Student placements in mental health settings

"Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes ...their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community". (World Health Organisation, 2018)

Each year, one in five Australians are diagnosed with a mental illness that affects their mental health and wellbeing.  The terms mental illness or mental health condition cover a spectrum of disorders that can vary in severity and duration and have a relationship to an individual’s physical wellbeing. As a result, mental health care settings and treatments vary.

Students may work with a person who has been diagnosed with a mental health condition:

• Directly, in a specific mental health practice setting:
  • Public and private mental health hospitals
  • Mental health wards within general hospitals
  • Mental health residential care facilities
  • Mental health rehabilitation facilities
  • Community mental health care services (which can include outpatient services, crisis or mobile assessment and treatment units, day programs and outreach services)
• Indirectly, in any health care setting, where the client may present for treatment for a coexisting health condition (for example, diabetes).

Depending on the setting, students may have opportunity to gain experience working with a diverse group of people:

• Children and youth
• Mothers and children
• Single parent families
• People with a lived experience of substance misuse or addiction
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
• People who are culturally and linguistically diverse
• Carers and families
• Older persons
• People with chronic disease, injury and/or trauma.

Given that mental health conditions do not discriminate and affects a broad spectrum of Australians at any given time, supervisors and students should also consider the likelihood that they will be working alongside a person with a mental health condition as part of their multidisciplinary team.

Benefits of student clinical placements - for the consumer

"Consumers are people who identify as having a living or lived experience of mental illness, irrespective of whether they have a formal diagnosis, have accessed services and/or received treatment. This includes people who describe themselves as a ‘peer’, ‘survivor’ and ‘expert’ by experience" (National Mental Health Commission, nd, Australian Government).

• Consumers, families and carers may use their lived experience to inform student perceptions and assist to shape the future mental health workforce.
• Students may bring a fresh perspective to the consumers or allow opportunity for more intensive interventions.
• Students bring a greater diversity of perspectives to the treating team.

Benefits of student clinical placements - for the student

• Promotes understanding of holistic practice and the importance of valuing lived experience.
• Challenges perceptions and may reduce the stigma and assumptions about mental health conditions and recovery processes
• Increases understanding of their own mental health and wellbeing.
• Increases understanding of mental health interventions and treatment planning
• Increases understanding of ‘designing for diversity’ in mental health to ensure that vulnerable or diverse populations (for example: all cultural and linguistic groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, refugees and asylum seekers, women and gender-diverse people) have the same level of access to the same services.
• Enables students to understand the relationship between physical and mental health and the interface with health care services.
• Enables development of transferable skills for all areas of clinical practice, including communication and development of therapeutic relationships, and counselling micro-skills.

In this video, Jamie Williams describes her experience of participating in a Mental Health student placement.  Then, listen to Wendy Szatkowski discussing the opportunities that can be gained by participating in a mental health student placement in the second video.

References:

Please Note: References remain valid until superseded by later research. The resources referenced here are regularly reviewed and are considered current and relevant to the topics presented.              

World Health Organisation (2018) Mental Health:  Strengthening our response. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response

National Mental Health Commission (nd) Consumer and carer engagement: a practical guide.  Australian Government.  Accessed March 2021 from:  https://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov.au/getmedia/afef7eba-866f-4775-a386-57645bfb3453/NMHC-Consumer-and-Carer-engagement-a-practical-guide

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018) Mental Health.  https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/mental-health/latest-release

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2017. Mental health services—in brief 2017. Cat. no. HSE 192. Canberra: AIHW

Australian Government (2021) Mental Health Services In Australia – Australian Instititute of Health and Welfare. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/health-welfare-services/mental-health-services/overview

Productivity Commission 2020, Mental Health, Report no. 95, Canberra

Foster, K., Withers, E. Blanco, T., Lupson, C., Steele, M., Giandinoto, J. A. & Furness, T. (2019) Undergraduate nursing students' stigma and recovery attitudes during mental health clinical placement: A pre/post-test survey study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing. 28(5):1065-1077. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12634.Epub 2019 Jul 23. PMID: 31338978.

Happell, B., Gaskin, C. J., Byrne, L., Welch, A., & Gellion, S. (2015) Clinical placements in mental health: a literature review. Issues Mental Health Nursing. 36(1):44-51. doi: 10.3109/01612840.2014.915899. Epub 2014 Nov 14. PMID: 25397660.

Mental Health Coordinating Council (2013). Scoping Report: Mental Health Workforce Professional Entry Practice Placements in the NSW Community Managed Mental Health Sector – a NSW Pilot Study. MHCC, Sydney.

Pepin, G., (2013). Working in Mental Health. In Stagnitti, K., Schoo, A., & Welch, D. (Eds). Clinical and Fieldwork Placement in the Health Professions (2nd ed.)(pp.95-127). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Bagatell, N., Lawrence, J., Schwartz, M., & Vuernick, W. (2013) Occupational Therapy Student Experiences and Transformations During Fieldwork in Mental Health Settings, Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 29(2), 181-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/0164212X.2013.789292

Occupational Therapy Practice Education Collaborative-Queensland (2017) 'Why supervise a student'. https://otpecq.group.uq.edu.au/education-placements/why-supervise-student.

Victoria Health (2021) Diversity. https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/mental-health/rights-and-advocacy/diversity