Background: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often experience challenges related to sensory processing, emotional regulation, social participation, and engagement within traditional educational environments. Increasing attention has been given to nature-based educational and therapeutic approaches as supportive contexts that may promote regulation, participation, and learning through multisensory, flexible, and meaningful experiences.
Objective: This narrative review explores the role of nature-based activities in supporting the educational, developmental, and well-being needs of children with ASD, with particular emphasis on sensory regulation, social interaction, anxiety reduction, physical activity, executive functioning, and inclusive participation.
Methods: A narrative synthesis of relevant literature was conducted, focusing on studies and theoretical contributions examining nature exposure, outdoor play, gardening, hiking, structured nature-based programs, and related educational or therapeutic interventions for autistic children. The review also considers barriers to implementation, including limited access to natural environments, insufficient professional training, and variability in children’s individual sensory and developmental profiles.
Results: The literature suggests that nature-based activities may provide meaningful opportunities for sensory modulation, emotional calmness, social engagement, and active participation. Natural environments appear to offer rich but often less overwhelming sensory input, while activities such as gardening, outdoor exploration, and structured play may support cooperation, communication, attention, autonomy, and motor engagement. However, the evidence base remains heterogeneous, with variation in intervention design, outcome measures, and methodological quality.
Conclusions: Nature should not be viewed merely as an alternative setting for education or therapy, but as a dynamic, occupation-rich environment that can support children with ASD in regulation, participation, and learning. Future research should prioritize longitudinal designs, clearer intervention protocols, individualized approaches, and stronger collaboration between educators, occupational therapists, families, and multidisciplinary teams. Integrating nature-based practices into inclusive educational frameworks may represent a promising direction for supporting the holistic development and well-being of children with ASD.
Georgia Katsiaflaka, Pantelis Pergantis, Konstantinos Georgiou et al.· World Journal of Advanced Re...· 0 citations
Occupational therapy research in Greece has developed gradually, yet its scientific output, impact, collaboration patterns, and thematic orientation have not previously been examined systematically. This study aimed to provide the first comprehensive bibliometric analysis and science mapping of occupational therapy research produced by academic staff affiliated with Greek higher education institutions. A bibliometric and science-mapping analysis was conducted, with the identification and selection of publications reported in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 framework. PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched for peer-reviewed publications produced between 1977 and 2025 by academic staff affiliated with the three Greek university departments offering undergraduate occupational therapy programmes. Study selection was managed through Covidence, while publication trends, journal rankings, citation performance, keyword co-occurrence, thematic clusters, and co-authorship networks were examined. VOSviewer was used for science mapping and network visualization. Of the 429 records identified, 55 peer-reviewed articles met the eligibility criteria. Research output remained limited until 2021 but increased considerably thereafter, rising from five publications in 2022 to sixteen in 2025. Nearly half of the articles were published in non-indexed journals, while relatively few appeared in Q1 and Q2 journals. Citation impact was concentrated in a limited number of highly cited publications. Keyword analysis revealed nine thematic clusters covering cognitive functioning, mental health, neurodevelopment, rehabilitation, ageing, and emerging technologies. Co-authorship mapping indicated a centralized and fragmented collaboration structure. This study establishes the first bibliometric baseline for occupational therapy research associated with Greek higher education institutions. By identifying patterns of productivity, visibility, thematic development, and scientific collaboration, the findings provide evidence that may support institutional research planning, stronger interinstitutional collaboration, advanced research training, and the strategic development of occupational therapy research in Greece.
Anastasia Onoufriou, Ioanna Kargaki, Panagiota Sfintsioti et al.· Brazilian Journal of Science· 1 citation
Conversational artificial intelligence (AI) has shown potential to support knowledge translation, personalized education, and access to health-related information. However, applications in neurodevelopmental care remain largely focused on screening and assessment, while conversational systems tailored to occupational therapy are scarce. Moreover, general-purpose generative AI may produce inaccurate, insufficiently contextualized, or clinically inappropriate responses, highlighting the need for evidence-based, domain-specific systems with robust safety mechanisms. This study describes the protocol for the co-design, development, and preliminary evaluation of a conversational AI system designed to support occupational therapists and parents of children aged 5–12 years with neurodevelopmental disorders in Greece. The system is intended as an educational and decision-support resource and will not replace diagnosis, clinical judgment, or individualized intervention. A co-designed, multi-phase, mixed-methods proof-of-concept design will be adopted, informed by the Medical Research Council framework, Design Science Research, user-centered design principles, and the CeHRes Roadmap 2.0. Development will include evidence synthesis, stakeholder needs assessment, knowledge base construction, iterative prototype development, and expert, technical, safety, and user evaluation. The system will integrate a curated occupational therapy knowledge base, retrieval-augmented generation, role-specific prompting, source verification, and layered safety guardrails. Expected outputs include a stakeholder-informed Greek-language minimum viable product and a transparent framework linking evidence, user requirements, technical design, and evaluation criteria. Preliminary evaluation will assess factual accuracy, evidence concordance, occupational therapy relevance, clinical appropriateness, safety, usability, acceptability, and perceived usefulness. This protocol provides a reproducible foundation for developing clinically relevant conversational AI in occupational therapy and for future feasibility and effectiveness studies.
Pantelis Pergantis, N. Bardis, Charalabos Skianis et al.· Brazilian Journal of Science· 0 citations