Preparedness of the University of KwaZulu-Natal Occupational Therapy Students and Novice Occupational Therapists for Acute Mental Health Practice: A Qualitative Exploration of Lived Experiences.
Phakeme Z Mkhize, December M Mpanza, Deshini Naidoo
PMID 42394148WHAT IT FOUND
South African OT graduates said their training left them short for acute mental health work: too little acute placement time, no DBT or crisis skills, nothing on patients whose families explain illness through ancestors or bewitchment, and no preparation for the emotional load.
Key findings
01Participants described a solid theoretical grounding that did not carry over into confident action on an acute ward, with curriculum time weighted towards physical and paediatric practice rather than mental health.
02Participants said they were never taught how to handle a patient who had just been through something traumatic or who reported being suicidal, and that DBT, de-escalation and crisis management were covered vaguely or not at all.
03Participants said they had no teaching on working with patients and families whose explanation of mental illness was spiritual or ancestral, and that they struggled to translate biomedical concepts into isiZulu.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
One university, 15 people, chosen purposively. The authors say this means the findings describe UKZN graduates and may not hold for graduates of other programmes or other provinces. The interviewer had taught or supervised some of the students. Safeguards were put in place, but the authors say the shared professional identity may have left some assumptions unexamined during interviews. No member checking: the findings were not taken back to participants to confirm, though student accounts and novice therapist accounts were compared against each other. Volunteers only. Of 15 eligible students, 10 agreed, three declined for time and two did not reply; of eight novice therapists contacted, five agreed and three did not reply. Everything reported is what people said about their preparation. Nobody measured how graduates actually performed, and no training change was tested.
Declared interests
Funded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa through its Black Academics Advancement Programme. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the recommendations in this paper as tested fixes. Earlier placements, standardised supervision and cultural competence modules are the authors' suggestions for what might help, and the study tested none of them. The accounts come from 15 people at a single university in one province, so they may not describe graduates training or working anywhere else.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →