Promoting wellbeing in physiotherapy students on placement: The Placement Wellbeing Project. A pilot study.

Abstract

Background The current healthcare workforce crisis in the United Kingdom has highlighted the need to equip graduates with the skills to maintain their personal wellbeing whilst working in increasingly pressurised environments. The Placement Wellbeing Project is an intervention designed to support the wellbeing of physiotherapy students during their studies, while on placement and as they enter the workforce. Methods This project used a single group, repeated measures design. A convenience sample of 14 participants were recruited and provided with the Placement Wellbeing Toolkit (PWT) and took part in pre-placement facilitated group discussions and a post-placement de-briefing session. Outcomes measured were perceived coping abilities and self-efficacy, using the Placement Coping Scale (PCS) and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE). The PCS was measured on recruitment, before and after placement and the GSE on recruitment and after placement. Results Significant improvements were observed in the total PCS score (Friedman's test χ2(2) = 19.75, p<0.001) and all individual items of the PCS from baseline to post-placement. Post hoc analysis detected significant improvements between baseline and pre-placement total PCS scores (p = 0.005). Total GSE scores improved significantly from baseline to final measure (Wilcoxon sum-rank test Z = 2.105, p =0.035). Conclusion To develop a resilient future workforce, students should be supported to prepare for a variety of placement challenges and supported to maintain their wellbeing on placement. The results of this study indicate that physiotherapy students may benefit from interventions to develop positive coping strategies for placement.