International fieldwork placements in low-income countries: Exploring community perspectives.
BACKGROUND
There has been a significant increase in the number of occupational and physical therapy students going on international fieldwork placements in low-income countries. Yet, there has been a lack of research describing this experience from the agencies that host students. The research question was 'how do members of an agency within a low-income country perceive, interpret and give meaning to international fieldwork placements where students from a Canadian university provide occupational and physical therapy services?'


METHODS
Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants from five affiliated international fieldwork sites. Six semi-structured interviews exploring the perspectives of individuals from agency sites in low-income countries facilitated the data collection. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim for thematic analysis.


RESULTS
Four themes provided insight into the participants' experience of hosting student therapists. Participants emphasised: (i) there was a reciprocity of learning between agency members and students; (ii) they felt responsible for the health and safety of the students, as well as providing an enriching experience; (iii) participants questioned the preparation phase; and (iv) recommendations were made by participants to strengthen partnerships while contemplating sustainable practices.


CONCLUSIONS
This study highlighted that effective preparation, enhanced communication, reflection and reciprocity is necessary to achieve what hosting agencies view as sustainable international placements. These results provide a platform for stakeholders to question their current processes for fieldwork placement engagement and potential suggestions for improving current international fieldwork partnerships.
Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. megan.shields@vch.ca.
Megan
M
Shields
Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Jenny
J
Quilty
Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Shafik
S
Dharamsi
Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Donna
D
Drynan
D002170:Canada; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007393:International Educational Exchange; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education*; D014495:Universities / Q000458:organization & administration*
global health; international fieldwork; occupational therapy; physical therapy; qualitative research