Hippotherapy concepts : a scoping review to inform transdisciplinary practice guidelines

Abstract

BACKGROUND : Hippotherapy, an equine-assisted service, uses the movement of the horse as a treatment tool. Hippotherapy is often used by occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and speech and language pathologists. To optimise hippotherapy and facilitate the development of transdisciplinary hippotherapy practise guidelines, this scoping review identified novel hippotherapy concepts used during hippotherapy interventions for clients with spastic cerebral palsy. AIM : To explore, identify, and describe concepts that constitute hippotherapy practices for clients with spastic cerebral palsy. METHODS : An exploratory descriptive qualitative research design, using Arksey and O’Malley’s five stages of scoping review. RESULTS : We identified and tabulated 19 hippotherapy concepts. CONCLUSIONS : Hippotherapy is a complex intervention with multiple concepts. This review contributed to the development of hippotherapy practice guidelines for clients with spastic cerebral palsy. SIGNIFICANCE : Including hippotherapy concepts into hippotherapy practice will inform therapists, benefit clients, and contribute to future research.