Occupational Therapy In Health Care

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/iohc20

Implementation of video modeling in the

occupational therapy intervention process for
children and adolescents with special needs: A
scoping review

Nurbieta Abd Aziz, Masne Kadar, Dzalani Harun & Hanif Farhan Mohd Rasdi

To cite this article: Nurbieta Abd Aziz, Masne Kadar, Dzalani Harun & Hanif Farhan Mohd Rasdi
(2021) Implementation of video modeling in the occupational therapy intervention process for
children and adolescents with special needs: A scoping review, Occupational Therapy In Health
Care, 35:2, 227-244, DOI: 10.1080/07380577.2021.1876967

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Published online: 29 Jan 2021.

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OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN HEALTH CARE
2021, VOL. 35, NO. 2, 227–244
https://doi.org/10.1080/07380577.2021.1876967

Implementation of video modeling in the occupational

therapy intervention process for children and
adolescents with special needs: A scoping review
Nurbieta Abd Aziza,b , Masne Kadarb, Dzalani Harunb, and Hanif Farhan
Mohd Rasdib
a
Special Education Department, Faculty of Human Development, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan
Idris, Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia; bOccupational Therapy Programme, Centre for
Rehabilitation & Special Needs Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia, Malaysia

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This scoping review explores the implementation of video Received 11 December 2019
modeling (VM) by occupational therapists during the interven- Revised 6 January 2021
tion process for children and adolescents with special needs. Accepted 9 January 2021
Four primary electronic databases were used to conduct the
KEYWORDS
scoping review: PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and Proquest Arksey & O’Malley
(Nursing and Allied Health). Research methodologies by framework; occupational
Arksey and O’Malley were used as a framework to perform therapists; scoping review;
the review process. From the review, two themes emerged: (1) technology; video modeling
implementing VM by occupational therapists during the inter-
vention process can successfully improve a client’s desired
skills; (2) VM can be applied through several types of technol-
ogies. The findings support occupational therapists’ use of VM
during interventions to positively enhance and promote
desired skills among children and adolescents with special
needs. Also, it can be incorporated into technological devices
to suit a client’s specific needs.

Introduction
Video modeling (VM) is an effective method for learning targeted skills
widely used for individuals with diverse disabilities, including learning dis-
abilities (Bellini & Akullian, 2007; Kellems & Edwards, 2016), autism spec-
trum disorders (ASD) (Burke et al., 2013; Hochhauser et al., 2015; Jung &
Sainato, 2015), and those with developmental disabilities (Kellems &
Edwards, 2016; Rayner et al., 2009). The work of Albert Bandura intro-
duced the concept of VM, demonstrating that modeling and observational
learning profoundly impact children’s development. Bandura (1977)
observed that children learn by watching and then imitating behaviors,

CONTACT Masne Kadar masne_kadar@ukm.edu.my Occupational Therapy Programme, Centre for

Rehabilitation & Special Needs Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja
Muda Abdul Aziz, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, 50300, Malaysia.
ß 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
228 N. ABD AZIZ ET AL.

with or without the presence of reinforcement, and then generalize the

behaviors to include other places, not just where the modeling occurred.
Accordingly, Bellini and Akullian (2007) outlined that VM was a technique
where an individual will watch a video demonstrating desired behaviors,
and then they will imitate those behaviors. A demonstration of targeted
behaviors can be achieved with a human model, an actual participant
(video self-modeling), or a learner’s point-of-view model, which an individ-
ual could follow (Meister & Salls, 2015).
Incorporating the VM approach into the intervention process would
allow occupational therapists to teach specific desired skills (Becker et al.,
2016). Task analysis, similar to activity analysis is an important aspect of
VM to enable a series of steps in each task (Becker et al., 2016). Since
activity analysis is fundamental to the occupational therapists’ practice
because it permits them to understand the required skills and to adapt or
to grade the activity accordingly (Thomas, 2012). Thus, occupational thera-
pists have a distinct advantage in using VM in an intervention as a sup-
portive tool (Becker et al., 2016). Furthermore, to explore the flow of
human occupations and those relevant to the processes of occupational per-
formance video methods highlight interaction between humans and their
environments (Bailliard, 2015).
The published research on VM in various settings has targeted different
acquisition skills and with diverse challenges experienced by children and
adolescents with special needs (Hetzroni & Banin, 2017; Ohtake & Hatano,
2018; Taheri-Torbati & Sotoodeh, 2019). The challenges may affect those
children and adolescents in their learning process, such as in their communi-
cation skills, behavior management, social skills, learning academic skills, or
performing activities in daily living (Chambers et al., 2018). Implementation
of VM can be expanded potentially into various settings (Campbell et al.,
2015; Candler et al., 2014), such as in schools (Candler et al., 2014), inclusive
classrooms (Chambers et al., 2018), special education classrooms (Spriggs
et al., 2016), and other group-based learning environments (Hetzroni &
Banin, 2017). However, incorporating VM for the individual can occur dur-
ing a clinic visit as a one-to-one based intervention to achieve a desired skill
(Campbell et al., 2015; Hine, Hajek, Roberts, & Allen, 2019; Stewart &
Umeda, 2014). Therefore, occupational therapists may conduct VM for
teaching a variety of skills at home, school environment or a clinical setting.
Furthermore, VM could be a socially acceptable (Waldman-Levi et al., 2019)
method for promoting skill acquisition (Gentry et al., 2015) since it has been
reported that the implementation of VM demonstrated positive results in the
intervention for children and adolescents with special needs (English et al.,
2017; Stewart & Umeda, 2014).
 OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN HEALTH CARE 229

Although occupational therapists have used video methodologies in

research for various topics (Bailliard, 2015), emerging research concerning
the implementation of VM in occupational therapists’ intervention proc-
esses is still relatively hard to find (Candler et al., 2014). Therefore, a scop-
ing review exploring VM’s implementation in the occupational therapists
interventions process for children and adolescents with special needs
was conducted.

Materials and methods

A scoping review methodology was selected to understand how occupa-
tional therapists implemented VM in their intervention processes because
that type of review can provide a mapping process of the literature within
a given field (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005; Levac, Colquhoun, & O’Brien,
2010). A scoping review is recommended to deliver the breadth and depth
of certain specific fields in question (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005). Unlike sys-
tematic reviews, a scoping review does not require a detailed appraisal of
reviewed articles’ methodological processes and outcomes (Arksey &
O’Malley, 2005; Levac et al., 2010). Instead a scoping review gives an over-
view or mapping of the evidence available on topics of interest (Munn
et al., 2018). Arksey and O’Malley (2005) identified four main reasons for
conducting a scoping review which can give different implications in the
review, specifically: (1) to examine the extent, range, and nature of research
activity, (2) to determine the value of undertaking a full systematic review,
(3) to summarize and disseminate research findings, and lastly (4) to iden-
tify research gaps in the existing literature (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005, p.21).
Therefore, the use of the Arksey and O’Malley (2005) methodological
framework was considered a good fit as our current study is more con-
cerned with the extent, range and nature of the literature on VM imple-
mentation in occupational therapists intervention. The findings were not to
be described in detail; however, it was a useful way to visualize the range
of relevant materials available on the topic of interest (Arksey & O’Malley,
2005). Enhancement of each stage in the methodological framework pro-
posed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) was further discussed and recom-
mended (Colquhoun et al., 2014; Levac et al., 2010). The steps are outlined
in the following sections.

Step 1: Identifying the research question

The research question for this scoping review: How is VM implemented in
occupational therapists’ interventions process for children and adolescents
with special need?
230 N. ABD AZIZ ET AL.

Operational definition: Children and adolescents with special needs in this

study were defined as individuals below 21 years of age. The age limit was
included as the inclusion criteria in the search strategy.

Step 2: Identifying relevant studies

The first author identified relevant studies from four databases: PubMed,
Scopus, CINAHL, and Proquest (Nursing and Allied Health) from January
2014 to March 2019. Keywords were divided into two groups of search
terms to cover related studies. The first group of search terms covered
occupational therapy, occupational therapist, and occupational therapists.
Video modeling and video modeling covered the second group. The con-
junction OR was used (e.g., occupational therapy OR occupational therapist
OR occupational therapists) and (video modeling OR video modeling). The
search used OR and AND (occupational therapy OR occupational therapist
OR occupational therapists) AND video modeling OR video modeling.

Step 3: Study selection

Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria were based on (1) research that was conducted at a
school (in either special education or inclusive classrooms) or in clinical
settings (clinics), (2) VM was conducted individually or in groups, (3) the
review was limited to the implementation of VM with individuals below
the age of 21 years, (4) participants were those who were diagnosed with
autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities,
attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, Down syndrome or were slow
learners, (5) the articles were published in English, (6) the articles were
published between 2014-2019 (7) the articles had occupational therapists as
authors, (8) the articles were published as peer-reviewed (journal publica-
tion), (9) the articles included VM as an intervention approach or as a
combination of VM with other types of video techniques such as video
prompting, video self-modeling, or others, (10) the articles presented a for-
mal study design that could be replicated.

Exclusion criteria
The exclusion criteria were based on (1) participants with significant
behavioral problems and those with visual and/or hearing impairments, (2)
the publication was not peer-reviewed (such as for book reviews, editorials,
technical reports, posters, commentaries, opinion pieces, or theses), and (3)
the study was not implemented by occupational therapists.
 OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN HEALTH CARE 231

The two levels of screening involved in the review process went as fol-
lows, First level: First author searched all relevant articles from the data
sources, the titles and abstracts were reviewed, and team members screened
the articles to ensure they applied inclusion and exclusion criteria. Second
level: All of the articles deemed relevant to this study were distributed
evenly among the research team; team members read the complete articles
independently, and a meeting concluded the articles that were suited to
this study.

Step 4: Charting the data

A data charting form was developed using Microsoft Word to organize
relevant information such as author names, year of publication, the purpose
of the study, the study design, and the methods applying VM among par-
ticipants in various settings, sample sizes, and findings. The charting form
allowed the extraction of themes on the nature of the literature that was to
be published.

Step 5: Collating, summarizing, and reporting the results

Thematic analysis processes were conducted (Braun & Clarke, 2006). First,
the extracted information was read thoroughly. Second, all potential items
were coded. Third, the coded items were analyzed, and relationships
between the various codes were investigated. After that, all identified coded
items were organized and sorted into the preliminary themes and sub-
themes. Fourth, the themes were reviewed and refined. Fifth, the themes
were defined, and lastly, a tabulated chart was provided under the finalized
themes, and the narrative descriptions based on the themes were presented.

Results
The initial search strategy yielded 397 articles. One duplicate article was
removed. The title and abstracts of all of the articles were read through
and 351 articles were excluded. The full text of the remaining 45 articles
were retrieved for further evaluation. During the evaluation process,
another 39 articles were excluded because they did not focus on the VM
implemented by occupational therapists in the intervention process, they
did not present with VM or a VM in combination with other types of
video techniques, and the publication was not peer-reviewed. Only six
articles were included in the review. The summary processes of selected
articles are shown in Figure 1.
A summary of the six articles with information on VM implementation
by occupational therapists is provided in Table 1. Two themes emerged: (1)
232 N. ABD AZIZ ET AL.

Figure 1. Summary of outlining articles selection processes using PRISMA Flow Diagram.

implementing VM by occupational therapists during the intervention pro-

cess can successfully improve a client’s desired skills; (2) VM can be
applied through several technological devices. Details of each theme were
discussed further.

Implementing VM by occupational therapists during the intervention process

can successfully improve a client’s desired skills
All the articles reviewed showed VM improves play skills (Stewart &
Umeda, 2014), daily living skills (Campbell et al., 2015; Meister & Salls,
2015; Stewart & Umeda, 2014), and/or social skills (Chen et al., 2016;
Hochhauser et al., 2015; Rosen et al., 2017; Stewart & Umeda, 2014). This
scoping review has explored the evidence to support occupational thera-
pists’ use of VM in their intervention process and support the understand-
ing that the technique was a valuable addition to occupational therapy
intervention strategies. Furthermore, the most conspicuous finding from all
articles was that children and adolescents with special needs positively
Table 1. Data extracted from the selected articles.
Authors/Year Purposes
Hochhauser et al. (2015) (1) To describe the design
and development of Conflict
Orientation and Negotiation
Training Among Children and
Teens (CONTACT), an
application with content
tailored to adolescents that
targets negotiation strategy
training via video modeling
(2) To evaluate the usability
of CONTACT for adolescents
with and without ASD.
Campbell, Morgan, Barnett, & To look at the use of video
Spreat, modeling on portable
(2015) handheld devices to teach
hand washing to three
adolescent students with an
autism spectrum disorder.
Participants, Setting Findings from
Study Design/Methods and Sample Size Selected Articles
Study design: Participants: This study show the
A video modeling and video Adolescents with successful use of a
self-modeling application ASD. video modeling
designed to address social Setting: application that is
competencies, specifically Special classes user friendly to
negotiation training of within mainstream adolescents with
adolescents with ASD. schools. and without ASD.
Methods: Focus group.
The content and structure of Sample Size:
the No Problem! were 21 adolescents with
modified with an authoring ASD, 12 to 18 years
tool, which permitted the of age, and 27 age-
inclusion of alternate media and gender-
including multimedia files matched typically
such as text, photos, audio developing
recordings, and video adolescents enrolled
recordings. in mainstream
Used video modeling and high schools.
video self-modeling.
Study Design: Participants: Video modeling on
Experimental design - Adolescent students a handheld device
multiple baseline study. with an ASD. improves the
Methods: Setting: acquisition of self-
Used task analysis for hand The training help skills.
washing activity. sessions were
Used Sylvania HD Video Mp4 conducted in a
Player with 4.3-inch high classroom during
definition widescreen video 10-15 minutes
players. It were set up by the during a natural
occupational therapist. hand-washing
Used video modeling. (private school).
Individual session.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN HEALTH CARE
Sample Size:
3 participants ASD
aged
17-19 years old.
233
(continued)
Table 1. Continued.
Authors/Year Purposes
Rosen, Weiss, Zancanaro, & (1) To evaluate the usability
Gal, and social validity of Ready,
(2017) Set, Work! For use by
adolescents with and without
ASD
(2) To test whether it can
discriminate between these
two groups in terms of their
response to simulated social
dilemmas within
vocational contexts.
Meister, & Salls, To investigated the efficacy
(2015) of point-of-view video
modeling as an intervention
strategy to improve self-help
skills in children with autism
spectrum disorder
Study Design/Methods
Study Design:
Usability study of Ready, Set,
Work! A video modeling
application.
Methods:
Ready, Set, Work! is a
software application to train
social skills in the workplace.
The video clips were
produced by taping
volunteer actors.
Used video modeling and
video self-modeling.
Study Design:
A single-subject A-B design.
Methods:
Videos were recorded directly
on the iPad and included
simple step-by-step verbal
directions recorded by the
OT practitioner.
The app iMovie Version 2.1.1
(Apple, Inc., 2014) and
VideoTote Version 0.8.4
(Prevention Group, 2012) was
downloaded onto the iPad.
Used video modeling and
point-of-view
video modeling.
234
Participants, Setting Findings from
and Sample Size Selected Articles
Participants: Both groups ranked
Adolescents with a the application high
diagnosis of ASD. in terms of their
Setting: enjoyment,
An Israeli main competence and
stream high school. choice, and low in
40–50 minute terms of their
N. ABD AZIZ ET AL.
session during perceived levels of
regular classroom stress, although the
time. participants with
Individual session. ASD reported
Sample Size: greater enjoyment
20 adolescents (18 and less perceived
male, 2 female) choice than the
with a diagnosis of control group.
ASD,
aged 16–21 years.
Participants: Point-of-view video
Diagnosis of ASD. modeling using an
Settings: iPad may be an
A rural public effective technique
school district in for teaching
western New York. students with ASD
6 in general self-care and daily
education classes living skills, with
and 2 were in a students showing
special education an average of
classroom. 50.5% improvement
10 to 25 minutes. in task performance
Individual session. during a 6-week
Sample Size: study period.
8 students in
grades 2 through 8,
ranging in age from
7.5 years
to 13.5 years.
Stewart and Umeda (2014) To investigated the effects of Study Design: Participants: Participants 1 and 3
video modeling on A pilot study - A non- Children with more quickly
imitation skills of very concurrent multiple autism spectrum. learned the
young children with baseline design. Setting: imitation
autism spectrum disorder Methods: OT sessions at categories of
during play, self-help, and Data collection during the early object play and
social activities. baseline, intervention, and intervention self-help skills
maintenance phases clinic. than the
occurred during the first 30-minute OT category of
5 minutes of the sessions. social-
participants’ 30-minute OT Individual communication
sessions. session. gestures.
All video models of the Sample Size: However, it is
target behaviors -play, Three children important to
self-help and social with ASD, aged note that both
activities were recorded 26, 29, participants
and shown to the and 31 months. improved on the
participants via an Apple items of social-
iPad 2. communication
Used video modeling. gestures from
0% correct
during baseline
to 50% correct
during
intervention,
documenting a
substantial
change.
Chen, Lee, & Lin, (2016) Used augmented reality (AR) Study design: Participants: Used the ARVMS
to strengthen-based video Experimental design - Adolescents with learning system
modeling (VM) storybook multiple baseline study. ASD. helped to train
(ARVMS) to strengthen Methods: Setting: in social skills
and attract the attention The ARVMS learning A day treatment that they were
of children with ASD to system takes video room. able to judge
nonverbal social cues. materials that portray 35-40 minutes a different
Enabling children with everyday life activities and session. nonverbal social
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN HEALTH CARE

ASD to understand the focuses on special Individual signals.

(continued)
235
Table 1. Continued.
Authors/Year Purposes
perceptions and
judgments of facial
expressions and emotions.
Used the Vuforia platform
236
Participants, Setting Findings from
Study Design/Methods and Sample Size Selected Articles
moments and social cues session. The conclusion is
suitable for children with Sample Size: the ARVMS
ASD. 6 adolescents system can help
The storybook with AR with ASD, aged children with
technology is used. between 11-13. ASD who are
watching movies
of stories to
N. ABD AZIZ ET AL.
switch their
attention from
inanimate
objects to the
specific
nonverbal social
cues that make
the
stories
meaningful.
and the Unity Extension
Application Program
Interface (API) to create an
augmented reality
environment.
Used the video sources
with the Unity API to
develop the ARVMS, the
platform can support the
compiler app for
an Android, iOS, or other
portable mobile device.
 OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN HEALTH CARE 237

improve as they watch the video models (Meister & Salls, 2015). Their
improvement can be due to the effective teaching strategies via video pre-
sentations that provide systematic and clear step-by-step instructions visu-
ally in facilitating the learning process of children and adolescents with
special needs (Yakubova et al., 2020). Thus, VM may encourage children
and adolescents with special needs to be more engaged and lead them to
become faster learners (Stewart & Umeda, 2014). In addition, VM should
be recommended for use by occupational therapists as it also provides pre-
ventative and proactive strategies, potentially enhancing the learning pro-
cess during the intervention process (Campbell et al., 2015). Thus, VM can
be considered an effective way to improve skills and has further taught
functional skills (Meister & Salls, 2015). VM is expanding; and, the sugges-
tion is that occupational therapists can implement this technique in homes,
schools, and other service delivery settings.

VM can be applied through many kinds of technology

There are multiple kinds of technologies incorporated with VM used to
teach children and adolescents with special needs (Campbell et al., 2015;
Hochhauser et al., 2015; Meister & Salls, 2015; Rosen et al., 2017; Stewart
& Umeda, 2014). Notably, with rapid changes in technology, some of the
technological devices are commonly placed in educational settings, and
rehabilitation therapy programs. The most commonly used technology-
based intervention is VM. Devices used to produce VM include iPads,
iPods, iPhones, computers or laptops (Hochhauser et al., 2015; Rosen et al.,
2017), MP4 players (Campbell et al., 2015), video cameras, Galaxy Tabs or
smart phones (which include Android), tablet computers, digital video
disks (DVDs) or computers with a video player (e.g., Real Player, Apple
Quick Time Player, Windows Media Player), of which, the last two tech-
nologies are more traditional modes of presentation. Furthermore, smart
devices and applications (or ‘apps’) can now provide access to integrate
with VM, and the contents and structures of VM are added with alternative
multimedia such as texts, photos, videos, audio, and visual (Hochhauser
et al., 2015).
As technological devices for children and adolescents with special needs
are expanding daily and increasingly accommodate the learning process,
therapists and teachers are encouraged to implement VM in their interven-
tion process. Occupational therapists have reported that VM with apps is
useful and can facilitate skills development (Campbell et al., 2015; Rosen
et al., 2017). Moreover, the most interesting findings from the studies are
that children with special needs have improved once they begin such inter-
vention (Meister & Salls, 2015). Given the positive findings, VM can be
238 N. ABD AZIZ ET AL.

integrated with technology and has a role in supporting the intervention’s

benefits and impacting the skills of children with special needs. Technology
can also be the best way to support those children and adolescents who
have visual impairments or having behavior or attention concerns by pro-
viding modifications to visual supports (for example, auditory or tactile
inputs, speech-generating devices, or tactile pager prompts). For this pur-
pose, any iPad device can be used to deliver VM across activities or envi-
ronments for children. Therefore, the implementation of VM should be
expanded in line with rapidly changing technology. For example, VM can
be integrated with technological devices such as iPads and iPods and can
be used in schools or homes (Meister & Salls, 2015).

Discussion
This scoping review has identified a small number of empirical studies
related to VM implementation in occupational therapists’ intervention pro-
cess, specifically to improve functional performance. VM appears to be a
viable option for occupational therapists to use across practice settings to
meet the needs of various groups of clients with diverse challenges. Since
occupational therapists may adapt the learning process by using VM after
the initial intervention, they should consider practicing VM as an interven-
tion approach to maximize functional performance and participation in
desired activities or skills.
Each identified study presented different aims to achieve different kinds
of targeted skills across different practice settings. As consistent with the
findings in all related studies, VM during occupational therapists’ interven-
tion process indicates that children and adolescents with special needs
gained benefit (Campbell et al., 2015; Chen et al., 2016; Hochhauser et al.,
2015; Meister & Salls, 2015; Rosen et al., 2017; Stewart & Umeda, 2014).
The positive findings from the articles should not be dismissed by occupa-
tional therapists (Finkelstein et al., 2019; Grant et al., 2016) and with such
positive impact, some authors suggested occupational therapists should
consider VM in their intervention process (Becker et al., 2016; Campbell
et al., 2015; Candler et al., 2014; Stewart & Umeda, 2014). In addition, the
scoping review results can be useful to support occupational therapists in
implementing VM in their intervention process (Becker et al., 2016).
However, further research on VM implementation during occupational
therapists’ intervention process is needed to better understand and contrib-
ute to this approach’s knowledge gap.
All studies identified in this review have incorporated technology when
producing VM. Identifying an appropriate technology such as software,
tools, equipment, or devices for learners was essential (Regan & Howe,
 OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN HEALTH CARE 239

2017). The technological devices used for this scoping review included apps
such as alternate multimedia files (i.e., text, photos, audio recordings, video
recordings, apps iMovie Version 2.1.1 and VideoTote Version 0.8.4) down-
loaded onto an iPad, video clip via an Apple iPad 2, Sylvania HD Video
Mp4 Player or DVD player (Campbell et al., 2015; Candler et al., 2014;
Hochhauser et al., 2015; Meister & Salls, 2015; Rosen et al., 2017; Stewart
& Umeda, 2014). VM’s development process involved a few stages, which
include: clearly document the skills involved, creating and editing the
video, and finally presenting the video (Obrusnikova & Rattigan, 2016;
Regan & Howe, 2017). The emerging use of technology with VM accom-
modates interventions to help children and adolescents with special needs
to improve the acquisition of important skills (Regan & Howe, 2017).
The findings of this study suggest that video modeling can be an advan-
tage to a diverse group of children and adolescents with special needs.
However, more research is needed on VM’s use for children and adoles-
cents with visual impairments and/or blind. Occupational therapists are
advised to consider their individual learner’s preferred learning method
before implementing the VM approach in their intervention process.
However, individuals with autism spectrum disorders have been reported
to be well suited for the VM approach (Campbell et al., 2015). This is likely
because VM could teach the skill directly from the video presented visually
without attending to unnecessary, irrelevant action. The VM approach’s
implementation could also limit extraneous stimuli and only identify the
significant action needed in the task (Lee, 2015), and could facilitate better
action in the imitation process (Richard & Noell, 2019). Apart from that,
children and adolescents who are visual learners may show greater aptitude
and, thus, visual presentation of information such as VM is the preferred
form of learning (Odom et al., 2015; Trembath et al., 2015).
The material studied in this scoping review supports the concept that vis-
ual information processing often becomes an aspect of strength and is
more easily encoded (Cribb et al., 2016; Hochhauser et al., 2018), especially
to children and adolescents who can learn from visual models.
Encouragingly, as VM emerges as a strength in visual processing, research-
ers advocate exploring a variety of emerging technologies to support chil-
dren and adolescents with special needs as an option to teach desired skills
(Ledbetter-Cho et al., 2017; Odom et al., 2015).

Limitations
The detailed process of performing an article search in scoping review was
conducted via four main databases following the systematic literature
search process that constitutes our scoping review methodology. We have
240 N. ABD AZIZ ET AL.

also analyzed the inclusion and exclusion criteria determined before con-
ducting a scoping review search to make a wide impression on how our
research question needs addressing. However, we found only a small num-
ber of suitable articles on VM implementation by occupational therapists in
their intervention process for children and adolescents with special needs.
In future research, searching more databases can be considered to gain
more perspective regarding the VM implementation by occupa-
tional therapists.
In this scoping review, “video modeling” or “video modelling” are used.
However, in future studies, several other keys, such as video recording,
computer-assisted instruction, or others, should be considered. These added
terms should increase relevant research results.

Conclusion
This scoping review supports the premise that VM is useful during the
occupational therapy intervention process (Hillman, 2019) that positively
contributes to improve a range of desired skills. VM may help occupational
therapists understand the details of subcomponents in occupational behav-
ior and could help prepare the necessary functional skills for occupational
participation (Bailliard, 2015). As an activity analysis is a foundational skill
in occupational therapists, occupational therapists may facilitate the learn-
ing process by integrating VM in performing tasks. VM does provide a sys-
tem that can consistently present a method of achieving tasks to children
and adolescents with special needs so that they may learn how to perform
the activity in the video in the steps provided by activity analysis.
Furthermore, VM can encourage the acquisition of the skills by imitating
the behavior in sequence steps performed by the video model (Wilson,
2013). Therefore, VM implementation during the occupational therapists’
intervention process can support facilitating and encouraging independence
levels in many life skills (Becker et al., 2016). As such, VM implementation
by occupational therapists and the outcomes from such intervention to
facilitate targeted skills should be published to reach wider audiences so
that all occupational therapy practitioners can embrace this scope of poten-
tial strategies to support their intervention process.

Acknowledgments
Thank you to all research team members for their contributions in reviewing the articles.
 OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN HEALTH CARE 241

Declaration of interest
No potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publica-
tion of this article.

Using third-party material in your paper

Ethic approval or consent for using third-party materials are not required for this scop-
ing review.

Funding
This study received financial support or scholarship from the Ministry of
Education, Malaysia.

ORCID
Nurbieta Abd Aziz http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6310-1851

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