Date Presented 3/31/2017
A single educational experience with select community-based complementary health and integrative health (CHAIH) providers positively affected occupational therapy students’ attitudes toward and confidence in discussing CHAIH, but not likelihood of collaborating with or referring to CHAIH providers.
Primary Author and Speaker: Michelle Bradshaw
Additional Authors and Speakers: Vito Boffoli, Franscesca Cotrupe, Jasmine Delsie, Alyssa Olivieri, Marc Recio, Jordan Sigg, Kara Walsh, Anna Waverczak
Contributing Authors: Katie Parini, Felipe Vasquez
PURPOSE: Health care continues to evolve to be more inclusive of complementary health approaches and integrative health (CHAIH), which has been incorporated into many professional health care educational programs. How CHAIH is being incorporated into occupational therapy education and how occupational therapy students respond to educational opportunities related to CHAIH are unclear given the paucity of evidence on this topic. This study examined the effects of a single educational experience with select CHAIH providers on occupational therapy students’ attitudes about CHAIH.
DESIGN: A pretest–posttest randomized controlled trial design was used to compare scores before and after a single educational experience with select community-based CHAIH providers. All students age 18 yr or older who were enrolled in the Ithaca College occupational therapy program were invited via email to participate. Participants self-selected an opaque envelope, randomly dividing them into control and intervention groups. The intervention consisted of a panel discussion with select community-based CHAIH providers sharing information about their respective professions and a follow-up question-and-answer period.
METHOD: Scores on the Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Attitude Questionnaire, a valid and reliable instrument that uses a Likert scale for measuring participant attitudes toward various complementary, alterative, and integrative health concepts, were compared before and after the single educational experience (Abbott et al., 2011). Four additional occupational therapy items focused on confidence in discussing CHAIH with peers, faculty, and future clients and the likelihood of referring to and collaborating with CHAIH providers. Data were analyzed using Pearson chi-square, analysis of variance, and Mann–Whitney U test.
RESULTS: Statistically significant results indicated that the intervention had the greatest effect on the participants’ confidence in discussing CHAIH topics with peers, educators, and future clients. There was a shift toward more positive attitudes toward services that are similar to occupational therapy, such as chiropractic and massage therapy. The single educational experience did not affect the students’ likelihood of referring to or collaborating with CHAIH providers.
CONCLUSION: A single educational experience proved to have a positive effect on general attitudes toward integrative concepts and confidence in discussing CHAIH, thus opening the door for future discussion with peers, educators, and future clients. The intervention, however, did not impact the likelihood of referring to or collaborating with CHAIH providers, highlighting a need for more information before deciding how CHAIH could be useful for occupational therapy clients. More research is needed to explore the effects of including CHAIH in occupational therapy education.
IMPACT STATEMENT: Implications for occupational therapy practitioners’ preparedness to enter an evolving health care environment include the potential impact on occupational therapy practitioners’ therapeutic relationship with their clients, their role on interdisciplinary teams, and the profession’s role in health care as new policies emerge. Occupational therapy practitioners have a professional obligation to be current on evolving health care trends, which may include working with CHAIH providers, in order to promote safe and effective delivery of care.
References
Abbott, R. B., Hui, K., Hays, R. D., Mandel, J., Goldstein, M., Winegarden, B., . . . Brunton, L. (2011). Medical student attitudes toward complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 11, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/nep195
Gray, J. M., Coker-Bolt, P., Gupta, J., Hissong, A. N., Hartmann, K., & Kern, S. B. (2015). The importance of interprofessional education in occupational therapy curricula. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69, 6913410020. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2015.696s02
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (2016). Complementary, alternative, or integrative health: What’s in a name? Retrieved from https://nccih.nih.gov/health/integrative-health
