Significant socio-emotional learning and improvement of empathy in physiotherapy students through service learning methodology: a mixed methods research

Abstract

Background: research into service learning (SL) in education has increased since the 1990s. In higher education physiotherapy programmes, this technique is used to achieve real practical learning and to grasp how to recognize and manage emotions, to be concerned for others and to take decisions in clinical contexts. Objectives: to create a community experience through SL methodology for physiotherapy university students and to analyse their perceptions of the learning experience and changes in empathy. Design: a mixed research method, a quasi-experimental quantitative approach with pre- and post-measurements of a single group and a qualitative approach through reflective diaries subjected to a contents analysis. Participants: 29 students of the Faculty of Health Sciences (Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy) designed and put into practice a workshop for promoting physical activity in 277 children from the first and the sixth year of compulsory primary education. Methods: the project was divided into three phases: planning, performing and reflecting on the service. At the start, participants completed a questionnaire to determine their scale of empathy on the Interpersonal Reactive Index (IRI). One week after performing the service they handed over reflective diaries and completed a second IRI scale survey. An analysis was carried out of the contents of the reflective diaries. Results: twenty-nine students agreed to participate. These learners consolidated their skills in the subject, indicating their satisfaction with the significant learning they achieved. The IRI scale showed a significant improvement in the Personal Distress dimension (p = 0.002). Conclusions: active learning in the context of processes of a participatory and reflective type implies greater understanding of the phenomenon studied. It allows an enhance awareness of the importance of inclusivity and involvement of users in the context of clinical practice. It also provides socio-emotional learning, improving interpersonal abilities and the capacity to face up to stressful situations.