Date of Award

8-2021

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Jonathan C. Baker

Second Advisor

Dr. Jessica E. Van Stratton

Third Advisor

Dr. Stephanie M. Peterson

Keywords

Behavioral gerontology, telehealth, staff training protocols, training with students, simulated role play partner

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

Staff training in aging settings is integral to ensuring quality services, and such training has traditionally been conducted in person. With the COVID-19 outbreak, there is a need for innovative approaches to training that reduce exposure for trainers and staff. However, the efficacy of such an approach has not yet been demonstrated. To prevent the waste of staff resources at long-term care facilities, this study evaluates the efficacy of behavioral gerontology staff training protocols as a form of telehealth by utilizing graduate and undergraduate students as pilot participants. We use an additive concurrent multiple-probe design across participants to evaluate the efficacy of staff training protocols on two different skills, offering choices and promoting independence, via videoconferencing. The results show that two of three participants were able to meet the mastery criterion on both skills. For both skills, one of the participants required a rehearsal and feedback training component, and another participant required a video self-monitoring and feedback training component. The third participant achieved three consecutive scores of 100% correct performance on choices in the baseline, but did not reach the mastery criterion for promoting independence.

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