Stakeholder perspectives of a rural mental health work-integrated learning experience: A mixed methods study

Exposing undergraduate health students to rural mental health practice is important for their learning and future career aspirations. One mechanism to achieve these outcomes is through high-quality work-integrated learning experiences. Work-integrated learning allows health students to learn discipline and professional skills within complex social environments, while also being exposed to rural mental health as a future career option. The community mental health experience program is a rural, interprofessional, mental health program that places students from nursing, paramedicine, and social work in a community organisation for 2–16-week placement blocks. In addition to being exposed to the daily practice of the mental health team, a key component of the placement is the delivery of a student led program whereby consumers are provided with an opportunity to strengthen their digital health literacy skills.

This presentation describes the community mental health experience program and its operational design. The research undertaken to evaluate the program will also be discussed. The research employs a mixed methods approach, using data collected from students, consumers and the host organisation staff via surveys and interviews. The aims of the research are to explore the effect of the community mental health experience on students’ learning, intention to practice in mental health settings, effect on consumers’ health literacy skills, and impact of the placement on the host organisation. The preliminary results of the research demonstrate the outcomes of the placement for each of the three stakeholder groups and the mechanisms that have enabled these outcomes.