access to community resources, meaningful daily activities, social participation, empowerment, and occupational justice

Behavioral: Community-Based Occupational Therapy Intervention

Control - Information Session

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants in this arm will receive a single informational session related to daily life in Turkey, including basic information about social services and community resources. No occupational therapy intervention will be provided during the study period.

Behavioral: Information Session on Daily Life in Turkey

Interventions

Community-Based Occupational Therapy Intervention BEHAVIORAL

This intervention is a structured community-based occupational therapy program developed based on the Participatory Occupational Justice Framework. The program is designed to support Syrian refugees' engagement in meaningful daily activities, improve access to community resources, enhance social participation, and promote empowerment and self-determination. The intervention consists of ten group-based sessions delivered over five weeks in community settings. Sessions include activity-based learning, guided group discussions, skills development, and experiential participation in real-life contexts. The content focuses on daily life activities, social roles, community participation, stress management, and access to social and institutional resources. The intervention is delivered by an occupational therapist and emphasizes participatory, rights-based, and culturally sensitive approaches to address occupational injustice and support functional well-being.

Also known as: Participatory Occupational Justice-Based Occupational Therapy Program

Community-Based Occupational Therapy Intervention

Information Session on Daily Life in Turkey BEHAVIORAL

This intervention consists of a single, standardized informational session provided to participants in the control group. The session includes general information about daily life in Turkey, such as basic social, cultural, and institutional structures. No occupational therapy intervention, skill training, or activity-based therapeutic content is provided. The session is intended to control for attention and contact time without influencing occupational performance, participation, or occupational justice outcomes.

Control - Information Session

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Being a Syrian refugee,
• Being 18 years of age or older,
• Having sufficient Turkish language proficiency to communicate effectively,
• Willingness to participate in the study voluntarily and providing written informed consent.

You may not qualify if:

• Inability to communicate in Turkish,
• Presence of a cognitive or neurological condition that may interfere with communication or participation in the assessment
• Presence of a serious health condition that may prevent regular attendance at the intervention or educational sessions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Kocaeli University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Association of Refugees

Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)

RECRUITING

Central Study Contacts

Muhammed Rohat Yazici, Dr.

CONTACT

+44 7424844545; rhtyzci@gmail.com

Rohat Yazici, Dr

CONTACT

+44 7424844545; rhtyzci@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Lecturer and Occupational Therapist, PhD

Model Details: This study employs a parallel-group interventional study model. Eligible participants are allocated to either an intervention group or a control group and remain in their assigned groups for the duration of the study. The intervention group receives a structured community-based occupational therapy program delivered over five weeks, whereas the control group receives a single-session informational education related to daily life in Turkey. Both groups are followed concurrently, and outcome measures are collected at baseline and immediately after completion of the intervention period. No crossover between groups occurs at any stage of the study.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 1, 2026
• First Posted: March 5, 2026
• Study Start: April 27, 2026
• Primary Completion: June 28, 2026
• Study Completion: July 8, 2026
• Last Updated: July 9, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)