Group telementoring using project ECHO proves efficient platform for knowledge translation in occupational therapy

Abstract

Background:

Therapists in low- and middle-income countries have limited access to mentorship and affordable continuing education within the field of occupational therapy. An international, 6-week Pediatric Clinical Competency Extension for Community Health Care Outcomes program for occupational therapists was developed to meet this need. The primary outcomes included the efficacy of the extension for community health care outcomes platform for improved clinical competency. Program retention, satisfaction, and confidence with the online platform were also examined.

Method:

A quasi-experimental pretest posttest design was utilized. Anonymous online surveys were sent before and after each of the six extension for community health care outcomes sessions.

Findings:

Participants (N = 109) from 26 countries attended, with 55 occupational therapists attending from low- and middle-income countries. Weekly learning objectives addressing knowledge yielded a significant p-value of ⩽0.05 in five of six of the weeks. Fifty-four of 109 participants regularly attended >50% of Zoom sessions. Participants also rated themselves confident to strongly confident on access to all virtual materials and satisfaction with the platform.

Conclusion:

The extension for community health care outcomes platform proved to be an effective, low-cost platform for telementoring and supporting occupational therapists in low resource areas. Extension for community health care outcomes was reported to be an accessible learning platform that could be used to expand knowledge internationally.