Date Presented 04/05/2025
A 6-week telementoring pretest–posttest pilot study for pediatric clinical competencies resulted in significant results. OTs (N = 109) represented 26 countries, with more than half (n = 55) working in a low- or middle-income country.
Primary Author and Speaker: Yajaira Castillo
Additional Authors and Speakers: Kate Barlow, Sarah McKinnon
PURPOSE: As the profession of occupational therapy expands globally, there is a significant need for support and mentorship for practicing occupational therapists. One solution to the lack of resources to support rehabilitation professionals is telementoring.
DESIGN: An international, six-week Pediatric Clinical Competency Extension for Community Health Care Outcomes (PCC-ECHO) program was developed to evaluate the efficacy of the ECHO platform for improved clinical competency and confidence. This form of telementoring was offered to occupational therapists from World Federation of Occupational Therapy approved programs globally with access to the program through either the use of a cell phone or Wi-Fi. Retention and overall satisfaction with the ECHO program as an effective framework for mentorship were also evaluated.
METHOD: A pretest-posttest design was utilized with timed successions. Participants received an anonymous pre-survey via email to identify baseline experience and knowledge and an anonymous post-survey following the intervention.The pre-and post-survey questions included two to three questions on the respective presentation objectives, as well as questions related to the participant’s perception of clinical confidence, access to PCC-ECHO, and overall satisfaction with the ECHO style platform for mentorship.
RESULTS: Participants (N=109) from 26 countries attended, with 55 occupational therapists attending from low- and middle-income countries. Weekly learning objectives yielded a significant p-value of ≤0.05 and 54 participants regularly attended > 50% of Zoom sessions. Participants also highly rated the accessibility and satisfaction with the platform.
CONCLUSION: The ECHO platform proved to be an effective tool for telementoring and supporting occupational therapists in low resource areas. This research highlights a low-cost option for continuing education and mentorship of occupational therapists in low-and-middle-income countries.
References
Barlow, K. & Sullivan, K. (2022.) An international interprofessional tele-mentorship programme: a mixed-methods study, World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, https://doi.org/10.1080/14473828.2021.2018173
World Federation of Occupational Therapy. (2022). Human resources project 2022: Global demographics of the occupational therapy profession. https://wfot.org/resources/occupational-therapy-human-resources-project-2022-numerical
Jesus, T. S., Mani, K., von Zweck, C., Bhattacharjya, S., Kamalakannan, S., & Ledgerd, R. (2023). The global status of occupational therapy workforce research worldwide: A scoping review. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 77, 7703205080. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2023.050089
Szymcyk, A., & Barlow, K. (2021). Occupational therapy in Africa. International Journal of Nursing and Health Care Science, 1(1). https://columbuspublishers.com/uploads/articles/202109121257116052240_ijnhcs_2021_05.pdf
