Improving the quality of allied health placements: student, educator and organisational preparedness

Figures & data

Table 1. Details of stakeholders involved in the study.

Stakeholder	Description
Students	Allied health students undertaking work-based placements
Placement educators	Allied health professionals who work at a placement organisation (e.g. hospitals, schools, residential aged care facilities, private practice), and who are responsible for supervising, mentoring and assessing students on placement
Academic staff	University staff involved in preparing students for placement, supporting students during placements, making academic decisions, and liaising with placement educators and sites
Professional staff	University staff involved in sourcing and allocating placements, ensuring students’ verification, and triaging student queries

Table 2. Overview of participants.

Characteristic	University WIL staff		Placement educator	Student
	Academic	Professional
Age
Range	31–61	40–56	26–54	21–48
Mean	46	48	40	34.5
Gender
Female	12	5	11	17
Male	0	0	4	2
Discipline
Diagnostic radiography	3	0	0	3
Exercise sports science & exercise physiology	1	0	2	0
Occupational Therapy	1	0	5	3
Physiotherapy	3	0	4	0
Rehabilitation Counselling	0	0	1	0
Speech pathology	2	1	3	13
Cross disciplinary	2	4	0	0
First language
English	11	5	14	12
Non-English	1	0	1	7
Domestic student				14
International student				5
Totals (n = 51)	12	5	15	19

Table 3. Summary of themes and sub-themes.

Domains	Themes
University preparedness	Placement shortages Staff time Simulated placements Student learning plans
Placement site preparedness	Structured organisational processes and roles Placement educator workloads Availability of physical space Intercultural capability
Placement educator preparedness	Attitudes, motivation and competence Efforts to integrate students into the team Constructive feedback Professional learning
Student preparedness	Professional attitude and commitment Intercultural capability Communication skills Feedback literacy Mental health

Table 4. Summary of similarities and differences between stakeholder group narratives.

Themes	Key similarities and differences between stakeholder groups
University preparedness
Placement shortages	Academic and professional staff concerned
Staff time	Academic, professional staff and students concerned
Simulated placements	All agreed beneficial, students had some concerns
Student learning plans	Students and placement educators agreed these are useful
Placement site preparedness
Structured organisational processes and roles	Students and placement educators agreed these have a big impact on quality
Placement educator workloads	Students and placement educators expressed concerns and ways to mitigate
Availability of physical space	Students and placement educators discussed importance
Intercultural capability	Students and academics concerned about lack of site intercultural capability
Placement educator preparedness
Attitudes, motivation and competence	All groups discussed impact of positive and negative placement educator attitudes
Efforts to integrate students into the team	All groups discussed the importance of integrating students into the team
Constructive feedback	Students, placement educators and academics discussed the importance of constructive feedback. Students said that they value confidential, clear, respectful feedback and expressed concerns when this did not occur
Professional learning	Students, academics and placement educators discussed the importance of placement educator professional learning, with most agreeing that placement education is a learned skill
Student preparedness
Professional attitude and commitment	Placement educators and academics agreed that students’ positive professional attitudes were associated with positive placement experiences (and conversely for negative)
Intercultural capability	Some placement educators and academics linked students’ professionalism issues with their cultural backgrounds, whereas students called for dialogue to increase intercultural understanding
Communication skills	All groups agreed that communication skills are fundamental, with some placement educators and academics linking students’ cultural backgrounds to lack of confidence in communication
Feedback literacy	Placement educators and academics were concerned about lack of student feedback literacy
Mental health	All groups agreed that student mental health is of increasing concern, with students narrating stressful experiences and avenues for support