Professional and Personal Physical Therapist Development through Service Learning in Collaboration with a Prisoner Reinsertion Program: A Qualitative Study

Training on Corrections and Health Within U.S. Academic Health Professions Education: A Scoping Review

Despite the scale, inequity, and consequences of mass incarceration, health care provider knowledge and awareness on correctional health remain limited. Understanding the educational experiences of health professions learners and the studies used to evaluate them can provide useful information about current gaps to guide future curricular improvement. To address this need, we conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed studies examining United States-based academic health professions educational programs on correctional health. Studies were coded based on study characteristics, learner outcomes, and degree to which they contained elements described in relevant position statements by two professional medical associations. Overall, 27 articles (1975-2021) were included. Learner outcomes were primarily documented at the "reactions" (93%) and "learning" (52%) levels of the Kirkpatrick model (1979), relative to "behaviors" (11%) and "long-term outcomes" (0%). Comparison of curricula to select position statements revealed multiple content gaps in the realms of prevalent conditions requiring expertise (e.g., violence and self-harm); ethical and medical-legal considerations (e.g., privatization of correctional health care); and correctional health care systems, structures, and administration. Taken together, findings highlight gaps in, and opportunities for, correctional health educational programs. Addressing health care workforce training needs is a necessary yet insufficient step to achieving health equity for populations affected by incarceration.

Integration of a service-learning component into a course on nursing care for children with developmental disorders: A mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND

Service-learning provides nursing students with hands-on experience in a real-world setting. Students learn how to care for others and manage their emotions.

AIM

This study examined the effectiveness of integrating service-learning into a nursing course on nursing care for children with developmental disorders.

DESIGN

This was a mixed-methods study with two pretest-posttest quantitative analyses and a qualitative component.

METHODS

Nursing students (N = 74) enrolled in a semester-long course in nursing care for children with developmental disorders participated in the study. Data were collected between February 2017 and June 2021. The service-learning part of the course assigned teams of two to three students to provide nursing care for a child (ages 5-19 years) diagnosed with a developmental disorder. At the conclusion of the course, students presented a short video with reflections of their experiences. Pretest versus post-test scores compared mid-term and final exam scores regarding knowledge of children with developmental disorders and scores on a 9-item self-report instrument on service-learning skills. Self-reflections from the video presentation provided qualitative data about the impact on students' awareness of the caregiving needs of children with developmental disorders.

RESULTS

The mean final exam scores were significantly higher compared with midterm scores (96.12, (SD = 4.63) vs 94.82 (SD = 12.08); F = 6.81, p < .001), indicating knowledge of developmental disabilities had increased. Pretest vs posttest scores for service-learning skills indicated confidence had significantly increased (p < .001). Students' video reports indicated sensitivity to the challenges and needs of these children had increased.

CONCLUSIONS

Service-learning exposed nursing students to the challenges and rewards of caring for children with developmental disorders. Knowledge, as well as confidence, increased. Nurse educators could easily integrate service-learning into courses required as part of the curriculum for pediatric nursing students.

Research on Service-Learning in Physical Activity and Sport: Where We Have Been, Where We Are, Where We Are Going

Higher education is under constant transformation through the use of new pedagogical models such as university service-learning (SL). Indeed, there has been an exponential uptake of university SL, among others, in the field of physical activity and sport (PAS) along with research examining these practices. However, these initiatives highlight the need to improve the quality of research in this field. This paper presents a systematic review focused on how research in this arena has been carried out, examining the following topics: paradigm, methods, instruments, discipline, limitations, and further research. A total of 45 articles met the inclusion criteria. The results show that qualitative and mixed methods have experienced an increasing progression. The most recurrent instruments have been questionnaires, reflective diaries, and interviews. According to the studies in the sample, the limitations point to research designs and some difficulties that underlie the pedagogical model itself. Finally, further research calls for longitudinal studies and to deepen the reflective process. This review identifies some weaknesses and strengths of research in university SL in PAS that aspire to inform and improve future investigations in this field.