Instructional Strategies Used to Improve Students’ Comfort and Skill in Addressing the Occupational Therapy Process

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an intentional blending of instructional strategies in an occupational therapy (OT) entry-level master's course. The OT Adult Practice course uses case-based instructional strategies, clinical skills labs, and standardized patient experiences in a dovetailed approach across three progressively complex clinical scenarios involving adult clients. The course is designed to support students in addressing the entire OT Process. Results of quantitative data analysis indicated that the sequential application of case-based instructional strategies, lab experiences, and standardized patient learning opportunities significantly improved students' self-perception of their level of comfort and skill in being able to perform the following components of the OT process for adult clients: occupational profile, OT evaluation, developing an OT treatment plan, implementing OT treatment, and planning for discharge.

Evaluation of a simulation clinic for improving occupational therapy students’ perceptions of interaction with parents and infants

“…Research testing the effect of using SPs with occupational therapy students is limited, but growing (Bennett et al, 2017). For example, a study by Knecht-Sabres et al (2013) using mixed methods with 74 students, evaluated the use of SPs in an adult intervention-focused course. The study found improved student self-perception of their level of comfort and skill with a set of competencies such as transfers, treatment plan development and clinical reasoning.…”

“…Many studies have noted the effectiveness of simulation on the development of student knowledge, confidence and reduction of anxiety, primarily within medical and nursing education (Alfes, 2011; Thomas and Mackay, 2012) but increasingly within allied health (Hill et al., 2013; Knecht-Sabres et al., 2013). In Alfes’ (2011) study of 63 nursing students learning to care for patients experiencing pain, results indicated that students in the simulation group reported feeling more confident than those who received a traditional demonstrative approach.…”

“…Research testing the effect of using SPs with occupational therapy students is limited, but growing (Bennett et al., 2017). For example, a study by Knecht-Sabres et al. (2013) using mixed methods with 74 students, evaluated the use of SPs in an adult intervention-focused course.…”

Standardized Patient Encounter: An Innovative Curricular Design to Enhance Fieldwork Readiness

“…Occupational therapy educators use a variety of simulation forms, including standardized patients (SPs), for foundational courses, as preparation for fieldwork, and to address competencies (Bennett et al, 2017). The use of a combination of client cases, labs, and SPs can improve students' perception of comfort and skill level in key competency areas (Knecht-Sabres et al, 2013;Knecht-Sabres et al, 2015). Occupational therapy students have reported learning more from live simulated cases than lecture and role play methods (Velde et al, 2009), perceived interventions with SPs as valuable (Walls et al, 2019), and reported SPEs to be useful or very useful (Herge et al, 2013).…”