TY - JOUR
T1 - Working together or apart? Impact of interprofessional education on collaborative competencies of applied behavior analysis and occupational therapy practitioners
AU - Friedman, Zahava L.
AU - Akselrud, Robin
AU - Prisco, Dina
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© This work was authored as part of the Contributor’s official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Applied behavior analysis and occupational therapy practitioners uniquely serve neurodivergent individuals, despite interprofessional contention. While some qualitative research exists, there is a need for quantitative and mixed-methods evaluation of evidence-based strategies to improve the collaboration between occupational therapy practitioners and applied behavioral analysis professionals. This study aimed to improve collaboration for enhanced outcomes between individuals from these two professions. This program assessed change in collaborative competencies of occupational therapy and applied behavior analysis professionals, following virtual interprofessional education initiative provided by a licensed certificant from each profession. Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey, open-ended survey questions and recorded focus group were used to evaluate program impacts. Quantitative results were analyzed using paired-sample t-tests and revealed statistically significant increases in participants’ whole scores (p<.05). Qualitative analysis revealed the value of practical, problem-based learning. This study demonstrated the potentiality of virtual interprofessional education, question-answer dialogue, and actionable strategies. Future studies can increase sample size and implement longer-term models.
AB - Applied behavior analysis and occupational therapy practitioners uniquely serve neurodivergent individuals, despite interprofessional contention. While some qualitative research exists, there is a need for quantitative and mixed-methods evaluation of evidence-based strategies to improve the collaboration between occupational therapy practitioners and applied behavioral analysis professionals. This study aimed to improve collaboration for enhanced outcomes between individuals from these two professions. This program assessed change in collaborative competencies of occupational therapy and applied behavior analysis professionals, following virtual interprofessional education initiative provided by a licensed certificant from each profession. Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey, open-ended survey questions and recorded focus group were used to evaluate program impacts. Quantitative results were analyzed using paired-sample t-tests and revealed statistically significant increases in participants’ whole scores (p<.05). Qualitative analysis revealed the value of practical, problem-based learning. This study demonstrated the potentiality of virtual interprofessional education, question-answer dialogue, and actionable strategies. Future studies can increase sample size and implement longer-term models.
KW - applied behavior analysis
KW - Interprofessional collaboration
KW - interprofessional education
KW - occupational therapy
KW - problem-based learning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85194569586&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15021149.2024.2360791
DO - 10.1080/15021149.2024.2360791
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85194569586
SN - 2377-729X
VL - 25
SP - 94
EP - 107
JO - European Journal of Behavior Analysis
JF - European Journal of Behavior Analysis
IS - 1
ER -