Reflective folios for dental hygiene students: what do they tell us about a residential aged care student placement experience?

Community-based education programmes provide students with an experiential learning opportunity in a real-life context. The purpose of this study was to examine reflective journals to identify students' experiences and perceived learning during a 12-week placement programme in residential aged care facilities (RACF) on the NSW Central Coast, Australia. All final year dental hygiene students from the University of Newcastle, Australia attended an aged care orientation workshop prior to commencing the RACF student placement programme. Throughout the placement, students were asked to record their educational experiences in reflective journals. Student reflections were based on the 'Gibbs Reflective Cycle', diarising experiences and feelings. Qualitative data was analysed using the constant comparative method and unitised to identify emergent themes. Sixty-seven students completed reflective journals during the placement programme; emergent themes indicated students felt ill-prepared for the placement programme despite attending the orientation workshop. They were apprehensive and nervous prior to commencement of the placement. The general consensus after week 6 was that the placement became a more positive experience where students began to feel comfortable in the RACF environment and residents, and staff started to respond more positively to their presence. Overall, they thought the placement was challenging and confronting, but had improved their skills and knowledge in care of older people and increased their confidence in working with other healthcare professionals. The reflective journals provided students with the opportunity to record and reflect on their experience and perceived learning during the placement programme. Student reflections identified negative experiences at the commencement of the placement, suggesting a need for additional orientation prior to the RACF programme.

Wallace JP ，Blinkhorn AS ，Blinkhorn FA 《-》

An assessment of the educational value of service-learning community placements in residential aged care facilities.

The aim of this study was to determine whether dental hygiene students attending residential aged care facilities (RACFs) during a placement programme gained any knowledge about the oral care of elderly patients and the RACF environment. Aged Care Facilities on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Final year dental hygiene students undertook a 12-week placement, one day per week, in one of 17 residential aged care facilities on the NSW Central Coast. They were asked to complete pre-placement and post-placement questionnaires, which recorded their knowledge of medical, dental and environmental issues related to older people. The placement questionnaires used five point Likert scales, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree, pre- and post-mean scores were produced for each question and P values calculated using a paired t-test. Thirty-three students attended the placement, 26 (79%) completed both the pre- and post-placement questionnaires. Post-placement mean scores as compared to pre-placement mean scores showed significant improvement in student knowledge of medical (P < 0.05) and dental (P < 0.05) conditions specific to the older person and improvement in knowledge (P < 0.05) about the residential aged care facility environment. The placement programme enhanced student knowledge across three subject categories; medical and dental conditions of the older person and the structure and services of the residential aged care environment.

Wallace JP ，Blinkhorn AS ，Blinkhorn FA 《-》

Dental hygiene students' views on a service-learning residential aged care placement program.

To record the views of final year dental hygiene students from the University of Newcastle, Australia about a placement in 17 residential aged care facilities, on the NSW Central Coast. Final year dental hygiene students undertook a 12 week placement, 1 day per week, in 1 of 17 residential aged care facilities. They were asked to participate in focus group discussions after the placement to determine their ability to transition from the classroom to the real-life experience of the residential aged care facility placement. Students felt ill-equipped for the aged care placement program even though they had attended a pre-placement orientation. Students expressed feelings of being overwhelmed by the residential aged care environment, particularly by the smells and unexpected sights of the aged, fragile and cognitively impaired residents, and the difficulties in providing them with oral hygiene care. To enable students to transition from the classroom to the aged care environment in a more effective manner, a more realistic pre-placement orientation program is necessary.

Wallace JP ，Blinkhorn FA ，Blinkhorn AS 《-》

A qualitative study examining the preparedness of dental hygiene students for a service-learning placement in residential aged care.

The aim of this qualitative study was to measure the effect of a specifically designed orientation re-enactment DVD used to facilitate dental hygiene students transition from the classroom to a Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF) service-learning placement with less personal anxiety and more confidence in their role during the placement. Final year students (n = 47) were randomly allocated to one of 17 RACFs on the NSW, Central Coast, Australia. All students were then randomly allocated to a two-group study with the active group assigned to view the DVD prior to their placement. Students who viewed the DVD were asked not to discuss the content with students who were assigned to the control group. Post-placement focus groups were organized, recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were collated, analysed and unitized into emergent themes. Representative quotes are presented in the results. The study was informed by 4 years of previous quantitative and qualitative process evaluation of the RACF programme. Focus group discussions identified that those students who had seen the DVD reported a shorter timeframe to successfully transition from the classroom to the RACF and stated that the DVD provided them with a realistic expectation of the RACF environment and their role in the placement experience. The orientation DVD reduced student anxiety and improved student confidence in their role during the placement by providing a realistic orientation of the RACF environment.

Wallace JP ，Blinkhorn AS ，Blinkhorn FA 《-》

Dental hygiene student experiences in external placements in Australia.

Taylor JA ，Hayes MJ ，Wallace L 《-》