Telehealth vs Face to Face Pediatric Screenings: A Pilot Study

Abstract

The global pandemic heightened the importance of occupational therapy (OT) education programs to prepare students for telehealth practice. The objective was to examine the following research questions: 1. Does self-assessment of pediatric competency skills improve following participation in pediatric screenings? 2. Is there a difference in self-assessment of pediatric competency skills between those students who perform pediatric screenings via telehealth versus face-to-face? 3. What is the lived experience for students who perform telehealth and face-to-face pediatric screenings? A mixed method- quasi-experimental design and phenomenological tradition were employed. The study utilized online surveys, focus groups, telehealth screenings with an urban preschool, and face-to-face screenings at a Christian suburban preschool in the Midwest. Participants included forty-nine first year, Master of OT students at a private university. Students performed screenings using the ASQ-3 via telehealth or face-to-face formats. Outcomes measures included: Self-Assessment of Competency- Pediatric Screening (SAC-PS) survey, Pediatric Screening Experience Survey, and Focus Group Semi-Structured Interview Questions. No statistically significant differences were found on SAC-PS scores between formats, F (11, 49) = .661, p = .76, Ꞃ2 = .17. Post-screening scores were statistically significantly higher (M =48.95, SD = 4.02) than pre-screening (M =43.58, SD =4.69) for all students, F (11,49) = 36, p2= .58. Improvements from pre-to post-pediatric screenings were found for ten of eleven questions at the p