Contextual, Client-Centred Coaching Following a Workshop: Assistants Capacity Building in Special Education

María José López- de-la-Fuente, Pablo Herrero, Rafael García-Foncillas and Eva Mª Gómez-Trullén
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María José López- de-la-Fuente: Department of Physiatry and Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Pablo Herrero: Department of Physiatry and Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Rafael García-Foncillas: Department of Microbiology, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Eva Mª Gómez-Trullén: Department of Physiatry and Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: Assistants serve an essential role in special education to support children with disabilities, but they should be properly trained and supervised. The coaching approach represents one trend that has been gradually implemented in occupational therapy (OT) and rehabilitation services. Still, few studies clearly define the coaching intervention, measure the fidelity of coaching practices, or evaluate capacity building of the caregivers in the long term. This quasi-experimental study compared one-on-one coaching in natural environments following a workshop with a training workshop. Both public schools do not have regular OT services. The primary outcome was the assistant’s performance, measured with the Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS). The secondary outcome was the fidelity of coaching implementation, measured with the Coaching Practices Rating Scale (CPRS). The GAS showed an increased performance of the assistants after the intervention, with significant differences between groups post-intervention ( p = 0.015) and large effect size ( r = 0.55), but no long-term significant improvements were found at the follow-up ( p = 0.072). The CPRS showed an adequate implementation of the five coaching components (joint planning, observation, action, reflection, and feedback), with a total score of 3.5 ± 0.72 (mean ± SD). The results suggest that coaching sessions provided by OTs in schools may improve assistants’ skills to facilitate the student’s participation.

Keywords: coaching; fidelity coaching practices; paraprofessionals/special needs assistants; school-based occupational therapy; participation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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