Date Presented 03/27/20
ICAPs have been shown to increase quality of life for persons with aphasia. Twenty-two OT students have co-led a six-week ICAP alongside communication science and disorders students at a graduate school. Qualitative data from student reflections show that OT students appraise ICAP participation as highly beneficial to prepare for clinical practice. Data highlight a desire for formal interdisciplinary collaboration within the ICAP.
Primary Author and Speaker: Felice Mendez
Additional Authors and Speakers: Mary Hildebrand
PURPOSE: Nearly 800,000 individuals in the U.S. experience a stroke each year, with at least 15% acquiring subsequent aphasia (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 2019; Hilari, 2011 as cited in Escher, Amlani, Viani & Berger, 2018). One therapeutic approach that has been found to improve participation and quality of life for persons with aphasia (PWA) is that of an intensive comprehensive aphasia program (ICAP) (Escher et al., 2018; Hoover, Waters, Caplan, & Carney, 2013). Escher and colleagues (2018) describe an ICAP as interdisciplinary in nature, incorporating speech and occupational therapists in a community-based, group therapy setting to target participation and communication across many areas of occupation. One such program is executed at a graduate school for health professions and involves students from the occupational therapy (OT) and communication sciences and disorders (CSD) departments in leading group therapy for PWA over a six-week duration. The creators of this program have well established means to assess participation for PWA across both disciplines, but experiences of the student clinicians have not yet been explored (Nicholas, Connor, & Jennelle, 2013). This study seeks to explain students’ experiences in the ICAP as they relate to promoting interdisciplinary foundations for entry-level clinical practice. The findings will inform clinical educators about how to promote interprofessional practice within an ICAP.
DESIGN: A phenomenological, qualitative research design was utilized to describe OT students’ experiences in an ICAP.
METHOD: Qualitative data was collected via online discussion boards from OT students who participated in three instances of a six-week long ICAP at a graduate school for health professions. Data was collected as part of a reflection assignment for a three-credit academic elective centered around leading group therapy within the ICAP. Discussion board prompts asked students their reactions to and appraisal of interprofessional collaboration with CSD students as part of the program. They were also asked about their overall opinions related to the program and how it has prepared them for their careers.
RESULTS: The discussion board responses over the course of the three ICAPs revealed overarching experiences about OT students’ participation in the program. The two main themes identified are as follows: (1) desire for more consistent and formal interaction with CSD students throughout program duration, (2) appreciation of hands-on experience that prepared students for practice with PWA and beyond. While additions were made to the program over the years to facilitate further interprofessional collaboration, such as an online discussion board for communicating weekly plans, students continued to identify a need for in-person interactions on a weekly basis. OT and CSD students work together to perform an interprofessional evaluation and can assist in one another’s group therapy sessions. However, OT students expressed a desire to observe individualized speech therapy sessions. They also suggested a comprehensive introduction of each disciplines’ areas of expertise at the program’s start. Many sentiments expressed by students in the first ICAP continued to emerge in following years.
CONCLUSION: OT students involved in this six-week ICAP greatly appreciated the hands-on learning experiences that it provided. They expressed an increased ability and confidence in working with PWA, as well as in clinical documentation and treatment planning overall. Student reflections suggest that future ICAPs may benefit from the inclusion of weekly interdisciplinary meetings surrounding planning and client progress as well as conversations that facilitate a deeper understanding of disciplines’ unique roles.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Stroke. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/
Escher, A. A., Amlani, A. M., Viani, A. M., & Berger, S. (2018). Occupational therapy in an intensive comprehensive aphasia program: Performance and satisfaction outcomes. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72, 7203205110. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.026187
Hoover, E.L., Waters, G., Caplan, D., & Carney, A. (2013). An intensive, interdisciplinary treatment program for persons with aphasia. [Clinical Aphasiology Paper].
Nicholas, M., Connor, L., & Jennelle, L. (2013). Assessing life participation goals for people with aphasia from an inter-disciplinary perspective (SLP and OT). Presented at the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) annual convention, Chicago, IL.
