Student-led occupational performance coaching in a university setting.
Mary Yvonne Egan, Darene Toal-Sullivan, Dorothy Kessler and 2 others
PMID 40337087WHAT IT FOUND
Client-rated goals improved, but mental health results were mixed.
Depression and anxiety improved, while stress change was uncertain.
Key findings
01Clients' self-rated performance and satisfaction improved by mean changes of 3.03 and 3.52, and the paper calls these changes clinically significant.
02Among 18 students who completed the mental health measure, depression scores fell from 18.22 to 12.78 and anxiety scores from 10.78 to 7.44, while stress fell from 18.44 to 13.44 but did not quite reach significance.
03Client interviews described learning to break goals into manageable tasks and adjust strategies, but some found the shift to client-led goal setting disconcerting at first.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used a pre-post service evaluation, not a randomised controlled trial, so it does not compare OPC with usual treatment. 35 student clients enrolled, but only 18 completed the mental health measure before and after. Qualitative interviews were planned with eight student clients, but only four responded, so the client experience is based on a very small group. The OPC service includes emotional support, client-centered goal setting, guided strategy development, and individualized education, so the study cannot show which component mattered. The service was delivered during a fixed fieldwork placement, which made it difficult to start and end the service within the placement period. The supervisor had to supervise six students and was stretched thin, and students asked for more supervision during virtual OPC sessions. Stress symptoms did not reach significance, while depression and anxiety improvements came from the 18 students who completed the measure. The study did not undergo ethics review because the university said it was not required.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest and no financial support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that student-led OPC treats depression, anxiety, or stress in university students. This was a small pre-post pilot with no comparison group, only 18 students completed the mental health measure, and the stress change did not reach significance. The OPC service also includes several components, so the study cannot show which part mattered.