Do occupational therapists’ communication behaviours change with experience?

Abstract

Background: An increasing amount of literature has studied changes in communication skills in medical and nursing undergraduate students. Aim: To evaluate whether occupational therapists’ communication behaviours change with experience. Material and methods: A total of 45 participants (second-year OT students, final-year OT students, professional OTs) were enrolled and met three simulated clients. The role plays were video-recorded and analysed through OT-RIAS (Occupational Therapy-Roter Interaction Analysis System). Chi-square tests were used to analyse the statistical differences between groups for the OT-RIAS categories. Results: Process represented 30.74% of communication for second-year students, 33.69% for final year students, and 35.58% for professional OTs; Occupational therapy ranged from 30.41% in the second-year students to 32.54% in the undergraduates and 37.04% in the professional OTs; Medical increased from 18.66% to 34.33% of the final-year students and 47.01% of the professional therapists. Personal and Psychosocial slightly decreased through experience. Emotional decreased gradually: 39.8% in the second-year students, 29.54% in final-year students, and 30.66% in professional OTs. Conclusion: During training in occupational therapy the communication skills changed, assuming a more technical shape, increasing control and content-related OT communication. Nevertheless, the therapists’ communication behaviours showed the endurance of attention to the client’s point of view.

Key words:

• Communication
• occupational therapy
• OT-RIAS
• videotaped simulated visits

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Julie Cunningham for her help in language revision of the manuscript. The authors would also thank all the participants involved in the study.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.