Examining the Impact of a Virtual Dementia Simulation on Occupational Therapy Students: A Mixed Methods Study of Empathy Cultivation

The purpose of this study was to examine the existence of preprofessional stereotypes in physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students at an urban midwestern university. Forty-two junior PT students and 42 junior OT students completed the Health Team Stereotyping Scale (HTSS) as a self-administered survey questionnaire. The students' total and individual word-pair scores on the HTSS were then compared. The first comparison, between the PT students' and the OT students' views of the PT profession, indicated that the PT students' assessment of the PT profession was more positive than that of the OT students. The second comparison, between the OT students' and the PT students' views of the OT profession, indicated that the OT students' perception of the OT profession was more positive than that of the PT students. Each student group chose both positive and negative descriptors for the other group. Some positive adjectives chosen by the OT students to describe PT students were "proud," "passive," and "precise." The PT students chose "casual" and "intentional" to positively describe OT students. Some negative adjectives chosen by the OT students to describe PT students were "overrated," "competitive," and "strict." The PT students described OT students as "passive," "dull," and "narrow." Both groups thought the other group was conventional and conservative. Awareness of the existence of positive and negative stereotypes may influence behaviors in preprofessional and professional environments.

Perceptions of Occupational Therapy Students Regarding Functional Electrical Stimulation Technology

IntroductionThis study expands upon our previous work which evaluated the impact of an interprofessional anatomy course on the rate of role misidentification for occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and physician assistant (PA) students. In the present study, a team‐based learning (TBL) intervention involving medical (MD) students was implemented. Our objectives were to 1) assess the effectiveness of these TBL sessions on role comprehension and 2) to identify misunderstandings about OT, PT, or PA roles among students.MethodsFour team‐based learning (TBL) sessions, facilitated by 4th year MD students, were integrated into an anatomy course for PA, PT, and OT students with a primary purpose to review anatomical content through clinical cases. During each TBL session, students were given three cases to work through, including identifying which allied health profession(s) would be most appropriate to lead the patient’s care. Students in all four cohorts were asked to participate in an IRB‐approved pre‐/post‐intervention survey asking them to: 1) identify to which profession the patient in a given scenario should be referred and 2) briefly summarize the roles of these allied health professions. Quantitative data were evaluated using Kruskal‐Wallis and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests while qualitative data were evaluated using thematic analysis.ResultsWe saw the rate of improvement on role identification from paired pre‐ to post‐surveys triple the rate of improvement seen in our previous study without the TBL intervention. Previously, students had the most difficulty identifying OT roles, which is consistent with the literature. After implementing the TBL sessions, current data combined from all students demonstrated that they correctly identified OTs’ roles at a significantly higher rate compared to pre‐surveys ( p=0.012). Despite this improvement, several discrepancies about OT and PA roles remained prevalent in post‐survey free responses. Students in non‐OT programs perpetuated a common misconception that OTs’ scope of practice is predominantly limited to fine motor skills. MD students had a better understanding of the high level of autonomy and positive relationship between a PA and a physician, whereas OT and PT students often viewed the PA as being dependent on and inferior to the physician.ConclusionsWe have developed an intervention that positively influenced interprofessional comprehension of allied healthcare professions’ roles and illuminated misconceptions that still persist. Quantitative results support the conclusion that the TBL‐intervention improved students’ ability to identify roles, particularly OTs’. While thematic analysis revealed fewer misconceptions regarding professional roles compared to previous study results from students who did not benefit from the TBL intervention, several misconceptions remained prevalent. Implementing interventions focused on improving comprehension of professional roles, such as the one outlined herein, are important to reduce these pervasive misconceptions among the healthcare field.Support or Funding InformationThis study is funded by an International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) Educational Scholarship Grant.

IntroductionAustralian and New Zealand accreditation standards for occupational therapy courses mandate consumer involvement in the design, delivery, and evaluation of courses. Consumer involvement in medical, dental, and nursing education has been evidenced as a factor for increasing student empathy. To date, there has been no known research on the impact of mental health consumer involvement on occupational therapy students' empathy. The aim of this study was to investigate if occupational therapy students who receive teaching from a mental health consumer demonstrate higher levels of empathy compared with students who receive teaching delivered by occupational therapy academics.MethodsPre–post, quasi experimental, two group comparison design was used to measure second‐year student empathy pre and post a consumer‐led teaching tutorial. Students (N = 217) were randomised into two groups across three university campuses: ‘teaching as usual group’ (control) or ‘consumer‐led’ group (experimental group). The Jefferson Scale of Empathy was used to measure student empathy.ResultsN = 138 matched scales were returned. Little difference in empathy scales was detected between groups. The ‘consumer‐led’ group increased for the empathy scale by 3.4(95% CI: 0.7,6.1, p = 0.014) but was not statistically significant compared to 1.3(95% CI: −1.0,3.5, p = 0.267) for the control group. Both groups scored highly on empathy.ConclusionThis study found that occupational therapy students had pre‐existing high levels of empathy. The challenge for future research is to identify appropriate ways to measure the impact of mental health consumer involvement on occupational therapy curriculum and students.

This nationwide study addressed how occupational engagement and quality of life (QoL) were affected in occupational therapy (OT) students and professionals during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Research questions addressed: 1) if daily occupations changed; 2) how QoL was affected; 3) in what manner OT background influenced coping; 4) recommendations to OT students, practitioners, and the profession. Although 198 students and 249 professionals responded initially to the survey, an average of 161 professionals and 95 students completed the critical questions described herein. Six students and eight professionals participated in interviews. Separate online surveys via SurveyMonkey gathered quantitative and qualitative data from the students and professionals, and interview guides facilitated qualitative data collection from both groups. The anonymous surveys included rating scales, multiple-choice, ranking, and open-ended questions. The interviews, using open-ended questions, occurred via telephone or Skype audio calls in the summer and early fall of 2020. Both professionals and students reported their occupational engagement drastically changed due to the Pandemic. Similarly, they indicated a decrease in their own QoL compared to before the Pandemic. Grounded Theory of Pandemic Occupational Adaptation and Engagement in OT Professionals and Students emanated from the findings. The COVID-19 Pandemic affected millions in various ways. OT professionals and students reported telehealth as beneficial for treating clients and providing education to OT students. Mental health should be a priority for everyone to maintain good QoL and cope with pandemic-related and future life challenges. Participant commitment to the occupational therapy profession continues to be strong.

Introduction: Many universities switched to distance learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As universities move to a post-COVID-19 normal, it is important for educators to be aware of what factors influence learners’ face-to-face lecture attendance. This study investigated what factors impacted nursing-midwifery, pharmacy and occupational therapy students’ pre-COVID-19 lecture attendance. Methods: Using a positivist mixed-methods approach, third-year nursing-midwifery (n = 350), pharmacy (n = 24) and occupational therapy (n = 42) students completed a survey with quantitative and open-ended questions that asked students about what factors influenced them to attend and not attend face-to-face lectures. T-tests and Spearman correlations were used to analyse the quantitative data. A qualitative inductive approach was used to code the open-ended questions response data into themes. Results: Occupational therapy and pharmacy students were more positive about the lectures in their programs than nursing-midwifery students. They also valued lecture quality and style more than nursing-midwifery students, who valued a convenient schedule. All three student cohorts valued engaging and enthusiastic lecturers and reported similar reasons for lecture attendance regarding the physical learning environment, other life- and work-related time commitments and the commuting distance to campus. Conclusions: While there was agreement on many factors affecting lecture attendance across the three student cohorts, occupational therapy and pharmacy students placed more value on lecture style and presentation, whilst nursing-midwifery students placed more importance on when lectures were scheduled. These results have and will inform factors to consider regarding on campus lecture attendance post-COVID.

This study aimed to determine occupational therapy students’ coping strategies and styles to manage stress. The final sample included 160 students, with 39 master of occupational therapy (MOT) students and 121 occupational therapy doctoral (OTD) students who were currently enrolled in an MOT or OTD program. This study used a cross-sectional, descriptive survey. The survey included both closed-ended and open-ended items to provide a greater insight into occupational therapy graduate students’ stressors, coping strategies, and coping styles. Results of the survey showed the most frequently reported coping strategies for both programs were emotional support, instrumental support, self-blame, and religion. The least used strategies included denial, substance use, behavioral disengagement, and venting. When comparing the two groups, results suggested that both MOT and OTD employed similar coping strategies, with OTD students more likely to use religion as a coping strategy. Participants most frequently reported using the problem-focused coping style. These results indicated that students were implementing both healthy and unhealthy coping strategies. This study will allow students and educators to better understand how MOT and OTD students cope with stress and develop programming to enhance coping among occupational therapy graduate students. Implications for improved occupational therapy educational success include: (1) addressing and acknowledging the stressors that occupational therapy students experience, (2) facilitating and supporting occupational therapy students’ healthy coping strategies, and (3) increasing awareness of unhealthy coping strategies that occupational therapy students may be using.

This pilot study was designed to assess the perceptions of physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students regarding the use of computer-assisted pedagogy and prosection-oriented communications in the laboratory component of a human anatomy course at a comprehensive health sciences university in the southeastern United States. The goal was to determine whether student perceptions changed over the course of a summer session regarding verbal, visual, tactile, and web-based teaching methodologies. Pretest and post-test surveys were distributed online to students who volunteered to participate in the pilot study. Despite the relatively small sample size, statistically significant results indicated that PT and OT students who participated in this study perceived an improved ability to name major anatomical structures from memory, to draw major anatomical structures from memory, and to explain major anatomical relationships from memory. Students differed in their preferred learning styles. This study demonstrates that the combination of small group learning and digital web-based learning seems to increase PT and OT students' confidence in their anatomical knowledge. Further research is needed to determine which forms of integrated instruction lead to improved student performance in the human gross anatomy laboratory.

<p><strong><em>Abstract</em></strong></p> <p>Purpose: This study sought to assess attitudes, mutual perceptions, and knowledge of each other’s professional roles as obtained from occupational therapy (OT) and physiotherapy (PT) students.</p> <p>Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out among OT and PT students in a Nigerian university. Fifty-six copies of a revised questionnaire were used as the survey instrument, all of which were returned fully completed. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation, frequencies, and inferential statistics of chi-square tests. Alpha level was set at p<0.05.</p> <p>Results: Fewer PT students (16.7%) demonstrated good knowledge of the scope of OT, while 64.3% of OT students showed good knowledge of PT. There was a 100% positive attitude from both sets of students towards each other’s profession. 11.9% of the PT and 28.6% of the OT students perceived the two professions as being in direct competition. There was a significant difference between the PT and OT students surveyed in the knowledge of the other profession (χ<sup>2</sup> = 11.842, p = 0.001). </p> <p>Conclusion: More OT students were familiar with PT than PT students with OT. Both OT and PT students declared positive attitudes towards the other profession, with a minority in either group representing the view that the two professions are in direct competition.</p>

Intraprofessional education between occupational therapy (OT) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students can be a valuable component of the entry-level curriculum. Comparisons of OT vs. OTA students’ perceptions are sparse, yet this information may yield important insights about intraprofessional learning needs. This mixed methods study explored student perceptions of a three-hour joint OT/OTA class session conducted via video conferencing. Learning activities were grounded in shared leadership and two-way feedback and included collaboration on a client case. A total of 172 anonymous post-class feedback surveys were received from 121 OT students and 57 OTA students over three academic years. The study results indicate that OT students were significantly more welcoming of future intraprofessional collaborations (p=.024) and more likely to recommend providing the intraprofessional class session for future students (p=.010) than OTA students. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data yielded four themes: (a) enjoyment and emotional safety, (b) hands-on introduction to future practice, (c) the importance of collaboration and communication, and (d) OTAs are valuable. The theme “OTAs are valuable” emerged differently between OT and OTA students, with OTA students affirming their valuable contributions to the collaboration and OT students discovering the value of OTAs. The findings suggest that the intraprofessional class session was particularly impactful and eye-opening for the OT students, while OTA students may benefit from learning experiences designed to affirm the value of OTAs. Overall, this single three-hour video conferencing experience provided students with an accessible opportunity to engage in collaborative learning, likely transforming their beliefs about intraprofessional partnerships.

IntroductionBurnout syndrome has been characterized as a process of chronic responses to occupational stress in certain employee groups. However, this phenomenon has also been reported in other participant groups including university students. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS), composed of the Exhaustion, Cynicism and Efficacy subscales, was used to evaluate burnout in this sample group while the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) was used to gather data related to engagement, a positive psychology construct composed of the three factors, namely vigor, dedication, and absorption. To date, no studies considered these factors in relation to occupational therapy students. This begs the question, is there a relationship between occupational therapy students’ self-reported levels of burnout and engagement?ObjectivesThe study objectives are to (1) ascertain the self-reported levels of burnout and engagement in a sample of Australian Occupational undergraduate therapy students, and (2) analyze the sociodemographic, occupational and academic characteristic associated with these levels.MethodsParticipants were 225 Australian undergraduate occupational therapy students from Monash University completed the MBI-SS and the UWES for students. Descriptive, bivariate and multiple linear regression analyses were performed.ResultsRegarding MBI-SS burnout dimensions, exhaustion was associated with age, year level of enrolment and hours of direct time spent working on occupational therapy studies, explaining 15% of its variance. Cynicism and efficacy were associated with age, year level of enrolment and hours of indirect time, accounting for 16% of its variance. For the UWES engagement dimensions, year level of enrolment and hours of indirect time spent working on occupational therapy studies were significant predictors of vigor, explaining 27% its variance while while age, gender, year level of enrolment, hours of indirect time spent working on occupational therapy studies, and hours spend per week engaged in self-care activities accounted for 23% of the variance of dedication. Finally, age, year level of enrolment, and hours of indirect time spent working on occupational therapy studies explained 27% of the variance of absorption.ConclusionThe results indicate that a number of demographic and academic study variables are significantly associated with burnout syndrome and education engagement reported by undergraduate occupational therapy students.

Introduction. The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education and the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education require the integration of interprofessional education (IPE) into their respective educational programs. This follows reports from the Institute of Medicine and the World Health Organization that highlight the importance of IPE to prepare professionals for interprofessional collaborative practice. However, information related to practical strategies to incorporate learning experiences into the curriculum is sparse. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an interprofessional simulation on the self-efficacy of physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students and to explore student perceptions of the IPE experience to better understand their engagement in learning. Methods. The study sample included 51 first-year PT students and 36 third year OT students, all enrolled in a case-based class, respectively. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design was used to examine changes in self-efficacy for interprofessional learning among participants after an interprofessional simulation activity. Participants completed the Self-Efficacy for Interprofessional Experiential Learning (SEIEL) survey 1 week before the simulation activity (pretest) and 1 week after (posttest.) Qualitative methods were used to gather feedback from participants about the learning activity. Results. Self-efficacy scores for OT students and PT students on each SEIEL subscale were calculated. For the interprofessional interaction subscale, there was a significant main effect between pretest and posttest scores, with posttest scores higher than pretest scores. There was no difference based on whether they were an OT or PT student. Similarly, there was a significant main effect between pretest and posttest scores on the interprofessional team evaluation and feedback subscale, whereas there was no significant effect based on student discipline. Both OT and PT students reported they gained knowledge about the other profession's role, scope of practice, goals, and evaluation and treatment activities and described the opportunity to plan and problem solve as the most helpful aspect of this learning activity. Their responses indicated that they perceived the greatest learning through the direct hands-on time with the standardized patients and the rest of the time was not valuable as they were just watching. Discussion and Conclusion. Occupational therapy and PT students benefited equally with improved self-efficacy and positive learning outcomes. In a time with many uncertainties in IPE, this study provides evidence that a single, brief learning activity can be beneficial.

IntroductionMonash university in Australia has adopted the Human Library as a teaching activity aimed at enhancing occupational therapy (OT) students’ cultural awareness and sensitivity; however, its effect on cultural competence in healthcare profession students has not been previously investigated.AimTo examine whether participation in a Human Library can facilitate the development of OT students’ cultural awareness and sensitivity and to understand the factors contributing to changes in cultural competence from the students’ perspective.MethodThis is a mixed-method study. Quantitative data was collected by participant characteristic survey and pre/post-Human Library cultural competence assessment (CCA). The quantitative data was used to inform the selection of participants and questions for the second qualitative phase. Quantitative data were analyzed using independent samples and paired t-tests, analysis of variance and Pearson correlation. Qualitative data were analyzed using coding reliability thematic analysis.ResultsStatistically significant increases were noted in CAS, CCB and overall CCA scores from pre- to post-Human Library. Participant characteristics such as gender, work experience in aged care and the health sector had a positive effect on pre-Human Library CCA results. Qualitative data demonstrated that participants perceived they had a level of cultural competence prior to attending the Human Library however, still made gains in cultural awareness and sensitivity and were motivated and inspired to provide culturally congruent healthcare.ConclusionThe Human Library can be considered for inclusion within a suite of learning methods for healthcare professional student curricula as a cost-effective, flexible teaching method for the development of competencies for culturally congruent healthcare.

Poor mental health of healthcare students is a cause for concern in many universities. Though previous research has identified mental health shame and self-compassion as critical in this student group, how these variables differ across different healthcare disciplines remains to be evaluated. Healthcare students (n = 344; counselling, occupational therapy, social work and nursing) completed measures regarding these variables. MANOVA and regression analyses were performed. (1) Counselling and nursing students were more depressed than occupational therapy students; (2) nursing students were more anxious than occupational therapy and social work students; (3) occupational therapy students had more positive attitudes towards mental health than the others; and (4) nursing students worried about their own reputation associated with their family more than counselling students. Self-compassion was the strongest predictor of mental health in all groups; however, the effect sizes varied: largest in nursing and smallest in social work students. Findings will help inform effective interventions for students in each healthcare discipline.

It has been suggested that to provide occupational therapy students with the best opportunities to learn while on a placement, it is important that they enter a supportive and welcoming environment that fosters quality learning experiences. To achieve a quality practice education experience, the occupational therapy team at Barwon Health developed and implemented the Barwon Health Occupational Therapy Enhanced Practice Education Approach (BHOTEPEA). The aim of this research was to ascertain occupational therapy students’ perceptions of the impact of the implementation of three core components of the BHOTEPEA: the student orientation process, facilitated practicums and reflective practice sessions. The method utilised by this study was an on-line survey to collect quantitative and qualitative data from occupational therapy students who had undertaken placements at Barwon Health between December 2014 and December 2015. Thirty-six out of 125 occupational therapy students responded to the survey (response rate of 29.8%). Students indicated that the approach assisted them to feel welcomed and prepared for placement, develop their practice skills and abilities, and develop their reflective practice skills. In conclusion, it appears that the BHOTEPEA supports the key elements of a quality practice education experience for occupational therapy students identified in the literature, including a welcoming learning environment, detailed orientation, clear expectations and a graded program of learning experiences. The findings from this research suggest other placement sites may be able to enhance the quality of their student placement experiences by adopting the three core components of the BHOTEPEA.