Date Presented 04/12/21
OT has been specifically called upon to improve the quality of care of people with Parkinson's disease (PD). This capstone project is a response to this call. A two-module online learning program was designed to address the gap between knowledge and current best practices in the treatment of mental health concerns associated with PD. The results suggest that high-quality online training is an effective way to teach OTs to better address the mental health needs of people with PD.
Primary Author and Speaker: Sarah A. Zurawski;
Contributing Authors: Wendy Coster, Gael Orsmond
PURPOSE: Occupational Therapy has been specifically called upon to improve the quality of care for individuals with Parkinson disease (PD) by addressing the non-motor symptoms that significantly impact the quality of life for those living with the disease. Shifting practice is a complex process that takes dedication from researchers, educators, advocates, and practitioners, both current and future, with a commitment to improving the quality of occupational therapy care for people with PD. This project is a response to this call. As a part of this capstone experience, a two-module online learning program was designed to address the gap between knowledge and current best practices in the treatment of mental health concerns associated with PD. The evaluated primary outcome measures included effectiveness, usability, and quality of the online learning experience.
DESIGN: A quasi-experimental, pre- post, mixed methods design was used to explore the stated outcome measures. A convenience sample of current UW-Madison MSOT students, members of the Sensory Motor Integration Lab, and current practitioners willing to participate were recruited via direct communication from the primary author.
METHODS: Training modules were designed in collaboration with an instructional designer from UW-Madison. The training modules were developed utilizing best practices outlined in the Community of Inquiry Theoretical Framework, Backward Design, and standards outlined in the Quality Matters Standards Rubric. Each module was designed with a consistent weekly rhythm where participants were required to engage in learning activities that align with the Absorb-Do-Connect Framework. Participant knowledge was measured by a pre-post module assessment consisting of 3 open-ended questions and a fourth Likert Scale question. Two current OT practitioners assessed module ease of use, clarity, accuracy, relevancy, and generalizability. Two independent instructional design experts assessed the quality of the training modules using the Quality Matters Rubric.
RESULTS: From pre- to post-module, participants named an average of two additional symptom categories and significantly increased their correctly identified PD focused OT interventions (p-value < 0.05). The percentage of participants who specifically listed mental health increased from 12.5% at pretest to 100% following completion of the module content. Expert content reviewers rated the overall content 4.85 out of a possible 5.0. Overall scores from the Quality Matters Rubric were 83/100 and 85/100 from each reviewer, respectively.
CONCLUSION: The mission of this project was to meaningfully contribute to the evolution of OT services for people with PD through high-quality education. The results of the pre-module assessment support findings within the literature suggesting that most occupational therapists understand PD as a movement disorder. Seven out of eight participants failed to recognize the impact mental health symptoms have on those with living PD, despite having prior experience working with people with PD. The implication of these findings should challenge OT educators to evaluate their current educational practices because according to research, the medium is not as important as the efforts of the instructor, investment in pedagogy, and the thoughtful and intentional instructional design decisions that make online courses more effective (Means et al., 2010).
IMPACT: The findings suggest that a well facilitated and high-quality online training module is an effective way to teach and inspire future and current occupational therapists to better meet the mental health needs of people living with PD in hopes to begin expanding OT's role in the treatment of PD.
References
Foster, E. R., Bedekar, M., & Tickle-Degnen, L. (2014). Systematic review of the effectiveness of occupational therapy-related interventions for people with Parkinson’s disease. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68(1), 39-49. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2014.008706
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2011). community of inquiry model. The Community of Inquiry.
Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2010). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning. Center for Technology in Learning, US Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www. ed. gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports. html.
Waite, A. (2014). Steady progression: Occupational therapy’s evolving role in helping people with Parkinson’s disease. OT Practice, 19(9), 13–15.
