•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this case-series study was to assess the relationship between three instructional methods that fall within the parameters of the revised Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education fieldwork objective C.1.9 and perceived student competence and confidence in providing therapy services in a behavioral health setting.

Methods: The study included a convenience sample of (n=49) graduate students enrolled in an entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy program and a Doctor of Physical Therapy program in the Midwest. The participants attended a presentation on bipolar disorder and were randomly assigned to engage in one of three instructional methods: (a) lived experience academics, (b) problem-based learning, and (c) standardized patients to further learn about bipolar disorder.

Results: Analyses revealed no significant interaction effects on competence across instructional methods but did reveal significant main effects of group and time on confidence. Confidence increased across all instructional methods and exhibited a significant difference between the lived experience academics and standardized patient.

Significance: The study results demonstrate a need for further research on how to best prepare occupational therapy students for behavioral health settings.

Cited References

Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. (2018). 2018 Accreditation council for occupational therapy education standards and interpretive guide. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72(Suppl. 2), 1-83. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.72S217

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2019). 2018 Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE®) Standards and Interpretive Guide. https://acoteonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2018-ACOTE-Standards.pdf

Blackwell, C. & Bilics, A. (2017). Preparing occupational therapy students to address mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention in school-based practice. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 11, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2017.1386605

Breines, E. (1987). Pragmatism as a foundation for occupational therapy curricula. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 41(8), 522–525. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.41.8.522

Brown, C. & Stoffel, V. C. (2011). Occupational therapy in mental health: A vision for participation. F.A. Davis Company.

Byrne, L. (2013). A grounded theory study of lived experience mental health practitioners within the wider workforce (Doctoral dissertation). https://hdl.handle.net/10018/1018670

Cohn, E. S. (2019). Asserting our competence and affirming the value of occupation with confidence. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73(6). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2019.736002

Cohen, J. (1988), Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd Edition. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Creek, J. & Lougher, L. (2008). Occupational therapy and mental health (4th ed.). Elsevier.

Crowe, M., & Mackenzie, L. (2002). The influence of fieldwork on the preferred future practice areas of final year occupational therapy students. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 49, 25-36. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0045-0766.2001.00276.x

Dickinson, T., Hopton, J., & Pilling, M. (2016). An evaluation of nursing students' perceptions on the efficacy of high-fidelity clinical simulation to enhance their confidence, understanding and competence in managing psychiatric emergencies. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 25(9-10), 1476-1478. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13211

Evenson, M. (2011). Preparing for fieldwork: Students' perceptions of their readiness to provide evidence-based practice. IOS press, 44, 297-306. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-121506

Giles, A. K., Carson, N. E., Breland, H. L., Coker-Bolt, P., & Bowman, P. J. (2014). Use of simulated patients and reflective video analysis to assess occupational therapy students’ preparedness for fieldwork. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68(S2), S57-66. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2014.685S03

Happell, B., Bennetts, W., Harris, S., Platania-Phung, C., Tohotoa, J., Byrne, L., & Wynaden, D. (2015). Lived experience in teaching mental health nursing: Issues of fear and power. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 24, 19-27. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12091

Ikiugu, M. N., & Schultz, S. (2006). An argument for pragmatism as a foundational philosophy of occupational therapy. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73(2), 86–97. https://doi.org/10.2182/cjot.05.0009

Knecht-Sabres, L. J., Kovic, M., Wallingford, M., & St. Amand, L. E. (2013). Preparing occupational therapy students for the complexities of clinical practice. Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 1(3). https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1047

Martikainen, P., Bartley, M., & Lahelma, E. (2002). Psychosocial determinants of health in social epidemiology. International Journal of Epidemiology, 31, 1091–1093. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/31.6.1091

McGee, C., & Sopeth, L. (2015). Occupational therapy student learning in acute care contexts: Blending online, classroom, simulation, and fieldwork education. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69, 879–882. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2015.69S1-RP401

National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. (2018). Practice analysis of the occupational therapist registered- Execute summary [PDF file]. NBCOT. https://www.nbcot.org/-/media/NBCOT/PDFs/2017-Practice-Analysis-Executive-OTR.ashx?la=en&hash=42CC69FEB1F23F480B90A733E031DAEB5D5AD1FD

Omari Pittman, C., & Lawdis, K. (2017). Does the use of multifactorial training methods increase practitioners' competence? Journal of Educators Online, 14(2). http://doi.org/10.9743/jeo.2017.14.2.2

Quail, M., Brundage, S., Spitalnick, J., Allen P., Beilby, J. (2016). Student self-reported communication skills, knowledge and confidence across standardised patient, virtual and traditional clinical learning environments. BMC Medical Education, 16(73). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-016-0577-5

Ridley, S., Martin, R., & Mahboub, L. (2017). Learning from mental health lived experience and the influence on students’ practice. Australian Social Work, 70(3), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2016.1235718

Rodger, S., Fitzgerald, C., Davila, W., Millar, F., & Allison, H. (2011). What makes a quality occupational therapy practice placement? Students’ and practice educators’ perspectives. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 58, 195-202. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1630.2010.00903.x

Rowe, M. Frantz, J., & Bozalek, V. (2012) The role of blended learning in the clinical education of healthcare students: A systematic review. Medical Teacher, 34(4). https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2012.642831

Scaffa, M. & Wooster, D. (2004). Effects of problem-based learning on clinical reasoning in occupational therapy. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58(3), 333-336. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.58.3.333

Schaber, P., Wilcox, K., Whiteside, A. L., Marsh, L., & Brooks, C. D. (2010). Designing learning environments to foster affective learning: Comparison of classroom to blended learning. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2010.040212

Swarbrick, M., & Noyes, S. (2018). Effectiveness of occupational therapy services in mental health practice. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.725001

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. (2014). National Framework for Quality Improvement in Behavioral Health Care [PDF File]. https://www.nasmhpd.org/sites/default/files/SAMHSA%20Quality%20Improvement%20Initiative.pdf

Download

Share

COinS