Clinicians' perspectives and usage of rehabilitation technology: a survey

• Published in: Disability and rehabilitation: Assistive technology Vol. 19; no. 6; p. 2298
• Main Authors: Curtis, Sarah, Sheehan, Lauren, Buchman, Emily, Bhattacharjya, Sutanuka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.08.2024
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Occupational Therapists - psychology; Occupational Therapy; Physical Therapist Assistants; Physical Therapists; Rehabilitation; Self-Help Devices; Speech-Language Pathology; Surveys and Questionnaires; physical therapy speciality; Rehabilitation; technology; occupational therapy
• ISSN: 1748-3115
• DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2023.2284365

The aim of this study was to investigate clinicians' perspectives regarding their usage of rehabilitation technology in their day-to-day practice and uncover the factors that impact clinicians' use of rehabilitation technology in their daily practice. An online survey was used to gather cross-sectional data from American occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, and speech language pathologists. This survey used Likert-scale, multiple choice, and free-response questions. Approximately half (  = 56/105, 53.3%) of our clinicians reported using rehabilitation in their daily practice. Less than 20% (  = 18/105, 17.1%) of the respondents strongly agreed that they felt comfortable implementing new rehabilitation technology, and few reported that their workplace encouraged (  = 16/85, 18.8%) or strongly encouraged (  = 14/85, 16.5%) the use of rehabilitation technology in practice. Additionally, excluding the 2011-2020 graduate clinicians that reported that they had not learned about rehabilitation technology in school or fieldwork, few reported feeling prepared (  = 14/97, 14.4%) or very prepared (  = 4/97, 4.1%) to use rehabilitation technology after graduation. Our findings have revealed a sizable knowledge-to-practice gap in regard to clinicians' preparedness to engage with and advocate for rehabilitation technology in their day-to-day practice.