Assistive technology education needs of allied health professionals in a rural state

A nonexperimental design using a mailed questionnaire was used to answer five questions regarding allied health practitioners: What (1) present skills, (2) knowledge and (3) assistive technology (AT) competence do allied health practitioners have; what are (4) the AT skills and knowledge that allied health practitioners would like to obtain; and (5) how would these practitioners like to have AT education provided. More than two thirds of the subjects reported having nonexistent or foundational knowledge in most of the AT areas. Additionally, more than 50% of the respondents had a moderate or significant need for information in most areas of AT. No clear preferences regarding training options were revealed, other than a traditional classroom approach being the least attractive option. Most respondents are not willing to travel more than 1 hour from their home for AT education. This study revealed useful information for developing the content and format of AT education for allied health practitioners in Maine. We will expand this pilot study to investigate the AT educational needs of a wider variety of practitioners and consumers.