Enhancing Health Professions Students' Attitudes and Self-Efficacy to Care for Unhoused Populations

Health professions students, including occupational therapy students, often have limited exposure to unhoused populations, which may alter their attitudes and self-efficacy to participate in their care. In turn, this could reduce access and quality of care for these marginalized groups. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a phased multimodal learning approach on interprofessional health sciences students' attitudes and self-efficacy in providing care to unhoused individuals. A pre-posttest single group design was used to evaluate a didactic presentation, poverty simulation, and street-based experiential learning experience. Findings revealed significant differences in students' (N=257) attitudes and self-efficacy in providing care, and many students reported this as an "eye-opening experience." This learning approach evoked a strong emotional response, improved attitudes and self-efficacy, and has implications for future advocacy efforts related to caring for unhoused populations.