4 minute read
Innovation in Clinical Education The Queensland Mental Health Occupational Therapy Clinical Education Knowledge Exchange
Sue Holley Clinical Education Leader (Mental Health), Occupational Therapy Clinical Education Program, Queensland Health Julie Hughes Lecturer in Occupational Therapy, Australian Catholic University (Brisbane)
Innovation in Clinical Education is a strong driving force in the Queensland Mental Health Occupational Therapy Clinical Education Knowledge Exchange.
Occupational therapy student placements in Queensland are possible through a long history of statewide collaborations between occupational therapists in clinical education and their partners at eight Queensland-based universities. Student experiences in mentalhealth settings are critical for the future occupational therapy workforce (Rodger et. al., 2009) but are impacted by issues related to recruitment and retention within the Australian mental-health workforce (Hayes et. al., 2008; Scanlan et. al., 2010), including limited awareness of the occupational therapy role in mental health (McKinstry, 2022) and services dominated by the casemanagement model (Griffin et. al., 2020).
Occupational therapists working in Queensland Health (QH) Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs (MHAOD) services say supporting students and occupational therapy-specific clinical education can be challenging due to demanding workloads, a geographically dispersed state and variations in university mental-health curriculums. Anecdotal feedback highlights that some students are reluctant to engage in mentalhealth placements. As innovative ways to enable clinical placements in mental health require collaboration between relevant stakeholders, the Queensland-based Mental Health Occupational Therapy Clinical Education Knowledge Exchange was born.
Informal feedback and online survey results were very positive… connecting and discussing quality curriculum and clinical education learning in mental health
Humble Beginnings
The concept emanated from an Australian Catholic University student honours project that aimed to explore ways to better facilitate knowledge exchange between occupational therapists at QH MHAOD and the universities providing occupational therapy education in Queensland. Knowledge exchange “encourages the sharing of ideas, data, experience and expertise which is mutually beneficial to all parties involved” (Solent University n.d.).
Development
The knowledge exchange is a partnership between the QH Occupational Therapy Clinical Education Program, the QH Mental Health Occupational Therapy Clinical Practice Collaborative and the university sector. Invitations to attend the exchange were intentionally broad and extended to mental-health content experts and clinical education staff across all Queenslandbased universities with an occupational therapy program, occupational therapy clinical education staff and occupational therapists working at QH MHAOD. Biannual forums were held online via Microsoft Teams© for attendees across the state.
Progress
Three knowledge exchange forums since April 2021 have focussed on the following themes:
• Innovations to support occupation in practice in mental-health settings in
Queensland Health: what does this mean for students and new graduates; • Supporting student preparedness and experiences during clinical placements in mental health; • Engaging the consumer and student voice in mental-health curriculum design and placement preparation.
perspectives, with presentations and discussions between students, clinical educators, early-career occupational therapists, occupational therapy leaders and university staff. Attendance exceeded initial expectations, with up to 32 online sites, some including several participants. Forum recordings are available.
Informal feedback and online survey results were very positive. Participants expressed value in connecting and discussing quality curriculum and clinical-education learning in mental health. Inclusion of student, clinical educator and new graduate perspectives within each forum was particularly valued, and participants communicated a commitment to future collaboration. One exciting outcome was the start of a Student Narratives video project in which students share their mental-health placement experiences, including their expectations and assumptions, placement rewards and challenges, powerful learning experiences and Top Tips. These videos will be shared with knowledge exchange members to support future students embarking on mental-health placement opportunities.
Future Plans
Themes for future sessions and ideas for potential collaborations including research opportunities are planned. Topics of interest include students’ health and wellbeing, student attitudes towards mental health across the curriculum, lived experience in the classroom, consumers’ experiences of contributing to student learning, and the use of simulation for mental-health curriculum and placement learning.
We are excited to see where this journey takes us.
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