Abstract
Through interprofessional education (IPE) and collaboration, a quality-improvement program conducted in a university psychology clinic served to provide PhD psychology students with an opportunity to better understand the role of OT in a community mental-health (MH) setting. This program aimed to further examine OT’s role in a MH setting, as well as the impact of IPE and collaboration on PhD psychology students’ knowledge and understanding of OT.
Primary Author and Speaker: Moira Miller
Contributing Authors: Amy Mattila, Jessie Goicoechea
The purpose of this quality improvement program was to provide PhD psychology students at a university psychology clinic with the opportunity to better understand the role of occupational therapy (OT) in a community mental health (MH) setting through interprofessional education (IPE) and collaboration. Program outcomes were evaluated based on the following question: how does IPE prepare PhD psychology students for interdisciplinary collaboration and what are students’ perceived benefits of collaborating with an occupational therapist.
OT practice in MH focuses on incorporate meaningful activities and occupational-based interventions as a way to help clients improve, learn, or maintain skills needed for everyday life (1). Participation in OT interventions by those with a MH diagnosis have been found to improve performance in ADLs, IADLs, leisure, rest and sleep, and social participation (1). In order to provide holistic care and meet the needs of clients, interprofessional collaboration is key (2). Professional collaboration skills are acquired through IPE. The purpose of IPE is to not only increase knowledge of other health care professions but to also increase understanding of one’s own profession and its role in an interdisciplinary team (3). While occupational therapists and psychotherapists are common partners in clinical practice, OT and psychology students have few opportunities to interact during their education process (3). By participating in IPE and collaboration programs during the graduate education process, students have the opportunity to grow as future practitioners.
In order to explore IPE in a university clinic setting, this program followed a post-test, mixed method study design. The program took place in a university psychology clinic that serves as a training facility for PhD psychology students. A convenience sample of students currently attending the university and training in the psychology clinic was used.
IPE was provided through “Lunch and Learn” or individual education sessions to include topics such as the role of OT in a MH setting, performance areas of OT, and examples of OT interventions. To put education, students engaged in interdisciplinary collaboration by referring clients to OT services. If a student did not have a client that was appropriate for OT, information regarding common occupational performance problems, goals and interventions were shared with students on a tri-weekly basis during their supervision groups. To evaluate program outcomes, a survey and focus groups were used. The survey was developed with the clinic director in order to align with the psychology program standards and objectives related to interdisciplinary collaboration. Descriptive statistics were used to examine results of survey questions. Qualitative data from the focus groups and survey open-ended questions was analyzed using inductive coding.
Students reported that participation in interdisciplinary education helped to prepare them very well with understanding the areas addressed by OTs (60%), understanding the benefit of an interdisciplinary approach (50%), and respecting OT roles (50%). Three main themes that emerged from qualitative data were: interdisciplinary education and collaboration provided an opportunity for learning, increased understanding of OT, and increased understanding of the benefit of care teams. Results of this project suggests that an OTD student-led IPE and collaboration program is an effective way to teach Ph.D. psychology students about OT in a community MH setting. The impact of this research on OT practice is that through increased education among other health care disciplines within the MH field, awareness and benefit of OT practice in community MH settings will increase as well.
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