Engaging psychology students in clinical placements in dementia care

In the coming decades, as the population ages, meeting the needs of people with dementia will present considerable challenges to the health and social sector in Australia. Currently, health workforce shortages, preferences to work with other patient populations, and limited attractive career pathways have resulted in problems with the quality of care for people with dementia, which will only worsen unless health professionals can be engaged to work in the sector. Initial attempts by an education provider to create clinical placement opportunities for psychology students had generated little interest with students. In an attempt to understand barriers to participation and improve student engagement, we undertook formative research utilising a social marketing approach to develop an understanding of how participation of students in an aged and dementia care placement could be improved.