Evaluation of Clinician Training in Autism Screening, Care Management, and Patient Education

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O’Hagan, B., White, J. L., Hardesty, I., Amgott, R., Bangham, C., Liu, X., Codner, A., Ursitti, A., Chandler, A., Foster, S., Augustyn, M., & Greece, J. (2024). Evaluation of Clinician Training in Autism Screening, Care Management, and Patient Education. Open Journal of Pediatrics, 14(03), 488-513. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojped.2024.143048

Publication date: 1 Jan 2024 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
12
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 12 (8.3%)
  1. Belinda O’Hagan
  2. Julie L. White
  3. Ilana Hardesty
  4. Rachel Amgott
  1. Candice Bangham
  2. Xinyang Liu
  3. Alyson Codner
  4. A. Ursitti
  1. Alana Chandler
  2. Sarah Foster *
  3. Marilyn Augustyn
  4. Jacey Greece

Abstract

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®) 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.

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Cited references
42
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
1 / 42 (2.4%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
1 / 265 (0.4%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 1 / 54 (1.9%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 1 / 235 (0.4%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
54 / 265 (20.4%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 32 / 235 (13.6%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
53 / 54 (98.1%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 53 / 265 (20.0%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 31 / 32 (96.9%).
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