Karen M. Dishman, OTD, OTR, ATP, is Interim Chair, Occupational Therapy Assistant Program, and Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy Department, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville;
Julie Duckart, PhD, OTR/L, is Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond.
Am J Occup Ther. 2021 Mar-Apr;75(2):7502205110p1-7502205110p8. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2021.041541.
Missing from the recent literature is information about specific categories of assistive technology (AT) education provided in entry-level occupational therapy curricula.
To examine occupational therapists' perceptions of the AT education received in occupational therapy entry-level programs, specifically the AT categories in which therapists received training.
Quantitative survey study with Likert-scale, multiple-choice, or ordinal ranking-scale questions and three open-response questions. Format was a web-based Qualtrics survey tool; participants had approximately 2 mo to respond.
Occupational therapists certified as Assistive Technology Professionals (ATPs) were recruited through the Rehabilitation and Engineering Society of North America email database (response rate of 21%; N = 148).
Outcomes may contribute to determining what categories of AT are missing from occupational therapy entry-level curricula and what further education is needed to develop competency.
Occupational therapists with ATP certification did not perceive their entry-level curricula as having adequately prepared them in the AT categories of technology for learning disabilities (67%), computer access (57%), augmentative and alternative communication (57%), and accessible transportation (52%).
This study supports the need for occupational therapy entry-level programs to reexamine the categories and amount of AT training they currently provide. Future research with a larger and more generalized sample could provide more detailed evidence of which AT categories should be provided.
This article provides evidence that to use AT in intervention, entry-level occupational therapists require increased training in specific AT categories.
最近的文献中缺少有关职业治疗入门课程中提供的特定类别的辅助技术 (AT) 教育的信息。
调查职业治疗师对职业治疗入门课程中所接受的 AT 教育的看法，特别是治疗师接受培训的 AT 类别。
采用李克特量表、多项选择或有序等级量表问题以及三个开放性问题的定量调查研究。格式为基于网络的 Qualtrics 调查工具；参与者大约有 2 个月的时间来回复。
通过北美康复和工程学会的电子邮件数据库招募了经过认证的辅助技术专家 (ATPs) 作为职业治疗师（回应率为 21%；N = 148）。
研究结果可能有助于确定职业治疗入门课程中缺少哪些 AT 类别，以及需要进一步接受哪些教育以发展能力。
具有 ATP 认证的职业治疗师认为他们的入门课程并没有让他们在学习障碍的技术（67%）、计算机辅助（57%）、增强和替代沟通（57%）以及无障碍交通（52%）等 AT 类别中得到充分准备。
这项研究支持职业治疗入门课程重新审视他们目前提供的 AT 培训的类别和数量的需求。未来使用更大、更广泛的样本进行的研究可以提供更详细的证据，说明应提供哪些 AT 类别。
本文提供了证据表明，为了在干预中使用 AT，入门级职业治疗师需要在特定的 AT 类别中接受更多的培训。
