Occupational Therapists’ Perceived Preparedness to Work With Youth Exposed to School Shootings

The United States is witnessing a phenomenon of a rise in school shootings, with an unprecedented 110 school shootings in 2018. Students exposed to school shootings often develop resulting mental illnesses including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety that negatively impact the students’ meaningful participation in their daily activities. Occupational therapists are skilled in assessing and treating mental health dysfunction, and they regularly work with the K-12 student population. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore the self-efficacy of occupational therapists who may treat students exposed to a school shooting and which perceived treatment strategies the practitioners may utilize which potentially affect the client’s mental health outcomes. Through a semi-structured interview, 11 occupational therapists who work with the K-12 population were virtually interviewed to discover emotions related to the uncertainty of working with a student exposed to a school shooting. The research questions explored: (a) what perceived factors impact occupational therapists’ self-efficacy when working with students exposed to school shootings, and (b) what perceived treatment strategies might occupational therapists employ to improve the mental health outcomes of clients exposed to school shootings? The results indicated that there are both positive and negative factors that impact the self-efficacy of working with a student exposed to a school shooting such as entry-level schooling, personal experiences, and personal motivation. The results also indicated that universally, the participants would implement client-centered care with their exposed students, and that the participants perceived implementing interprofessional care, providing a sense of safety and acknowledging the trauma with these clients. The results implicate that entry-level occupational therapy school should include pediatric trauma in their curriculum and that occupational therapists need to advocate for their role as mental health providers to help decrease the health disparities that develop when a student is exposed to a school shooting. Future study recommendations include increasing the sample size and diversity of the participants to encompass occupational therapy in general along with exploring years of experience and influences of self-efficacy on trauma-related care. Another future study recommendation is to survey occupational therapy educators regarding their comfort and curriculum surrounding trauma and pediatrics.

IMPACT STATEMENT: Many school systems were found to lack funding for mental health providers and the WFOT (2019) stated occupational therapists must be prepared to be the primary mental health provider due to situations such as lack of funding for school counselors. This research study begins to add to the limited body of knowledge within the mental health and trauma sector of occupational therapy.

References

Center for Homeland Defense and Security: Naval Postgraduate School. (2019). K-12 shooting database: Incidents by year. Retrieved October 17, 2019, from https://www.chds.us/ssdb/incidents-by-year/

Katsiyannis, A., Whitford, D. K., & Ennis, R. P. (2018). Historical examination of United States intentional mass school shootings in the 20th and 21st centuries: Implications for students, schools, and society. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(8), 2562-2573. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1096-2

Lowe, S. R., & Galea, S. (2017). The mental health consequences of mass shootings. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 18(1), 62-82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1524838015591572

World Federation of Occupational Therapists. (2019). Position statement: Occupational therapy and mental health. Retrieved from https://www.wfot.org/resources/occupational-therapy-and-mental-health