Delivering concussion education to pre-service teachers through the SCHOOLFirst website: Evaluating usability and satisfaction

Issue title: Pediatric Educational Re-Entry After TBI

Guest editors: Melissa McCart and Susan Davies

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Ippolito, Christina^a | Cogliano, Alexandra^a | Patel, Alexandra^a | Shear, Sara^a | Provvidenza, Christine^b | Wilson, Katherine E.^a | Reed, Nick^{a; b; c; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada | [b] Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Canada | [c] Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Nick Reed, Rehabilitation Sciences Building, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Avenue, Rm. 936, Toronto M5G 1V7, Ontario, Canada. E-mail: nick.reed@utoronto.ca.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Return-to-school processes indicate ‘when’ to initiate activities and ‘what’ activities should be accomplished, but are missing ‘how’ to implement the process. The SCHOOLFirst website provides the ‘how’ through building concussion knowledge, creating a supportive culture, and defining roles. Due to the involvement of pre-service teachers in schools during training and imminent transition to becoming teachers, it is important that pre-service teachers are trained in concussion and can optimally support current and future students. OBJECTIVE:To determine: 1) pre-service teachers’ knowledge and confidence surrounding the return-to-school process before and after using the SCHOOLFirst website; 2) the usability, intended use and satisfaction of the SCHOOLFirst website from the perspective of pre-service teachers. METHODS:Thirty pre-service teachers completed the demographic survey, knowledge and confidence survey, System Usability Scale, and satisfaction and intended use survey after participating in a workshop. RESULTS:Significant increases in concussion knowledge (Z = –4.093, p < 0.001) and confidence in helping students return-to-school (Z = –4.620, p < 0.001) were measured after using the SCHOOLFirst website. Participants were satisfied with the SCHOOLFirst website (93.4%) and intend to use it in the future when supporting a student post-concussion (96.4%). CONCLUSION:The SCHOOLFirst website is a valuable tool for pre-service teachers to support students’ return-to-school post-concussion.

Keywords: Educators, teachers, concussion, school, students, return-to-school, return-to-learn

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-220207

Journal: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 651-662, 2023