The effect of first year mental health fieldwork on attitudes of occupational therapy students towards people with mental illness

Current Landscape of Teaching Diversity in Occupational Therapy Education: A Scoping Review

IMPORTANCE

Critical research in health professions education makes clear the role of educational institutions in perpetuating problematic discourses related to diversity, as well as their potential role in dismantling and rebuilding those discourses to reflect the realities of power relations that create systemic injustice.

OBJECTIVE

To provide a comprehensive overview of current pedagogical practices and educational paradigms used by occupational therapy educators to teach concepts of, and skills for, equity and diversity.

DATA SOURCES

Seven education and health care databases were searched for articles published between 2007 and 2018.

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA COLLECTION

Consensually developed criteria were refined until an agreement rate of >80% was achieved among the authors. Inclusion criteria focused on entry-level occupational therapy education across the world and explicitly examined approaches to teaching diversity. All articles meeting the criteria were kept for full-text review (N = 87).

FINDINGS

Diversity in professional occupational therapy education programs is taught within five main underlying educational paradigms and theories: competency-based (44%), social justice (29%), critical (11%), social accountability (10%), and constructivism (6%). Within these paradigms, 14 key pedagogical practices were applied, with community service learning (37%), international service learning (25%), and didactic or course-based practices (23%) making up the majority of pedagogical practices.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Although current occupational therapy research demonstrates a trend toward critical paradigms and practices, problematic cultural competency theories and uncritical international service learning practices continue to dominate occupational therapy education for diversity. Educators should implement pedagogies and approaches within critical educational paradigms.

WHAT THIS ARTICLE ADDS

This article highlights the importance to occupational therapy education of attending to coherence across educational ethics, paradigms, and learning outcomes in teaching for diversity and health equity.

Attitudes and Beliefs of Nursing Students Toward Mental Disorder: The Significance of Direct Experience With Patients

PURPOSE

The objective of this study was to analyze nursing students' beliefs and attitudes toward mental disorder before and after clinical placements.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A cross-sectional design was chosen. One hundred ninety-four first- and third-year students in a three-year nursing degree course completed the Attribution Questionnaire AQ-27 regarding Mental Health, the Questionnaire of Beliefs, and a Socio-Demographic Questionnaire.

FINDINGS

Significant differences were found between students who had experienced mental illness and those who had not. Differences were also found between students with friends who suffered from mental health problems and those who did not.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

These results emphasize the need for nursing students to have direct interaction with people with a mental illness.