Occupational Therapy News OTnews January 2019 | Page 22

FEATURE STUDENT EDUCATION we had so many volunteers that a selection process was introduced and managed by Kate Stancombe from UWE. The two successful students, Adam Davis and Harry Ford, were then invited to take part in the pre-placement planning. We made sure that there was opportunity for pre- placement communication. The two selected care homes – Osbourne Court and The Meadows (both under Windmill Care) – partnered with the team well in advance of the start date and students were invited to meet managers and explore settings. As with any placement, we also created a pre- placement reading file for those students who were not familiar with dementia, care homes or their evidence base. Outcomes The role emerging placement students received weekly meetings and/or observations from their long-arm supervisor Kate Stancombe and the specialist physiotherapist working alongside CHL, Nansi Felton. They also had organisational support from the CHL support worker, Annette Selleck. With this reduced amount of supervision compared with a traditional placement, the students’ organisational and communication skills were challenged and developed, although it was felt that this was at the expense of practical skills. Harry comments: ‘We found the placement has been a positive experience, providing both a high level of job satisfaction, as well as promoting the development of skills, which are difficult to obtain on a traditional placement. ‘We found that, unlike other placements, the focus is on planning and organisational behaviour, as opposed to promoting practical skill development.’ It was also recognised that the nature of role emerging placements allowed for the development of core transferable skills, including self-directed learning, autonomous working and developing a professional identity. In addition, it allowed the unlocking of the learning potential in a new setting, together with a ‘deeper’ learning through interpretation of experience and construction of knowledge (Fieldhouse and Fedden 2009). The longer-term benefits of this were recognised by the students, who commented that ‘this placement allowed us to think outside the box and has greatly improved our confidence in a work based environment, as this is the most similar experience to a real-life 22 OTnews January 2019 work experience that we will be able to obtain from a placement’. The students’ co-learning skills and peer support also appeared invaluable to their development and learning experience, although at times, the strength of this duality made it more challenging to distinguish each individual’s skills and contributions in terms of marking learning outcomes. This difficulty could be addressed in future role emerging placements, such as separation of caseloads. The students were well accepted in the care homes and were able to establish themselves with effective conveying of information about the role of physiotherapy to staff, residents, and families. Some of the valuable ideas and activities they were able to put in place during the five weeks included introducing a swimming group and a gardening group, which, Adam explains, ‘we found residents were keen to engage in, and also promote physical activity in a very functional and enjoyable way’. He goes on to say that staff at the care homes have been ‘very receptive to what we have introduced and are happy to engage with our physiotherapy-led teaching sessions, which were specific to the care home environment’. The pilot role emerging placement in physiotherapy, hosted by UWE and AWP, was therefore successful and the plan is to continue this as a part of the undergraduate physiotherapy training programme. It is not suitable for all students or all learning outcomes, but with a selection process and careful preparation, together with a flexible approach, this model could help to support the expanding role of therapies in an ever-changing and evolving work environment. References CSP and Dementia Action Alliance (2011) Physiotherapy works: Dementia care. Available online at: www.csp.org.uk/ system/files/csp_physioworks_2011_dementia_0.pdf [accessed 2 January 2011) Fieldhouse J and Fedden T (2009) Exploring the learning process on a role-emerging practice placement: a qualitative study, British Journal of Occupational Therapy 72(7): 302-307 Lam F, Huang M, Liao L, Chung R, Kwok T, Pang M (2018) Physical exercise improves strength, balance, mobility and endurance in people with cognitive impairment and dementia: a systematic review, Journal of Physiotherapy 64(1): 4-15 Dawn Corse, occupational therapist, and Nansi Felton, physiotherapist, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Email: [email protected]