Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Type

Open Access Capstone

Degree Name

Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)

Department

Occupational Therapy

Abstract

Telehealth was not a typical practice in occupational therapy prior to the pandemic (Allen-McHugh & Schleg, 2022; Douglass et al., 2023; Wittmeier et al., 2022). Understanding OT clinician knowledge and confidence in the delivery mode has progressed as a result (Allen-McHugh & Schleg, 2022; Douglass et al., 2023; Soba et al., 2022; Wittmeier et al., 2022). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an asynchronous online training module in increasing self-reported knowledge and confidence in occupational therapy clinicians utilizing telehealth with the pediatric population. A pre-experimental pre-posttest quantitative design was used to measure therapist’s perceived knowledge and confidence as a result of participation in a telehealth training module. Pre and posttest data was examined to determine the impact the training module had on therapist’s self-reported knowledge and confidence. The mean for scores related to perceived knowledge on the pre and posttest survey increased by 9.4 and the mean for perceived confidence increased by 8.3 points. The paired T- test completed on the scores from the pre and posttest for perceived knowledge and confidence revealed a p value of <.001 indicating a statistically significant increase for both sets of data. Based on these findings, the online training module was found to be effective in increasing occupational therapy clinicians’ perceived knowledge and confidence when implementing telehealth with the pediatric population. This study has implications for the field of occupational therapy and provides evidence to support asynchronous online training modules for education and training of occupational therapy clinicians. The implications also support the need for employers to better prepare their clinicians to provide telehealth services through additional training.

Faculty Mentor

Susan Skees Hermes, OTD, BCP, BCTS

Department Affiliation

Occupational Therapy

Committee Member

Shirley O'Brien, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA

Department Affiliation

Occupational Therapy

Department Affiliation

Occupational Therapy

IRB Approval Number (if applicable)

5057

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