Sylliaas H1, Langaas A1, Larsson BW2, Kjerulf N2
1Oslo Metropolitan University, Faculty of Health, Oslo, Norway, 2University College Copenhagen, Faculty of Health, Copenhagen, Denmark
Background: Physiotherapy should be a service available to all members of a democratic society. Marginalized people often avoid health services due to mutual distrust and disrespect. It seems imperative that health workers refute a judgmental attitude towards marginalization, and thus, work with developing an understanding of these groups' needs and aspirations. This paper retrieve data from an Erasmus+ project “Relevance in Practice Placements - Inclusion of Marginalized People”, where three Scandinavian universities, from Denmark, Sweden and Norway, developed new practice placement models for physiotherapy students in their work with marginalized people.
Purpose: The paper explores how physiotherapy students experience working with people on the fringe of society. Meeting people of imprisonment, drug addiction, refugees, mental health issues, and homelessness, may enable students to understand marginalization in order to facilitate interaction between health services and people of marginalization. Physiotherapy has not traditionally addressed marginalized groups, neither in education nor in clinical practices, in Scandinavia. Thus, there is a need for curriculum changes, as there are educational policy guidelines, which requires professional knowledge on vulnerable groups, also for physiotherapists. The European Platform against Poverty emphasizes that people experiencing poverty and social exclusion are given the opportunity to live in dignity and actively participate in society.
Methods: Specific novel practice placements related to health inequalities were established and students completed practice placements working with marginalized people at homeless street football organizations, at a street hospital for drug addicted, at a community bathhouse, at a prison, in the comminity with refugees, at arrangement together with organizations working with mental health, and during Homeless World Cup (HWC). The students' experiences and learning outcomes were documented using focus group interviews, and analyzed using thematic text analysis. In total, 28 students were interviewed, individual and in groups. All students were in their third year of the bachelor degree. The resechers are also the teachers in this project. During the practice periods and during the HWC, reseachers have also participated as participant observers.
Results: Building relations with marginalized people was the key to increased understanding in the project. Related to educational content; students revealed the lack of focus on social inequalities in health, as well as project management skills, which is imperative to improve students' skills working with marginalized people. Furthermore, students emphasized the importance of establishing and practicing trust in these relationships which also time comsuming endevour.
Conclusion(s): The students expressed that the congruence of the pedagogical and the learning context as a process-oriented and inductive learning environment based on mutually trusting relationships between students and teachers, greatly supported learning and acquisitions of skills.
Implications: Students´ interaction with marginalized people in practice placements setting outside the established health services, increased their knowledge about society, and established trusting relationships with marginalized people. This is considered a prerequisite for offering health services of high quality. In this process, students and teachers continuously produced new knowledge through critical exploration. In physiotherapy training programs, health inequality practice placements is relevant as part of curriculum.
Keywords: Marginalized groups, Building relations, Curriculum changes
Funding acknowledgements: Thanks to the Erasmus + programme for funding the project.
Purpose: The paper explores how physiotherapy students experience working with people on the fringe of society. Meeting people of imprisonment, drug addiction, refugees, mental health issues, and homelessness, may enable students to understand marginalization in order to facilitate interaction between health services and people of marginalization. Physiotherapy has not traditionally addressed marginalized groups, neither in education nor in clinical practices, in Scandinavia. Thus, there is a need for curriculum changes, as there are educational policy guidelines, which requires professional knowledge on vulnerable groups, also for physiotherapists. The European Platform against Poverty emphasizes that people experiencing poverty and social exclusion are given the opportunity to live in dignity and actively participate in society.
Methods: Specific novel practice placements related to health inequalities were established and students completed practice placements working with marginalized people at homeless street football organizations, at a street hospital for drug addicted, at a community bathhouse, at a prison, in the comminity with refugees, at arrangement together with organizations working with mental health, and during Homeless World Cup (HWC). The students' experiences and learning outcomes were documented using focus group interviews, and analyzed using thematic text analysis. In total, 28 students were interviewed, individual and in groups. All students were in their third year of the bachelor degree. The resechers are also the teachers in this project. During the practice periods and during the HWC, reseachers have also participated as participant observers.
Results: Building relations with marginalized people was the key to increased understanding in the project. Related to educational content; students revealed the lack of focus on social inequalities in health, as well as project management skills, which is imperative to improve students' skills working with marginalized people. Furthermore, students emphasized the importance of establishing and practicing trust in these relationships which also time comsuming endevour.
Conclusion(s): The students expressed that the congruence of the pedagogical and the learning context as a process-oriented and inductive learning environment based on mutually trusting relationships between students and teachers, greatly supported learning and acquisitions of skills.
Implications: Students´ interaction with marginalized people in practice placements setting outside the established health services, increased their knowledge about society, and established trusting relationships with marginalized people. This is considered a prerequisite for offering health services of high quality. In this process, students and teachers continuously produced new knowledge through critical exploration. In physiotherapy training programs, health inequality practice placements is relevant as part of curriculum.
Keywords: Marginalized groups, Building relations, Curriculum changes
Funding acknowledgements: Thanks to the Erasmus + programme for funding the project.
Topic: Professional practice: other; Education: clinical; Globalisation: health systems, policies & strategies
Ethics approval required: No
Institution: Norwegian centre for research data (NSD)
Ethics committee: not relevant
Reason not required: The project includes no sensitive personal data
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
