Occupational Therapy Student Comfort Scale
Rae Aaronson, Emily Heerema, Jess Kline, Danielle Lance, Keith Silfan; Master of Science in Occupational Therapy Program
Faculty Advisor: Victoria Schindler PhD, OTR, BCMH, FAOTA
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
STUDENT COMFORT SCALE
The Student Comfort Scale measures the comfort level of
graduate level occupational therapy students pre and post
exposure to and intervention with adults with a psychiatric
disability including learning disabilities, mental illness,
and/or autism spectrum disorders. Prior to this, no such
scale existed. This scale was developed from a literature
review that discussed the factors that influenced
occupational therapy students’ attitudes regarding
individuals with psychiatric disabilities. It was designed
specifically for use with the Bridge Program to determine
the change in level of comfort of MSOT students after
working with the mental health population (Gutman et al.,
2007). Test-retest reliability was determined through the use
of the Spearman’s rho correlation. Cronbach’s alpha was
used to determine internal consistency of this measure
(Schindler, 2011).
PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST METHOD
•10 question, 5- point Likert scale with three
open ended questions. The possible
responses were: (1) Strongly agree, (2) Tend
to agree, (3) Neither agree or disagree, (4)
Tend to disagree, (5) Strongly disagree.
• The pre-test was given at the start of the first
year of the MSOT program, Fall 2011.
•The post-test was given at the end of the
second year of the MSOT program, Spring
2013.
QUALITATIVE RESULTS
Overall Themes:
1.MSOT students’ general impressions of people with
psychiatric disabilities
•
Pre-Test: The majority of MSOT students indicated
that this population was unpredictable, but could
live normal lives.
•
Post- Test: The majority of MSOT students
indicated that this population is often
misunderstood, but with proper support and
treatment individuals can be successful members of
society.
2.MSOT students’ biggest concerns about working with
people with psychiatric disabilities
•
Pre-Test: The majority of MSOT students had a fear
of the unknown in terms of how this population
would act and behave in various situations.
•
Post- Test: The majority of MSOT students
indicated that they began to understand the actions
and behaviors of this population after working oneon-one with individuals in the Bridge Program.
3.Influences of previous experiences on MSOT students’
feelings of working with people with psychiatric
disabilities
•
Pre-Test: The majority of MSOT students had a fear
of incompetence due to little experience and
stereotypes with this population.
•
Post- Test: The majority of MSOT students
indicated an increased level of confidence and
competence level with this population.
QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
•Data analysis was conducted on 20 MSOT students
using related-samples Wilcoxon signed rank test.
LIMITATIONS
•
•
•N = 20; 5 Males and 15 Females, age 22-38
•Pre-Test Mean= 35.85
•Post-Test Mean= 41.95
•Difference Pre-Test to Post-Test = 6.10
•P value = 0.000
Total average post-test scores were higher than total
average pre-test scores.
•Statistical Significance Achieved
DISCUSSION
The results show that MSOT students who worked with
individuals with a psychiatric disability reported an increased
level of comfort in working with this population. This is
evidenced by the statistically significant difference in
quantitative post-test mean scores compared to pre-test
mean scores. The qualitative results support the quantitative
results. Themes in the qualitative results indicate that MSOT
students had more confidence after working with this
population and had a more positive outlook on this
population’s ability to function successfully in society with
proper support. This study adds to the body of knowledge in
this area by reporting quantitative and qualitative results that
indicate that students have a higher level of comfort in
working with people with mental health diagnoses after
exposure to an intervention with this population.
•
•
•
Sample selection bias: sample was not
randomized and no control group
Detection bias: lack of independent evaluation,
memory bias
Co-intervention bias
Generalizability
Subject ability
CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of this study was to report the comfort
level of MSOT students before and after working with
individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Quantitative
and qualitative results demonstrate that through
working with this population overall impressions
became more positive, fears diminished, and comfort
level increased. Implications from this study indicate
that programs that expose students to working
therapeutically with the mental health population will
allow students to have a more positive impression of
this community and will be more confident and
comfortable in working with these individuals.
REFERENCES
Gutman, S. A., Schindler, V. P., Furphy, K. A., Klein, K., Lisak, J. M., & Durham, D. P.
(2007). The effectiveness of a supported education program for adults with
psychiatric disabilities: The bridge program. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health,
23(1), 21-38.
Schindler, V. P. (2011). Using service-learning to teach mental health and research skills.
Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 25(1), 54-64.