Contact with Young Adults with Disability Led to a Positive Change in Attitudes toward Disability among Physiotherapy Students

Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether contact over 8 weeks with a person with disability benefits physiotherapy students' attitudes toward disability and their development of professional behaviours and skills. Methods: Sixteen adults with Down syndrome were matched with 16 physiotherapy students (13 women, 3 men; mean age 22.5 [SD 3.0] years) and randomized to either an 8-week, twice-weekly walking programme or an 8-week, once-weekly social activities programme. Students completed the Interaction with Disabled Persons scale, the Community Living Attitudes scale, and the Barriers to Exercise scale and rated their competency in professional behaviours and skills. Results: There were no differences between the groups for any outcome. Across both groups, students showed positive changes in attitudes toward disability, self-ratings of professional behaviours, and confidence in working with people with disability. Conclusions: After an 8-week programme, physiotherapy students reported being more comfortable with and having more confidence in working with people with disability. These data support the idea that contact with people with disability in community settings has positive benefits for physiotherapy students, regardless of the content of the experience.Key Words: attitude; intellectual disability; experiential learning; students. RÉ SUMÉObjectif : Dé terminer si le contact avec une personne handicapé e pendant huit semaines est bé né fique pour les attitudes des é tudiants en physiothé rapie face à l'incapacité et pour l'acquisition de comportements professionnels et de connaissances spé cialisé es. Mé thodes : On a jumelé 16 adultes atteints du syndrome de Down à 16 é tudiants en physiothé rapie (13 femmes, 3 hommes; â ge moyen de 22,5 (ET 3,0) ans) et on les affecté s par randomisation à un programme de marche deux fois par semaine pendant 8 semaines ou à un programme d'activité s sociales une fois par semaine pendant 8 semaines. Les é tudiants ont rempli le questionnaire sur l'interaction avec les personnes handicapé es, le questionnaire sur les attitudes face à la vie communautaire et le questionnaire sur les obstacles à l'exercice et é valué leur compé tence aux niveaux des comportements professionnels et des connaissances spé cialisé es. Ré sultats : Il n'y avait pas de diffé rences entre les groupes pour aucun des ré sultats. Dans les deux groupes, les attitudes des é tudiants face à l'incapacité , leur autoé valuation de leurs comportements professionnels et leur confiance en eux lorsqu'il s'agit de travailler avec des personnes handicapé es ont changé positivement. Conclusions : Aprè s un programme de 8 semaines, les é tudiants en physiothé rapie ont dé claré se sentir plus à l'aise avec les personnes handicapé es et avoir davantage confiance en eux lorsqu'il s'agit de travailler avec celles-ci. Ces donné es appuient le concept selon lequel le contact avec des personnes handicapé es en contexte communautaire a des effets positifs sur les é tudiants en physiothé rapie, sans é gard au contenu de l'expé ...

The feasibility of a physical activity program for young adults with Down syndrome: A phase II randomised controlled trial

“…A member of the research team contacted each mentor every 2 weeks to ensure that the program was consistent and the 90 minutes of support walking were proceeding as planned (intervention fidelity check), and to help address any issues that had arisen. The outcomes for the student mentors of participating in the program have been reported elsewhere (Shields & Taylor, 2014).…”

Attitude towards, contact with people with disabilities and knowledge of disability among health science undergraduates in a Nigerian university

“…This could have resulted in the low contact rate shown by the students. Consistent exposure of individuals within the society to PWDs has been avowed to result in full respect and inclusion consistent with disability rights principles [31][32][33][34][35]. However, when contact is nonexistent or insignificant, it may results in negative stereotypes of PWDs.…”

FitSkills: protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of a community-based exercise programme to increase participation among young people with disability

“…[30][31][32] Benefits also extend to mentors who develop an understanding and more positive attitudes towards disability in addition to professional skills. [33][34][35] Based on this, in 2014 we established FitSkills, a small fee-for-service university-run programme in Melbourne, Australia, for approximately 25 participants per annum. We evaluated FitSkills through a prospective feasibility study of 19 young people (nine female; mean age 18.4±4.5 years) with disability.…”