Education Burnout and Engagement in Occupational Therapy Undergraduate Students and Its Associated Factors

Introduction

Burnout syndrome has been characterized as a process of chronic responses to occupational stress in certain employee groups. However, this phenomenon has also been reported in other participant groups including university students. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS), composed of the Exhaustion, Cynicism and Efficacy subscales, was used to evaluate burnout in this sample group while the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) was used to gather data related to engagement, a positive psychology construct composed of the three factors, namely vigor, dedication, and absorption. To date, no studies considered these factors in relation to occupational therapy students. This begs the question, is there a relationship between occupational therapy students' self-reported levels of burnout and engagement?

Objectives

The study objectives are to (1) ascertain the self-reported levels of burnout and engagement in a sample of Australian Occupational undergraduate therapy students, and (2) analyze the sociodemographic, occupational and academic characteristic associated with these levels.

Methods

Participants were 225 Australian undergraduate occupational therapy students from Monash University completed the MBI-SS and the UWES for students. Descriptive, bivariate and multiple linear regression analyses were performed.

Results

Regarding MBI-SS burnout dimensions, exhaustion was associated with age, year level of enrolment and hours of direct time spent working on occupational therapy studies, explaining 15% of its variance. Cynicism and efficacy were associated with age, year level of enrolment and hours of indirect time, accounting for 16% of its variance. For the UWES engagement dimensions, year level of enrolment and hours of indirect time spent working on occupational therapy studies were significant predictors of vigor, explaining 27% its variance while while age, gender, year level of enrolment, hours of indirect time spent working on occupational therapy studies, and hours spend per week engaged in self-care activities accounted for 23% of the variance of dedication. Finally, age, year level of enrolment, and hours of indirect time spent working on occupational therapy studies explained 27% of the variance of absorption.

Conclusion

The results indicate that a number of demographic and academic study variables are significantly associated with burnout syndrome and education engagement reported by undergraduate occupational therapy students.

Mental Health and Student Health Professionals: A Literature Review

This article discusses the mental health problems of students, based on a review of previous research studies. Although a university education is regarded as a privilege, studying for a degree can be a demanding and stressful experience. Many students experience episodes of psychological distress during their college years. Professional degree programmes (such as occupational therapy or medicine) are particularly stressful relative to some other courses, because students face both academic and clinical demands.

The prevalence and causes of psychological distress among trainee health professionals are reviewed. Both institutional and individual factors affecting mental health are explored and some issues about student selection are discussed. The final section suggests how the institution and academic staff can address the issue of student mental health in a proactive and constructive manner. There are over 3000 occupational therapy students in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the topic of student mental health should be of interest to academic staff and clinical supervisors.

Preparing Occupational Therapy Students for Practice Placements: Initial Evidence

Practice placements are a crucial part of occupational therapy education, yet they can be a stressful experience for students, practice placement educators and the university. This may contribute to a shortage of placements. The effectiveness of a 4-week preparation, with second-level full-time students at Brunel University, prior to a practice placement was evaluated by a two-part analysis. First, the students' perspective on the effectiveness of the preparation is presented. This is followed by a comparison of placement grades between the current cohort of students (academic year 2006–2007), who attended the preparation, and the previous cohort of students (academic year 2005–2006), who did not have this opportunity.

Transcultural Occupational Therapy in the United Kingdom: Concepts and Research

The United Kingdom (UK) today is an ethnically diverse society. Legislation and the profession's own code of conduct highlight the need for occupational therapists to engage in culturally sensitive practice. This article comprises a contextual analysis of transcultural occupational therapy in the UK based upon a review of the research published in the British Journal of Occupational Therapy during 1990–1997.

The article focuses initially on terminology to allow a clearer understanding of the issues surrounding transcultural service provision, and the dominant models currently used to conceptualise and implement transcultural practice in health care are also outlined. Discussion of both provides the contextual basis for an analysis of the research. From the material examined, it appears that cultural sensitivity needs to be developed at all levels before occupational therapists can be said to be providing an equitable service to the ethnically diverse communities of the UK.

Replacing stressful challenges with positive coping strategies: a resilience program for clinical placement learning

Clinical education is foundational to health professional training. However, it is also a time of increased stress for students. A student's perception of stressors and their capacity to effectively manage them is a legitimate concern for educators, because anxiety and decreased coping strategies can interfere with effective learning, clinical performance and capacity to care for patients. Resilience is emerging as a valuable construct to underpin positive coping strategies for learning and professional practice. We report the development and evaluation of a psycho-education resilience program designed to build practical skills-based resilience capacities in health science (physiotherapy) students. Six final year undergraduate physiotherapy students attended four action research sessions led by a clinical health psychologist. Resilience strategies drawn from cognitive behavioural therapy, and positive and performance psychology were introduced. Students identified personal learning stressors and their beliefs and responses. They chose specific resilience-based strategies to address them, and then reported their impact on learning performance and experiences. Thematic analysis of the audio-recorded and transcribed action research sessions, and students' de identified notes was conducted. Students' initial descriptions of stressors as 'problems' outside their control resulting in poor thinking and communication, low confidence and frustration, changed to a focus on how they managed and recognized learning challenges as normal or at least expected elements of the clinical learning environment. The research suggests that replacing stressful challenges with positive coping strategies offers a potentially powerful tool to build self-efficacy and cognitive control as well as greater self-awareness as a learner and future health practitioner.

An Exploratory Study of Web-Based Supports for Occupational Therapy Students During Level II Fieldwork

SUMMARY Occupational therapy students often experience high levels of anxiety about transitioning from the academic student role to the fieldwork student role. The separation from their classmates and the geographical relocation may isolate some students. Additionally, the quality and quantity of on-site supports available to individual students vary with each placement. A web-based resource was designed to assist occupational therapy students from the University of South Alabama with the transition from student role in an academic environment to level II fieldwork in off-campus work environments. Participation was voluntary and no grades were assigned. Students were invited to participate as needed with their classmates for support and information sharing. Resources were provided asynchronously so students could access them whenever and wherever they could gain access to the Internet. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data was conducted. Data analysis included frequency of web-based communication, analysis of emerging themes based on the communication, outcome of student fieldwork performance, and students' perceptions based on their participation. The information gained during this exploratory study could be useful to other faculty in developing similar web-based resources to promote student success. Additionally, the technology skills gained by the students are hoped to improve their confidence to participate in web-based professional list serves and distance education opportunities in the future.