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Abstract
Three methods were used to evaluate the effects of continuing education on the practices of physical therapists in the State of Nebraska. These were: (1) direct observation, (2) record audit and (3) self-reporting. The continuing education program which was used in this study was entitled "Neurodevelopmental Approach to Adults With Hemiplegia." These variables measured the number of times the participant cited or demonstrated or self-reported the use of all or part of the neurodevelopmental techniques as they were applied to gait training. The patients receiving gait training were classified by diagnosis as either a cerebrovascular accident or other neurological diagnosis or other diagnosis.
An experimental design was used with 15 randomly selected physical therapists in the control group (no continuing education) and 15 (population) physical therapists in the experimental group (attended the continuing education program). Chi-square analyses revealed a possible short- and long-term effect for physical therapists who self-reported the ata (p < .01). No significant difference was found for the groups of physical therapists who were observed or for the groups of physical therapists who were audited. The results suggest that self-reporting may be the most productive dependent variable when evaluating continuing education program effectiveness in physical therapy. The direct observation method had the limitations of: (1) not having enough qualified observers to observe the physical therapists treating a sufficient number of patients in the time periods designed, and (2) not having sufficient funds and observers to observe physical therapists throughout the State. The record audit method appeared to be an inappropriate method for collecting the data as the physical therapists did not tend to record specific methods used for gait training. This study was a first step in determining methods to evaluate continuing education and in identifying some of the problems associated with these methods when evaluating the use of continuing education by physical therapists.
