Clinicians' perspectives and usage of rehabilitation technology: a survey

PurposeThe 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.Materials and methodsAn 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.ResultsApproximately half (n = 56/105, 53.3%) of our clinicians reported using rehabilitation in their daily practice. Less than 20% (n = 18/105, 17.1%) of the respondents strongly agreed that they felt comfortable implementing new rehabilitation technology, and few reported that their workplace encouraged (n = 16/85, 18.8%) or strongly encouraged (n = 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 (n = 14/97, 14.4%) or very prepared (n = 4/97, 4.1%) to use rehabilitation technology after graduation.ConclusionsOur 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. There is a great need for more robust educational instruction at the scholastic level for students in order to prepare future clinicians to engage with rehabilitation technology in the field.For practicing professionals in the workplace, in-service training, clear training protocols, and technology support for clinicians are needed to remediate the current knowledge-to-practice gap.