scholarly journals Occupational Balance: What Tips the Scales for New Students?

2005 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 319-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Wilson ◽  
Ann Wilcock
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
First Year ◽  
Written Responses ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Educational Benefit ◽  
Occupational Therapy Students ◽  
New Students ◽  
Open Question

The open question, ‘What prevents you from reaching occupational balance?’, was posed within a questionnaire aimed at exploring the meanings of occupation, health and wellbeing with a cohort of first-year occupational therapy students during their initial few weeks at university. Their written responses to the question about occupational balance were analysed and are discussed in this paper. Not surprisingly, occupational balance appeared to be achieved by only a few and more by chance than design. People, time and money factors were identified as the main impediments to achieving occupational balance, with psychological and emotional pressures being at the forefront. Interestingly, despite these barriers, the overall educational benefit of considering the occupational balance question in this way raised the students' awareness of its relationship to health and wellbeing. This increased awareness might have longer-term health benefits, both personally and professionally, which would be worthy of further research.

scholarly journals Medically Underserved Community Integrative Health Education And Interprofessional Practice Model With First Year Physician Assistant, Physical Therapy, And Occupational Therapy Students

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbra Beck ◽  
Karene Boos ◽  
Elizabeth Bright ◽  
Wendie Leveille ◽  
Amy Vega ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Therapy ◽  
Health Education ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Physician Assistant ◽  
Medically Underserved ◽  
First Year ◽  
Interprofessional Practice ◽  
Integrative Health ◽  
Occupational Therapy Students ◽  
Underserved Community

Abstract Background This study presents a unique combined approach to integrative health education and interprofessional practice in primary care with first-year health science graduate students.Methodology Physician assistant, physical therapy, and occupational therapy students participated in an integrative health interprofessional curriculum and collaborated with Hispanic seniors in a medically underserved community while working on interprofessional teams. Impact on students’ knowledge and attitudes related to integrative health and interprofessional practice are assessed.Results Following exposure to the year-long curriculum, students demonstrated significant improvements in their knowledge of and attitudes towards integrative health and in their attitudes and perceived skills related to interprofessional practice.Conclusions Results suggest that the combined integrative health and interprofessional practice approach in a medically underserved community was successful in positively affecting related knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Further study related to longitudinal results is recommended.

scholarly journals Internalizing Client-Centredness in Occupational Therapy Students

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacquie Ripat ◽  
Pamela Wener ◽  
Kendra Dobinson ◽  
Cynthia Yamamoto
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Interprofessional Education ◽  
Interprofessional Collaboration ◽  
First Year ◽  
Health Care Students ◽  
The Core ◽  
Occupational Therapy Students ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Push And Pull

Background: Pre-licensure interprofessional education prepares students for collaborative client-centred practice. However, most interprofessional educational efforts are aimed at developing the collaborative component of practice. The purpose of this article is to share the findings of a study that explored occupational therapy students’ client-centred development, in order to inform other pre-licensure educators about integrating client-centredness into uni- and interprofessional education contexts.Methods and Findings: Twenty-nine participants were recruited from each of three stages assumed to be representative of occupational therapy client-centred development in each of the two years of the educational program and during the first year of practice. Semi-structured focus groups were used to capture the participants’ experiences. The core emergent theme, internalizing client-centredness, included three main processes: identifying occupational therapy as a client-centred profession, engaging in the push and pull of client-centredness, and defining self as a client-centred practitioner.Conclusions: Educators of pre-licensure health care students should deliberately focus on client-centredness in their uni- and interprofessional education curricula; the authors offer examples of curricular opportunities focused on internalizing client-centredness. Enabling health care students to internalize client-centredness may be an important aspect of developing practitioners who are prepared to enact interprofessional collaboration for client-centred practice.

Should Occupational Therapists use Simulation Exercises? Using Wheelchair Training as an Example

1997 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 161-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gill Chard
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
First Year ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Disability Awareness ◽  
Occupational Therapy Students ◽  
Student Training ◽  
Methods Of Learning ◽  
Simulation Exercises

The benefits and problems associated with sending occupational therapy students out into the community in wheelchairs, as a simulation exercise during the first year of a full-time undergraduate programme, are explored. Occupational therapy educators themselves have widely divergent views on the best method of student training in this area, and the views of disability awareness groups towards simulation exercises are also considered. Disabled people, non-disabled people and first-year occupational therapy students were surveyed about wheelchair-simulation exercises and other methods of learning. The results demonstrated that simulation exercises as an appropriate way of learning were supported and that the experiential element of the course should be retained. This article shares the results of the survey and discusses some of the disability awareness issues that they raise for occupational therapy educators, clinicians, students and disabled people themselves.

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