Professional and Personal Physical Therapist Development through Service Learning in Collaboration with a Prisoner Reinsertion Program: A Qualitative Study

There is a great concern whether Physical Therapy students upon completion of their educational program are ready and equipped with the requisite skills to construct and implement a successful patient intervention with culturally diverse groups. The purpose of this study is to describe the professio...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Rodríguez Costa, Isabel, González Rivera, María Dolores, Ortega, Catherina, Llabrés Mateu, Joana Marina, Blanco Morales, María, Abuín Porras, Vanesa, Díaz Pulido, Belén
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad Europea (UEM)
Repositorio:ABACUS. Repositorio de Producción Científica
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:abacus.universidadeuropea.com:11268/11230
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11268/11230
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Fisioterapia
Personal paramédico
Salud
Aprendizaje
Descripción
Sumario:There is a great concern whether Physical Therapy students upon completion of their educational program are ready and equipped with the requisite skills to construct and implement a successful patient intervention with culturally diverse groups. The purpose of this study is to describe the professional and personal physical therapist development of Physical Therapy students after participating in Solidarity Activities in Collaboration with a Prisoner reinsertion program as a service-learning course. A qualitative approach was used. A convenience sample of twenty physical therapy students doing service learning and one teaching professor were included. Student diaries were analyzed. Semi-structured interviews were done to explore five students' and the professor's judgements. Internal and external observations and filling out structure field-notes were also used as data triangulation in order to build the conceptual model. The main findings include that the application of knowledge and practice of skills in different environments are the most important skills attained with this service learning. Five key themes emerged from the data analysis, namely: application of knowledge, adaptation to different environments, improving communication with patients, assisting people and providing treatment with self-confidence. A recommendation is that Physical Therapy programs include workplace practice in different environments to enhance the development of professionalism among students.