Pre-Admission Factors Influencing Practice Area Preference in Occupational Therapy

ABSTRACT

The percentage of graduates choosing to practice in mental health has declined in recent years. This study examined pre-admission practice area preference of 219 applicants to an undergraduate occupational therapy program. Results indicated that applicants were most influenced by prior experience: 99.6% were exposed to physical disabilities occupational therapy and 82.5% were exposed to mental illness practice area. Forty-eight percent, however, expressed a preference for physical disabilities while only 11 % preferred to work in the field of mental health. University recruiters may need to actively seek out students with a strong preference for mental health. Longitudinal studies to track factors affecting change of practice area preference throughout the educational process are also necessary.     

Occupational Therapy Shared Decision Making in Adolescent Mental Health

Shared decision making (SDM) shares values of client-centered practice; however, a few studies exist that explore experiences of occupational therapists (OTs) working in adolescent mental health. This study aims to better understand SDM in adolescent mental health using the Canadian Model of Client-Centered Enablement. A qualitative study included interviews (n = 6) and analysis using an inductive approach. The role of the OT, client factors, therapeutic relationship, and nature of the decision were identified as influencing the process and outcome of SDM. The study helps better understand SDM in practice, the need for specialized education for OTs and has identified future research areas.     

Expanding Perspectives: Systemic Approaches to College Students Experiencing Depression

Family and peer systems significantly influence college students' mental health. Nevertheless, many clinicians use treatment models that fail to consider multiple factors from different systems of individuals' lives. The authors discuss research highlighting the influence of students' systems on their mental health, specifically depression. Next, they provide a brief introduction to systems theory and approaches and use 2 case illustrations to present systemic approaches for treating students with depression. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Factors Associated with Therapeutic Approaches Among Norwegian Occupational Therapists: An Exploratory Study

According to the Intentional Relationship Model, the use of therapeutic approaches tailored to individual clients’ needs is essential for building therapeutic relationships. This study investigated factors associated with occupational therapists’ preferred therapeutic approaches. One hundred eight occupational therapists were recruited as a convenience sample, and the data were analyzed with linear regressions. Mental health as the field of practice was associated with a stronger preference for use of empathy. More job satisfaction was associated with stronger preference for the instructing mode. Empathy appears to be more commonly used in mental health practice, whereas instructing may be linked with job satisfaction.     

Integrating scientist and practitioner training in counseling psychology: Practicum is the Key

Recently, revitalized interest has been shown in the scientist-practitioner approach to training counseling and other applied psychologists. The counseling practicum is proposed as potentially the most influential and effective forum in which students can learn to integrate science and practice within the counseling psychology training sequence. A series of recommendations are presented for the more effective integratin of training in science and practice through students' clinical preparation experiences in general and the counseling practicum in particular.     

Occupational Therapy Student Experiences and Transformations During Fieldwork in Mental Health Settings

The purpose of this study is to better understand the transformative experiences of occupational therapy students during fieldwork. In occupational therapy education, fieldwork provides students with an in-depth experience in the field. Thirty-one students submitted narratives following completion of Level II fieldwork in a mental health setting. Concepts from transformative learning theory guided the analysis. The themes that emerged were: (1) understanding clients with mental illness; (2) understanding occupation and occupational therapy; (3) feeling like a professional; and (4) changing as a person. The results highlight the importance of understanding the transformative process and fieldwork in mental health settings.     

Current and Future Education and Practice

SUMMARY

This article describes a national study conducted by the American Occupational Therapy Association Mental Health Special Interest Section to assess the adequacy of mental health content and fieldwork experiences in occupational therapy educational programs preparing graduates for current and future mental health practice. The results of the study indicate that occupational therapists, especially those who practice in mental health settings, must become more “business-oriented.” This orientation includes educating occupational therapy students about reimbursement issues, legal and political systems, marketing strategies, and advocacy roles. Other recommendations are discussed as possible ways to prepare future practitioners more effectively for roles in community-based settings.     

Enhancing the Behavioral and Mental Health Services Within School-Based Contexts

ABSTRACT

Recent health care reform provides many new opportunities to expand mental health and behavioral support to students in schools and school–community partnerships. Through newly available funding sources, as well as expanded legislative initiatives, school psychologists can advocate for and become leaders in delivering universal programming, tiered mental health supports, and formalized collaborative efforts with community agencies. The authors highlight the application of tiered levels of services, with current practice samples, designed to address students' mental and behavioral health. Implications for practice are discussed.     

An exploratory study of the relations between women miners' gender‐based workplace issues and their mental health and job satisfaction

The current study investigated the extent to which gender‐based workplace issues were associated with women miners' mental health and job satisfaction. Participants were 263 women miners from Australian and other international mines sites owned by an Australian‐based mining company. They completed an online survey that contained measures of gender‐based workplace issues, mental health, and job satisfaction. An exploratory factor analysis identified three higher‐order factors: organizational sexism, interpersonal sexism, and sense of belonging. Both organizational and interpersonal sexism were positive independent predictors of mental health and job satisfaction. In addition, sense of belonging mediated the associations between organizational sexism and (a) mental health and (b) job satisfaction. Potential strategies for reducing organizational and interpersonal sexism and increasing women's sense of belonging are considered.     

The Impact of Professional Unethical Beliefs on Cheating Intention

The phenomenon of academic dishonesty among college students is prevalent, but its damage cannot be underestimated because the students' decisions to cheat were related to decisions to engage in similar unethical behavior in the workplace after graduation. To examine the influential factors of the cheating intention among part-time students with several years of work experience, we included an additional variable—unethical beliefs related to the workplace (professional unethical beliefs) into the theory of planned behavior. First-year business students on the job were investigated from a university in northern Taiwan, resulting in a valid sample of 215 students. Our findings indicate that perceived behavioral control toward cheating and professional unethical beliefs have a greater impact on the intention to cheat. In addition, the subjective norm and attitudes also affect the students' cheating intention. Implications for managers and researchers are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.     

Health Consequences and Buffers of Job Burnout among Indian Software Developers

This study examines the conceptualization, health-related consequences, and buffers of job burnout. Analyzing the responses of 372 Indian software developers to questionnaire survey, findings suggest that on burnout dimensions, increased exhaustion and cynicism have increased professional efficacy of software developers. Experiencing more burnout, software developers have reported adverse physical, mental, and behavioral health. Subjective well-being, social support, and practising yoga and meditation have partially arrested the adverse effects of job burnout on health-related outcomes. Job burnout has the biggest adverse impact on mental health and social support is the most influential intervening construct to counter the adverse consequences of job burnout.     

Critical Incidents in Student Counselor Development

Students in a master's degree program in counseling were asked to report critical incidents that had influenced their development as counselors. Participants most frequently cited courses based on experiential learning and field experiences as being influential in their development. Events external to the graduate program also were frequently reported as influencing their professional development.     

Person-environment fit,job satisfaction and mental health

This study was concerned with the consequences of person-environment (P-E) congruence at work in terms of Holland's model of vocational preference. Whereas there has been some work on P-E fit and job satisfaction, and P-E fit and stress, few studies have looked at the relationship between P-E fit, job satisfaction and mental health. It was predicted that those people with a poor P-E fit would have higher levels of mental distress and lower levels of job satisfaction than those who experienced a good P-E fit. The results substantiated the major hypotheses of this study and are discussed in terms of the measurement and causes of job satisfaction. Criticisms and limitations of this type of approach are also considered.     

Examining college students' food security coping strategies and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

College students' food situations may have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have affected their health and well-being. However, little is known about how the pandemic impacted students' food experiences and how students coped with food-related disruptions, particularly from the student's own perspective. This study reviews data from 571 undergraduates who attended public colleges during Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 and wrote a narrative about the pandemic's impact on their food experiences. Most students indicated they experienced a wide range of food difficulties and adapted new food practices. Despite these challenges, students emphasized proactive coping strategies and positive pandemic outcomes rather than difficulties and negative outcomes. These findings have implications for students' long-term health and well-being.     

The Effects of Stress on the Lives of Emerging Adult College Students: An Exploratory Analysis

This study systematically analyzed the personal reports of 20 emerging adult college students with regard to how stress affects their lives. Qualitative analyses revealed that stress influenced students' lives in both positive and negative ways. Implications of these findings for physical and mental health are discussed. Recommendations for counseling practice are provided.     

工作特征对工作者的影响——要求-控制模型与工作要求-资源模型的比较

工作特征是指与工作相关的因素或属性, 它对工作者的身心健康有重要影响。通过对比研究发现, 虽然要求-控制模型(Demand-Control Model, 简称DC模型)将工作特征分为相对具体的工作要求、工作控制和社会支持, 工作要求-资源模型(Job Demands-Resources Model, 简称JD-R模型)则将工作特征划分为更为概括的工作要求和工作资源两个维度, 但是它们关注的结果变量都包含个体身心健康和组织工作绩效, 都强调了工作特征对工作者的影响。在今后的研究中, 应深入探讨不同职业中起关键作用的工作特征和不同资源与要求组合的作用, 进一步研究工作特征模型对不同特点个体和我国民众群体的适用性, 并尝试将研究成果应用于工作再设计的实践, 以促进工作者的职业健康。     

Teacher-student relationships and mental health help seeking behaviors among elementary and secondary students in Ontario Canada

This study examined associations between teacher-student relationship quality at school and teachers' responsiveness to students' emotional concerns in a classroom and (a) students' intention to seek help at school for mental health concerns and (b) mental health-related service use. Data for analyses came from the School Mental Health Survey, a cross-sectional survey of 31,120 grade 6–12 students, in 1968 classrooms, attending 248 schools in Ontario, Canada. Three-level (student, classroom, school) binary logistic regression was used to address the study objectives. Student ratings of the quality of teacher-student relationships and teachers' responsiveness were included as predictors, both at the individual student level and aggregated to represent a contextual level characteristic at the school and classroom level, respectively. At the student level, both teacher-student relationship quality and teacher responsiveness were positively associated with intentions to seek help at school among both elementary and secondary students (ORs ranged from 1.14–1.19 for relationships and 1.06–1.08 for responsiveness). Aggregated to the school level, teacher-student relationship quality was positively associated with mental health service use for secondary students (OR = 1.36, 95% CI [1.10, 1.69]). Positive and responsive teacher-student relationships were associated with help-seeking behaviors among students. Longitudinal studies are warranted to disentangle the temporality of these associations.     

Mental health and religion from an attachment viewpoint: overview with implications for future research

I argue in this article that attachment theoretical considerations provide insights into why certain moderators underlie the links observed between religion and mental health. Three sets of moderators are discussed. First, contextual factors associated with heightened attachment activation (e.g., stress, unavailability of one's secular attachment figures, low social welfare) increase the strength of the links observed between religion and mental health. Second, aspects of mental health that are most notably affected by having a safe haven to turn to and a secure base to depart from are particularly reliably linked to religion. Other attachment-related aspects of mental health that religion may promote concerns attenuation of grief and reparation of internal working models following loss of and/or experiences of having been insensitively cared for by other attachment figures. Finally, aspects of religion that are most consistently linked to mental health are partially those that express attachment-components, including belief in a personal, loving God with whom one experiences a close and secure relationship.     

The Association Between Implicit Racial Bias and Mindfulness in Mental Health Practitioners

The mental health research literature on implicit bias is limited (Boysen, 2009), and little is known about how factors that are associated with self‐perceived multicultural counseling awareness, such as mindfulness, relate to implicit racial bias in practicing mental health professionals. Using a correlational research design, we examined the association between mental health practitioners' implicit bias, self‐perceived multicultural counseling competence, facets of dispositional mindfulness, and mindfulness practices. A total of 137 mental health professionals completed an online questionnaire. Results revealed a negative relationship between the observing component of dispositional mindfulness and the implicit racial preference associating White and “good” words. In addition, results indicated that the frequency of engaging in mindfulness practices negatively predicted implicit racial preference associating White and good. Implications for counselor training, practice, and future research are discussed.