Unlocking Insights: Exploring the Profiles of School-Based Telefacilitators

Purpose: School-based telefacilitators are critical yet underresearched mebers of telepractice programs. They are the face of the telepractice proand are often telepractice champions in their communities. However, we little research explaining the typical profile of telefacilitators, making it more cult to identify personnel characteristics that contribute to the implementatiosustainable telepractice programs. The purpose of this study was to desthe typical profile and preparation of school-based telefacilitators for physoccupational, and speech therapy in the United States. Method: A cross-sectional survey gathered 21 telefacilitator responses about primary job title, preparation, confidence, and basic demographics. Survey recment followed an adaptive sampling method with three phases: stratified ransampling, purposive sampling, and targeted convenience sampling. Results wanalyzed using frequency counts and descriptive statistics where appropriate. Results: Most respondents held the primary job title of paraprofessional, bdiverse range of titles were reported, including superintendents and directorspecial education. Half of the respondents received various methods of fotraining for the role, whereas the other half were self-taught. Overall leveconfidence in job performance were high, yet self-taught telefacilitators felt lack of training negatively impacted their performance. Most respondents habachelor’s degree or higher. Conclusions: There is a high degree of variability in the profile and prepaof telefacilitators. Inconsistency in terminology and lack of agreed-upon responsibilities are significant barriers to studying the role of telefacilitators the ability to plan telepractice staffing needs adequately. Clinical implicatand opportunities for future investigation are highlighted.