Occupational Therapy

Guide to research in the area of occupational therapy. Also helpful for the areas of physical therapy, nursing, health, physiology and kinesiology.

Find Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) Articles

Health Science Databases & Search Tools

List of Individual Occupational Therapy Journals

List of Individual Nursing Journals

List of Individual Physical Therapy Journals

Other Useful Databases

All Holman Library Databases

Free Web Databases

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-ASSISTED RESEARCH TOOLS

Searching CINAHL

CINAHL Database Tutorial

CINAHL Databases - Advanced Searching Tutorial from EBSCO on Vimeo.

Learn how to perform an advanced search in CINAHL and how to combine multiple searches using the search history feature.

Advanced Searching in Cinahl

You'll find some tips and instructions on how to use the advanced search tools in this database in the images and written instructions below

  • On the Advanced Search page (which is often the default page) enter multiple relevant search terms for the most relevant,focused list of articles.
    • Keep phrases in quotation marks to search the terms together (e.g. "Family role" or "Palliative care"
  • Be sure to select "Full text" to find only articles you can access immediately in full. If left unchecked, you may learn about a great article in another Holman Library database - or one that you can borrow through InterLibrary Loan. 
  • Set a date range or started date if you need to limit this to a specific time period.

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  • Be sure to check "peer- reviewed" to find only scholarly articles that have been reviewed by other specialist in the field.
  • At  the Journal Subject box, select "Core Nursing and Nursing"
  • To select two subsets or more, press and hold the Control key while selecting.

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If you are unsure of what keywords to use, click on "CINAHL Headings" from the menu at the top of the page as shown below.

  • Once there, you can enter your keyword at the browse bar and see what subject terms are suggested.
  • These can be very helpful if you're not seeing your getting the results you were expecting or are merely unsure of what to search.

(click on image to enlarge)

Video Tutorial

Using CINAHL MeSH Subject Headings

Source: "Using the CINAHL/MeSH Headings Feature in EBSCOhost" by EBSCO Tutorials, is licensed under a Standard YouTube License.

Learn how to search using the CINAHL/MeSH subject headings feature in order to find more relevant articles.

Searching Nursing & Allied Health Source

ProQuest Video Tutorials

How to Refine a Search & Select and Cite Sources

Source: "Search Results" by ProQuest Training, is licensed under a Standard YouTube License.

Learn how to sort, refine, and filter your search results in ProQuest Research Library.
Advanced Searching

Source: "Advanced Search" by ProQuest Training, is licensed under a Standard YouTube License.

Learn how to use the advanced search function in ProQuest Research Library including using parameters to narrow your search results and the thesaurus to ensure your search terms yield the best results.

click image to enlarge:

Source: "Primo One Search - Holman Library, Green River College" by Holman Library is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

In this 10-minute video you will learn how to find books, videos and articles through the Primo One Search Discovery Tool.

Searching PubMed

Pubmed Overview Tutorial

Source: "PubMed Advanced Search" by USC Libraries, is licensed under a Standard YouTube License.

Learn how to build an advanced search, filter results, and save useful results in PubMed.

Other Pubmed Tutorials

Pubmed User Guide

Using MeSH Subject Headings

There are many ways to refer to one medical concept.  MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) help you find the standard, preferred search words that most databases use to describe concepts.  Using MeSH search words helps you improve your searches.

For example:
  1. Click on the link above.
  2. In the search box type: hand washing
  3. You will see that hand disinfection is the standard, preferred search word
  4. Using this search word specifically as a "subject heading" (not just as a simple search word) will automatically capture all the related words to hand disinfection in your search, such as hand washing, surgical scrubbing, hand sanitation...etc.

Note: MeSH subject headings are standard terms in the medical information world.  Therefore, you can improve your searches in other databases using MeSH terms.  

Video Tutorial

Using CINAHL MeSH Subject Headings

Source: "Using the CINAHL/MeSH Headings Feature in EBSCOhost" by EBSCO Tutorials, is licensed under a Standard YouTube License.

Learn how to search using the CINAHL/MeSH subject headings feature in order to find more relevant articles.
Can't Find the Full Text of an Article?
  • Sometimes you will come across an article citation (that only shows title, author, date..etc.) but that does NOT show you the actual full text of the article.

  • No problem! You can request the full-text using InterLibrary Loan (or ILL) service. It's free!

  • To request an item, fill out the Student Interlibrary Loan form below

OT Research Worksheet

Try It!

Choose one scenario below and practice constructing a search from that scenario:

  1. What are some occupational therapy considerations for children with autism?
  2. How might occupational therapists help with the physical impairments that patients of traumatic brain injury face?
  3. What should occupational therapists be aware of when treating veterans with PTSD?
  4. Create your own scenario!

Selected Occupational Therapy Journals

Down the Road

Licensed Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants now have access to current academic resources in the field after graduation. Set up your account through the HEAL-WA link below.