Title: ACHIEVING INTERPROFESSIONAL CONSENSUS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY CONTENT IN PHYSICAL THERAPIST EDUCATION
Name: Elizabeth Mielke
Primary Presenters: Elizabeth Mielke
College of Health Sciences
Research Doctorate (PhD)
Faculty Sponsor(s): Victoria Moerchen (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee; Milwaukee, WI)
Background: Successful implementation of Assistive Technology (AT) for individuals with disability requires an in-depth understanding of AT. A survey of best practice for AT curricular instruction within DPT education completed in 2007 identified that increased AT content in entry-level curricula was needed. However, the validity of study findings were limited due to study design, and more recent educational research has not addressed this curricular need. The purpose of this report is to address this gap by proposing an interprofessional consensus approach to identifying guidelines for AT content in physical therapist education.
Methods: This study will utilize a Delphi methodology approach with iterative survey rounds to achieve consensus among critical stakeholders regarding best practice for AT content in DPT education. Stakeholder groups will be interprofessional because AT implementation requires interprofessional practice. Experts in AT evaluation and implementation in Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, and K-12 Education will be recruited, including practitioners, academics, and researchers.
Results: The first round of the Delphi survey will prompt reflection across all stakeholder respondents, using 3 open-ended questions: (1) What skills and knowledge in AT should new DPT graduates have? (2) What are barriers to including AT in professional physical therapist education? (3) How do you think AT should/could be optimally integrated within professional physical therapist curricula? To describe our stakeholder sample, we will also collect demographic information: gender, race/ethnicity, profession, highest degree earned, years in field/practice, how participants obtained experience/training in AT, years of experience with AT, primary work setting, state where employed, and primary client population.
Conclusions: This study will result in interprofessional consensus guidelines for inclusion of AT content in professional physical therapist education that is currently lacking in the literature.
Liz and Emily,
Great job! I love hearing about your broader education through the ITIP2 program.
1/10 people globally have access to assistive technology. What is that number for the US?
A second part of the question is what content comes out to make room for this content? I agree that we need to make room for this content.
(The second question is a bit beyond the knowledge of the students, so as the research mentor, I will hop on here with a response). I understand your question, but suggest a slight reframe. Its really less a question of what comes out, but more a question of how we contextualize content, more intentionally incorporating assistive tech. Many specialty areas in PT have guidelines for curricular content. Within PT, Assistive Tech does not. This study will start to change this, and the guidelines that will emerge from this study will be interprofessionally-informed, which is so exciting and strongly matches the training the students are getting in ITIP2. Covid has certainly taught us that we can no longer sidestep the need for technology in PT practice; neuro rehab has always used and incorporated tech, but education has not really kept up with this. The timing of the questions these students are asking is just perfect for the current state of needing to rethink how and what we expose students to in professional education. A delphi study takes a while to complete, so it will be a year yet before we have the results. Keep an eye out for the rest of the story, next year…
Excellent work, Liz and Emily. I am so excited to get these results and vet them in the PT world. I am also very excited to have the collaborators you have for this study. Your work to date has been excellent, and now the real fun begins. Your participation in this symposium makes the DPT program and the ITIP2 program so proud!