Supporting and Informing OT Students with Disabilities in Fieldwork: A Communication Policy

Abstract Background: Formal discussion with academic fieldwork coordinators and the literature indicates that accommodating students with disabilities in clinical rotations is often difficult due to poor communication and its complicated nature (Ozelie, et al. 2022; Dhillon et al. 2023; Hughes, et al. 2020; Komblau, 1995). Without a policy in place, students with disabilities face more barriers in their clinical rotations than their nondisabled peers (Ozelie, et al. 2022; Dhillon et al. 2023). The development of a fieldwork accommodations policy for Georgia State University’s (GSU) OT graduate doctorate program was proposed to address the gap. Objective: The purpose of this capstone project is to create a communication policy to be added to the GSU Clinical Fieldwork Student Handbook on fieldwork accommodations for students with disabilities. ACOTE Area: Advocacy (Primary) & Policy Development (Secondary) Protocol: A SWOT analysis was conducted on GSU’s OT program to examine the resources that are available for use. Seven weeks dedicated to developing the policy, evaluation instrument, and education materials. The fieldwork accommodations policy’s readability was tested via a survey with 7 Likert scale questions and 3 short answer questions. Fourteen participants were recruited from the GSU OT program to take part in the survey and were all current GSU OTD students. Statistical analysis was run on the survey by finding the mean and standard deviation of the Likert scale questions and categorizing the short answer questions. Results: The readability survey found that the lowest score was given on the word choice with a mean of 3.71 and SD of 1.138. The highest scores were given to information being correct, confidence in understanding the material, and recommending use of the chapter to guide students with a mean of 4.14. The most common answers to the short answer portion were to change the format/ organization (6) and reduce the number of words (3). Revisions to the fieldwork accommodations policy were made by following the suggestions from the readability survey. Conclusion: This policy will help students with disabilities at GSU’s OT program make more informed choices on accommodation in fieldwork and support students in making their decision. The policy, evaluation instruments, and education materials benefit GSU’s OT program by providing consistent evaluation tools and readily available resources. The policy will increase GSU’s OT program’s value by supporting a population that brings a valuable view to occupational therapy and providing a clearer process for students.