Practice Analysis Novel occupational therapy intervention in the early rehabilitation of patients with brain tumours Anders Hansen 1 , Mette Boll 2 , Lisbeth Minet 3 , Karen Søgaard 4 and Hanne Kristensen 5 Abstract Statement of context: The Danish Health Authority recommends that patients with brain tumours should have their rehabilitation needs evaluated prior to hospital discharge. Critical reflection on practice: To our knowledge, no specific recommendations for specialised occupational therapy intervention in patients with glioma have been published. We rationalise how occupational therapy practices founded on shared decision- making and common goal-setting are implicated to patients with brain tumours and elaborate on how an occupation-centred approach with occupation-focused and based intervention has the potential to impact a patient’s performance ability and satis- faction in performing occupations established by the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. This practice was embedded in a randomised controlled trial investigating the effectiveness of intensive rehabilitation efforts and involving occupational therapy compared with standard care in patients with glioma (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02221986). Implications for practice: Occupational therapy makes an important contribution in neurorehabilitation, which may also apply to patients with brain tumours. Keywords Brain tumour, glioma, occupational therapy Received: 31 January 2017; accepted: 18 May 2017 Statement of context The current Danish national policy for brain tumour follow-up, ‘Follow-up program for brain cancer’ (Sundhedsstyrelsen, 2015), published by the Danish Health Authority, recommends that patients with brain tumours should have their rehabilitation needs evaluated prior to hospital discharge. The aim is that those who have or are at risk of having reduced physical, psychological and/or social functions are able to regain an independent and meaningful life for as long as possible. Odense University Hospital (OUH), Denmark is one of four national hospitals performing brain tumour resections. Between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2016, 158 glioma (also known as World Health Organization (WHO) astrocytoma grade I–IV brain tumours (Louis et al., 2007)) resections were carried out at OUH. Of the 158 patients, 78 were evaluated during their hospital stay by collaborative rehabilitation professionals, including occupational therapists. According to literature reviews, systematic forms of multidisciplinary rehabilitation, including occupational therapy interventions for patients with brain tumours, are not common in general practice (Khan et al., 2013). Though initial evidence establishing the effectiveness of specific rehabilitation efforts is just beginning to emerge (Khan et al., 2014), it has been clear for some time that the functional effects on patients with brain tumours attending inpatient rehabilitation interven- tions are comparable to patients with other neurological conditions, such as stroke and traumatic brain injury, 1 PhD student, Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark and Physical Therapist, Research Unit of Rehabilitation, Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark 2 Occupational Therapist, Master of Health Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark 3 Associated Professor, Research Unit of Rehabilitation, Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark and Research Fellow, Health Sciences Research Centre, University College Lillebaelt, Odense, Denmark 4 Professor, Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark and Assigned Professor, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark 5 Associated Professor, Research Unit of Rehabilitation, Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark and Associate Professor, Health Sciences Research Centre, University College Lillebaelt, Odense, Denmark Corresponding author: Anders Hansen, Physical Therapist, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense, Denmark. Email: Anders.hansen@rsyd.dk British Journal of Occupational Therapy 1–5 ! The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0308022617714165 http://journals.sagepub.com/home/bjot