Abstract
The purpose of this study was to measure and compare the knowledge that members of five allied health disciplines had of one another's roles and function. The five disciplines studied were: clinical dietetics, medical technology, occupational therapy, physical therapy and radiologic technology. Five questionnaires to measure knowledge of roles and functions for the selected disciplines were developed by the investigator in a five-step procedure. A three-member panel of experts was selected from each discipline to validate the roles and functions of their respective discipline. Items for each test were then developed using the validated roles and functions as guidelines. Each test was resubmitted to the appropriate panel of experts to be examined for content validity. From the list of items for which consensus was reached, the final instrument for each discipline was developed. The five instruments were then pretested on a selected population for clarity and usability. The population for the study was members of the selected disciplines who were practicing in the Houston area. A sample of 250 subjects were mailed the five questionnaires. One hundred seventy-seven questionnaires were returned. The questionnaires were hand-scored and the number of correct items on each questionnaire was the subject's score. A weighted means procedure, multivariate analysis of variance and one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures were employed to analyze the data. Data analysis revealed that the overall knowledge level relative to one another's roles and functions was below average for the members of the five allied health disciplines studied. Additionally, there were significant differences between the groups on the five tests as reflected by the finding that medical technologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists knew significantly more about the roles and functions of their own particular discipline than members of the majority of the other disciplines knew about those same roles and functions. There were also significant differences within the groups across the five tests as reflected by the finding that occupational therapists, physical therapists and radiologic technologists had significantly different means on the majority of the five tests...
Harmon, Vera Keigler (1980). A comparison of the knowledge that members of five allied health disciplines have of one another's roles and functions. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -657799.