If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. Ingunn Myraunet is an Occupational Therapist, based at Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to describe an addition to the practice placement design for occupational therapy students in Oslo, and to report on the learning experiences related to this modified practice placement design among the participants. Design/methodology/approach -Occupational therapy students and practice educators were interviewed in focus groups after having participated in an exploration of the utility of the Assessment of Communication and Interaction Skills during mental health placement. Thematic analysis was applied to the data material.Findings -Four themes emerged relating to the students' learning experiences during practice placement. They were theory-practice integration; the role of supervision; self-awareness of communication; and socialization to the therapist role.Practical implications -The practice placement design addition presented in this paper was well received by students and practice educators. It contributed to students' focussed experience and to their active participation within a community of practice. The program appears to be one way of organizing placement with a potential for making a substantial contribution to occupational therapy students' learning.Originality/value -The study adds to the existing literature in providing an example of a successful addition to the practice placement design, and in the detailed account of the learning experiences among the participants.

Introduction: The notion of a gap between the academic and the practice segments of the occupational therapy profession is commonplace. The Scholarship of Practice is one of the collaboration models that have been introduced as possible means for bridging this gap, but so far, research based on this model has not extensively addressed the potential of students' clinical placement. Aim: With a view to possible remedies for the academic-practice gap, the purpose of this paper is to outline and discuss possible advantages from a collaborative project concerning the usefulness of the Assessment of Communication and Interaction Skills (ACIS) that was carried out between students, fieldwork educators, and university faculty. Outline of the project: Six occupational therapy students and their fieldwork educators collaborated in an exploration of the clinical usefulness of the ACIS during the students' second year mental health clinical placement. Experiences from the project were put into context with previous developments aimed at improving academic-practice partnerships. Discussion: The Scholarship of Practice model provides guidelines for reducing the research-practice gap in the occupational therapy profession. It is argued that the presented project adhered to the principles of practitioner-centredness and developing partnerships, whereas the creation of synergies was somewhat less realised. The organising of joint projects during practice placements, involving students, fieldwork educators, and university faculty, appears to be one method of increasing and improving relationships between the parties involved.

An important focus for occupational therapy in mental health practice is clients' communication and interaction skills. These skills are essential for establishing and maintaining positive relationships with others, an interpersonal aspect that permeates many daily occupations (Kielhofner 2008). As indicated by earlier studies, such skills are often impaired during severe mental illness (Ikebuchi 2007) and can raise doubts about clients' ability to care for themselves, as in cases where clients speak in a disorganised way or act aggressively towards other people. For clients with non-psychotic disorders, communication and interaction skills are less affected than for those clients with psychotic disorders (Forsyth et al 1999). However, communication and interaction skills are also important for non-psychotic clients' ability to cope with problems, which in turn may affect the course of illness or occupational participation. The Assessment of Communication and Interaction Skills (ACIS) The ACIS was developed within the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) framework (Kielhofner 2008), which conceptualises different types of skills as the building blocks of occupational performance. Occupational skills