The experience and role of mentorship for paediatric occupational therapists

Abstract

Introduction Within Australia, the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme has led to a growth in paediatric occupational therapists working in community settings. This growth has increased the demand for support from more senior paediatric occupational therapists to novice clinicians. Mentoring has long been valued by occupational therapists as a means to provide this support. Despite its apparent benefit, there is limited research on the contribution of mentoring as distinct from supervision, and its impact on mentees' skills and confidence in providing care. This study examined the contribution of mentorship to the development of professional capability in paediatric occupational therapy practice from the perspective of mentors and mentees. Methods Interpretive description methodology was used. In‐depth interviews were conducted with nine mentors and eight mentees from three Australian states. Data were analysed inductively and thematically. Findings All participants reflected on the challenges presented by the complexity of practice, requiring a knowledge base that mentees perceived they did not possess. The essential nature of non‐judgemental, emotional support allowed mentees to feel safe to discuss their concerns when they were often overwhelmed by practice. Mentorship was viewed as capacity building, building competence by scaffolding clinical reasoning and supporting theory to practice translation while developing resilience to cope with complexity. Conclusion Study participants reported that successful mentorship assisted novice practitioners to integrate knowledge and skills required for complex clinical and professional reasoning. The emotional support provided through the relationship supported novice therapists to build their confidence and resilience while promoting professional identity and socialisation into the profession. The study raised questions related to how the profession best supports novice paediatric therapists in the current employment contexts, and the need to review how bodies of knowledge relevant to paediatrics are brought together to be used by both novice clinicians and senior therapists, who support them, for translation to effective practice.

A Profile of Occupational Therapists Working in School-Based Practice in Australian Primary Schools

“…It may be that early career therapists lack the required unique knowledge and skills to work in school-based practice and that it is therefore more suited to experienced therapists. The unique nature of the knowledge and skills required to work in school-based practice means that therapists feel poorly prepared for this practice area with entry-level education alone [14]; thus, the onus is on tertiary occupational therapy education programs to ensure that graduates have the requisite skills for this complex area of practice upon graduation, and the profession may need to provide better workforce supervision and support for early career professionals entering this practice specialty [14]. The respondents from Queensland who had the least experience and were more commonly employed by the Department of Education may suggest that this model of employment provides the necessary supports and supervisions for less experienced therapists to feel confident to practice in this area, although the numbers are too small to generalise.…”

“…In the USA, almost 30% of occupational therapists work in early intervention and schools [13], and schoolbased practice is a growing area of employment globally [1]. In Australia, the increasing demand for paediatric occupational therapists is likely a direct result of the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) [14]. This scheme, initially trialled in 2013 and subsequently rolled out nationally reaching full coverage in 2020, shifted the provision and funding of disability services from block funding of government and nongovernment services to individualised budgets, consumer choice, and fee for service models, increasing the demand for paediatric practitioners to support funded children [15].…”

A scoping review of mentorship in allied health: Attributes, programs and outcomes

“…Although the findings show that trustworthiness was valued equally to other attributes for successful mentoring, it can be argued that trust is a non‐negotiable for a successful mentoring relationship. Occupational therapy literature described how a trusting mentoring relationship assisted in improving competence and confidence (Jackson et al, 2022), and recent medicine literature also stressed the importance of trust (Odell et al, 2022). In our review, details were vague about the behaviours and personality traits that foster trust, but communication skills seemed important (Stephenson et al, 2022).…”

“…The prominence of skill and knowledge acquisition as an outcome of mentorship is not surprising, as this finding is also present in medicine and nursing literature (Kakyo et al, 2022; Odell et al, 2022). Recent occupational therapy literature also saw value in mentorship through the acquisition of skills and knowledge (Doyle et al, 2019; Jackson et al, 2022) because it supports the building of confidence to overcome feelings of “uncertainty and self‐doubt” (Moir et al, 2021, p. 209), while also providing “emotional support” (Jackson et al, 2022, p. 6). Building professional networks was an outcome of mentorship found in this review and in a recent occupational therapy scoping review (Doyle et al, 2019), but has not featured highly in other allied health reviews (Howlett et al, 2022; Stephenson et al, 2022).…”

“…Improved retention and job satisfaction were also noted (Zhang et al, 2016). The occupational therapy literature found that trust, safety and reassurance were important features (Doyle et al, 2019; Jackson et al, 2022). Strategies such as goal–setting or resource sharing were helpful, in addition to having a plan or structure (Doyle et al, 2019).…”