Affiliations: School of Occupational Therapy, University of Western
Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada | School of Health Studies, The University of Western
Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada | Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation
Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA | Graduate Program in Health and Rehabilitation
Sciences, University of Western Ontario, Elborn College, London, Ontario,
Canada
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Lynn Shaw, School of Occupational
Therapy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 1H1.
E-mail: leshaw@uwo.ca
Abstract: Introduction: The aim of this review was to gain an understanding of
the first 20 years of contributions to WORK within the assessment domain and to
reflect on the perspectives underscoring this knowledge base. Method: A narrative review of assessment articles using the WORK
ARTicle database was conducted. Assessment articles were searched using issues
from 1990 to 2009. Descriptive data was analyzed to examine historical trends
of the specific types and dimensions of articles, the regional location of the
contributions, and the methodological accordance. A reflective process was used
by an editorial board member of WORK to inductively interpret perspectives and
contextual issues that underpinned the evolution of the assessment domain in WORK. Results: Over half of $N=$ 108 of the articles on assessment in WORK
focused on establishing or reporting reliability and validity of assessments
used in clinical practice or evaluation research. The majority of the
assessment articles were predominantly focused on the person. Contributions of
articles were from 5 regions: North America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. Conclusions: Assessment articles in WORK have contributed to the
development of evidence to support assessment of the worker. These articles
represent a knowledge base that emphasizes evidence-based assessments to
evaluate what a person can and cannot do to participate in work. Efforts are
needed to expand knowledge generation in assessment to include more evaluations
on the workplace and occupation dimensions, and that also considers the worker in context.
Keywords: Knowledge base, evaluation, descriptive, evidence base, international
