%0 Journal Article
%T Evaluation of Clinician Training in Autism Screening, Care Management, and Patient Education
%A Belinda O&#8217
%A Hagan
%A Julie White
%A Ilana Hardesty
%A Rachel Amgott
%A Candice Bangham
%A Xinyang Liu
%A Alyson Codner
%A Amy Ursitti
%A Alana Chandler
%A Sarah Foster
%A Marilyn Augustyn
%A Jacey Greece
%J Open Journal of Pediatrics
%P 488-513
%@ 2160-8776
%D 2024
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ojped.2024.143048
%X Objective: The demand for pediatric developmental evaluations has far exceeded the workforce available to perform them, which creates long significant wait times for services. A year-long clinician training using the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO<sup>®</sup>) model with monthly meetings was conducted and evaluated for its impact on primary care clinicians’ self-reported self-efficacy, ability to administer autism screening and counsel families, professional fulfillment, and burnout. Methods: Participants represented six community health centers and a hospital-based practice. Data collection was informed by participant feedback and the Normalization Process Theory via online surveys and focus groups/interviews. Twelve virtual monthly trainings were delivered between November 2020 and October 2021. Results: 30 clinicians participated in data collection. Matched analyses (n = 9) indicated statistically significant increase in self-rated ability to counsel families about autism (Pre-test Mean = 3.00, Post-test Mean = 3.89, p = 0.0313), manage autistic patients’ care (Pre-test Mean = 2.56, Post-test Mean = 4.11, p = 0.0078), empathy toward patients (Pre-test Mean = 2.11, Post-test Mean = 1.22, p = 0.0156) and colleagues (Pre-test Mean = 2.33, Post-test Mean = 1.22, respectively, p = 0.0391). Unmatched analysis revealed increases in participants confident about educating patients about autism (70.59%, post-test n = 12 vs. 3.33%, pre-test n = 1, p = 0.0019). Focus groups found increased confidence in using the term “autism”. Conclusion: Participants reported increases in ability and confidence to care for autistic patients, as well as empathy toward patients and colleagues. Future research should explore long-term outcomes in participants’ knowledge retention, confidence in practice, and improvements to autism evaluations and care.
%K Autism Spectrum Disorder
%K Program Evaluation
%K Case-Based Training
%K Provider Burnout
%K Continuing Medical Education
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=133042