Lessons learnt from facilitating care home placements for counselling and psychotherapy students during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Hubbard, Lydia; Kelly, Siobhan; Rose-Ford, H; Clark, Jodie; Stephens, Melanie

Abstract

Purpose
In 2021, an opportunity arose to place four counselling and psychotherapy (C&P) students in three care homes across Greater Manchester as part of a 6-week interprofessional education (IPE) care home scheme. Whilst, due to ethical concerns around confidentiality, the C&P students could not participate in interprofessional activities as intended, they still undertook their clinical placement in the home to provide accessible therapy support for care home staff. This paper aims at reporting on the varied factors that influenced the implementation of C&P student placements in care homes.

Methods
At the start and end of their placement, four C&P students were interviewed about their experiences. We draw on data from these eight interviews and two reflective vignettes: one from a C&P student and the other from the C&P programme coordinator (C&PPC).

Results
The data were thematically analysed, and two key themes and six subthemes were constructed. They broadly unpack the factors that facilitate and challenge the implementation of C&P student placements in care homes.

Conclusion
This paper highlights the value of utilising care homes as placement sites for C&P students. We propose four key recommendations for future practice: (1) it is important to establish clear lines of communication, support and collaboration; (2) a dual-space supervisory approach supports student learning in this “new” placement environment; (3) preplacement supportive frameworks are important to clarify initial role uncertainties within the care home; and (4) opportunities to provide therapy services should be well defined and referral processes put in place before the student arrives.

Citation

Hubbard, L., Kelly, S., Rose-Ford, H., Clark, J., & Stephens, M. (2023). Lessons learnt from facilitating care home placements for counselling and psychotherapy students during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 24(1), 209-218. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12631

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 10, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Mar 15, 2023
• Publication Date: Mar 15, 2023
• Deposit Date: Apr 5, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2023
• Journal: Counselling and Psychotherapy Research
• Print ISSN: 1473-3145
• Electronic ISSN: 1746-1405
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 209-218
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12631
• Keywords: Psychiatry and Mental health, Applied Psychology, Clinical Psychology
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12631
• Additional Information: Funders : Greater Manchester Project Management Office; Grant Number: 285151