Abstract:

Introduction:
According to the 4th Framework of Occupational Therapy, health management appears as a new occupation, offering an opportunity to deepen and train students in the concept of Occupational Prescription for occupational-based health promotion. Moreover, not all students can live the experience of doing an exchange experience. Therefore, we arranged a home-based virtual program for student exchange with universities in Spain, Argentina, and Colombia, including Miguel Hernández University, Quilmes University, Argentine Catholic University, and Mariana University.

Program:
The project was developed between the months of September 2022 and June 2023. The virtual exchange program at home was created by a team of 28 teachers hailing from universities in Spain, Argentina, and Colombia. The program comprised six sessions, two of which were synchronous, and four were asynchronous. The sessions were scheduled between February and June 2023. Four groups were formed in the program, with two students and a professor from each university. The Google Classroom platform was utilised for communication with the students and sharing the program's training materials. Google Meet served as the platform for conducting synchronous sessions. The first session involved interactive activities where members of each group met. In the following session, the student community utilised the photovoice method to pinpoint one specific occupational risk (occupational imbalance, alienation, or deprivation occupational) as a factor that is affecting their student life. The third session involved the student community conducting an asset mapping exercise to locate resources available within their universities. During the fourth session, the community suggested a list of actions to address identified needs utilising available resources. Afterward, they were required selecting five actions and creating a video presentation of them. To prioritise the actions, the students had to complete a questionnaire to vote all the proposals using specific criteria like equity, feasibility, integrity, benefit, and severity. During the fifth session, the students were expected to take on the role of an occupational therapist. Each group was required to produce an occupational prescription through a video, centred around the action that received the highest number of votes during the prioritisation process. During the last session, a synchronous event was held where every student group gave a public presentation of their occupational prescription video to the entire university community.

Results:
This virtual exchange program was participated by 28 teachers and 31 occupational therapy degree students from universities in Spain, Argentina, and Colombia, specifically from Miguel Hernández University, Quilmes University, Pontifical University of Argentina, and Mariana University. The program received positive feedback from the students, who reported being very satisfied. Based on their highly positive experience with the virtual exchange at home program, every student and teacher involved expressed a willingness to participate in similar initiatives and recommend it to others.

Conclusions:
Both the educators and students expressed high levels of satisfaction with the program, emphasising their enthusiasm to recommend participation in this activity to other students.

Funding:
Miguel Hernández University grant (PRODIC 2022) and Argentine Catholic University grant (PROAPI).

Keywords:

Virtual exchange at home, occupational prescription, occupational risk, occupational therapy.