Provisions, Experiential Opportunities And Perceived Value Of Undergraduate Physiotherapy Clinical Placements Within Care Home Settings

Cheng, K S; Booth, V; Cowley, A; Robinson, K; Logan, P A

Abstract

Introduction
There is a growing ageing population who will live longer, but with a greater burden of comorbidity requiring care home placement. Despite evidence indicating that rehabilitation in long term care improves function and quality of life, physiotherapy services within care homes are inconsistent. It is suggested that this population is often overlooked in the undergraduate physiotherapy curriculum which can lead to reduced insight in the future qualified workforce (1). This could lead to underdiagnosing and undertreating, perpetuating an oversimplistic view towards this patient group. This study aimed to investigate the amount and type of practical experience undergraduate physiotherapy students in the UK received and the perceptions of course providers towards the importance of care within the care home setting.
Method
Two cross-sectional online surveys were conducted: survey one with placement coordinators in higher education institutions (HEI) providing accredited pre-registration physiotherapy students education; survey two with final year undergraduate physiotherapy students. Purposive sampling was conducted for the first survey on all eligible HEIs. Participants from the first survey were asked to disseminate the second survey onto their students. Descriptive statistics analysed the closed text responses for both surveys. Open text responses were analysed using thematic analysis with case analysis.
Discussion
Completion was limited for both surveys (survey one: n=9, response rate=20%; survey two: n=7). Within survey two’s responses, none of the respondents had prior nor planned placements in care homes. Two respondents (28.6%) were aware of opportunities for a care home placement. Five respondents (71.4%) had secondary exposure to care homes, but none of the respondents were aware of any planned taught lectures relating to care homes. Barriers to providing experience within care homes were the poor availability of physiotherapists within this setting, the clinical case mix and logistical difficulties regarding formal supervision. Strategies were reportedly employed to aid these including fostering direct contact with care homes and using contemporary supervision models. Care home placements were valued mainly for benefits in two domains:1) the role and breadth of physiotherapy outside traditional settings, and 2) understanding discharge pathways and the appreciation of available social care services. Provision and experience of undergraduate physiotherapy students in care homes is low. Despite this, there is positive perception from both students and HEI’s towards gaining experience working with care home residents, indicating there is positive interest working in this area but limited opportunity.

Citation

Cheng, K. S., Booth, V., Cowley, A., Robinson, K., & Logan, P. A. Provisions, Experiential Opportunities And Perceived Value Of Undergraduate Physiotherapy Clinical Placements Within Care Home Settings

• Working Paper Type: Working Paper
• Deposit Date: Sep 19, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 9, 2024
• Series Title: East Midlands Research into Ageing Network (EMRAN) Discussion Paper Series
• Series Number: 52
• Series ISSN: 2059-3341
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.25878/z2bn-qh31
• Keywords: Care Home, Physiotherapy, Survey
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/39724362
• Related Public URLs: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/emran/
• Additional Information: EMRAN: Physiotherapy in care home study.; ; East Midlands Research into Ageing Network (EMRAN) is a research collaboration across the East Midlands to facilitate applied research into ageing and the care of older people. EMRAN was set up with support from National Institute of Health Research Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands (NIHR ARC-EM)