Describing consumer involvement, recruitment, retention in Australian occupational therapy university education: A cross sectional survey

Abstract

Introduction Consumer involvement in occupational therapy programmes is one of the accreditation requirements of the Occupational Therapy Council in Australia. Consumers are direct recipients of occupational therapy services. Current knowledge about consumer involvement within occupational therapy education is minimal and mostly in mental health. This study identifies the trends for involvement and methods for recruitment and retention of consumers in Australian occupational therapy university education programmes. Methods Twenty-one occupational therapy programme directors in Australian universities were directly invited by email to participate in an online questionnaire. Prior to distribution, the questionnaire was piloted and the content validity tested. Analysis of closed-ended questions occurred using frequencies and percentages and content analysis occurred with open-text responses. Results Nine programme directors completed the questionnaire. Consumers were mainly involved in delivering lectures, sharing stories and having discussions in small groups. Consumers were recruited to programmes through collaboration with organisations and/or by direct approach. The main retention strategies included employing consumers as university educators and providing support before/during involvement. Conclusion Consumer involvement in curricula addresses university programme requirements and aims to prepare students for consumer-focussed practice. The findings inform educators about diverse ways of recruiting, retaining and involving consumers in their programmes.

The influence of consumer perception on purchase intention: Evidence from cross-border E-commerce platforms

“… Customer service quality (CSQ) CSQ1 Cross-border e-commerce platform customer service could provide all the seller's information. Eoon [ 56 ]; Christian [ 57 ] CSQ2 The customer service staff of cross-border e-commerce platform could recommend suitable products for me. CSQ3 Cross-border e-commerce platform customer service could provide consumers with better shopping experience.…”

‘What's she doing here?’ Overcoming barriers to the implementation of Expert by Experience positions in academia

“…The findings also demonstrate that EBE involvement requires more than attitudinal change. Funding constraints are identified in the literature as a major barrier to new initiatives and are particularly imposing when the value of EBE is not readily appreciated (Scanlan et al, 2020;Soon et al, 2020Soon et al, , 2022. This is likely to become increasingly difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…This expectation reflects international standards (World Federation of Occupational Therapists, 2016 ). Despite accreditation requirements, variation and gaps in the level of involvement in occupational therapy programs exist (Arblaster et al, 2015a ; Scanlan et al, 2020 ; Soon et al, 2022 ), as it does more generally from country to country, discipline to discipline, and university to university (Gordon et al, 2020 ; Miller et al, 2020 ; Rowland et al, 2019 ). Reasons for the variations may reflect recognised barriers to innovation in higher education, including insufficient resources, administrative burdens, and resistance to change (Gilbert et al, 2020 ; Jónasson, 2016 ).…”

“…Support for service user involvement stems in part from both service users' and allies' belief in the value of experiential knowledge. The evidence base in support of service users (referred to as EBEs) involvement in the education of health professionals is developing through multi‐disciplinary research (Arblaster et al, 2015b ; Happell, Waks, et al, 2019a ; Newton‐Howes et al, 2020 ; Ridley et al, 2017 ; Soon et al, 2022 ). Numerous qualitative studies have demonstrated that EBE involvement is beneficial to students.…”

‘We only come from one perspective’: Exploring experiences of allies supporting expert by experience leadership in mental health education

“…It is, therefore, unsurprising that service user leadership in mental health services is stigmatised both within and outside of health services (Byrne et al, 2019; Elraz, 2018; Hawthorne et al, 2020; Janssens et al, 2021; Masedo et al, 2021; Newton‐Howes et al, 2021). Marginalisation and stigmatisation extend to health professional education, where mental health service user (referred to as Experts by Experience (EBE)) involvement remains rare and often tokenistic, despite the support of such (Happell et al, 2015; Scanlan et al, 2020; Soon et al, 2020, 2022). There is evidence of benefits to students, health professional academics and the EBE themselves (Happell, O'Donovan, Sharrock, et al, 2022; Towle et al, 2016; Ward et al, 2022), with the recognition that EBE leadership can positively shape the attitudes and perceptions of future health professionals towards mental health service users (Happell et al, 2019; Newton‐Howes et al, 2020; Ridley et al, 2017; Soon et al, 2022; Taylor & Gordon, 2021).…”