Rewards and challenges of enabling students to positively address social determinants of health

Occupational therapy has the capacity to make positive contributions to the social health of communities and it is beholden on educators to ensure that graduates can work across the spectrum of health care. Providing... [ view full abstract ]

Occupational therapy has the capacity to make positive contributions to the social health of communities and it is beholden on educators to ensure that graduates can work across the spectrum of health care. Providing opportunity for students to both learn about and action the requisite knowledge and skills is essential for the profession to have an active role in the future health of communities.
Principles of community development and primary health are juxtaposed with occupational therapy approaches to enable student to understand ways in which the profession can collaborate with communities to influence health.
Social constructivist pedagogy and transformational learning are used in a practice based environment. With tutor support students engage in an in-depth collaboration with an organisation/ community to explore and address an identified need or issue, requiring them to actively apply their emerging knowledge and skills.
Evaluation data collected from participating organisations, students and educators demonstrates that occupational therapy is well aligned with community development and primary health principles. The most significant challenge is enabling students and organisations to fully explore the need or issue prior to determining a potential solution. Helping students hold the space of ambiguity and uncertainty is challenging, however the reward is in witnessing a student’s transformation of understanding regarding the potential of occupation and their future profession.
A number of universities use similar frameworks with similar learning outcomes. Moreover, organisations develop a greater understanding of the contribution occupational therapy and this has resulted in the creation of new occupational therapy positions.