The "Pediatric Occupational Therapists" Facebook group consists of over 24,000 OTs, COTAs and students and provides a forum for members "assist, support and guide each other." Hundreds of posts are discussed weekly, yet little is understood about this relatively new medium. This poster contaisn a description of conversation content and a discussion of the potential benefits and drawbacks to engagement on this medium. Results show that the most frequently discussed topics are specific case scenarios and general clinical advice. Advantages of participation include real time clinical information sharing and clinical support, and drawbacks include privacy concerns and the lack of curation of information.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA PROVIDES A UNIQUE PLATFORM FOR CLINICAL INFORMATION EXCHANGE:
EXPLORING A 24,000+ MEMBER PEDIATRIC OCCUPATIONALTHERAPISTS FACEBOOK GROUP
MEMBER CHARACTERISTICS AND
DISCUSSION CONTENT AREAS
Presenters: Catherine PergamoWhiting, MS, OTR/L and Cheryl Crow, MOT, OTR/L
BASIC INFORMATION & HISTORY CONCLUSIONS & REFLECTION
1) Pediatric OccupationalTherapists Group History
- Started in 2011 by Catherine Pergamo Whiting. “I thought
a virtual support group would be useful for busy OTs who
want to receive and share resources as needed.”
- Evolution: In February 2014 there were 5,000 members and
2 administrators. By February 2017, it had over 24,000
members and 14 administrators.
- A separate Pediatric OT Jobs group was formed in June
2015 for members to post job needs or advertise job
openings. It now has 4,427* members and 5 administrators.
2) Current membership: 24,362*
3) Number of posts/discussions:
- Around 30 posts per day, which get up to1,000 “likes”
- Group contains thousands of files, photos, and videos
4) How is it administered?
- Administers vet potential members to confirm that they are
OT practitioners or OT students.
- They screen posts for relevancy to Pediatric Occupational
Therapy. They keep recruiters, parents, and advertisers out.
- Commitment: 30-60 minutes a day per administrator.
4) How to join
- Once logged into Facebook, enter this URL:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/80351866792/
*Numbers as of 3/9/17
Most frequent discussion topics:
• Specific case scenarios (e.g.“I have a patient with x, what should I do?”)
• General non-clinical advice (e.g.“How do I schedule my clients in a public
school setting?” “How to organize materials?” “What EMR are you using?”)
• Commonly discussed areas: Handwriting, sensory processing, ICD-10 codes,
continuing education, animal-assisted therapy, caseload numbers, activities,
equipment, testing tools, research, collaboration with staff and parents, toys,
intervention modalities, avoiding burnout, documentation, student supervision.
1) Advantages / Benefits
• Real-time and instantaneous clinical information-sharing 24/7
- Real-life case studies receiving dozens of ideas
- Photo examples of postures, grasps, therapy spaces, equipment, toys,
bulletin boards, and activities
- Uploaded files of lists, charts, templates, sample policies, handouts
- Access to tens of thousands of pediatric OTs around the world
- Lecturers and professors can use case studies for student learning
• Support, camaraderie, and friendships built between therapists
- Mentoring of students and newly graduated practitioners
- Sharing stories of burnout, joy, success, and disappointment so members
know they are not alone
- Outreach to therapists working in rural areas or alone
• Promotion of members’ products, books, toys, blogs, and websites
• Large body to ask for completion of research surveys and/or test validation
• Comparing and contrasting policies and issues from state to state and country
to country
2) Problems/drawbacks:
• Patient confidentiality concerns
• Incorrect or out of date advice with no curation of accuracy or evidence base;
potential for perpetuation of pseudoscience
• Harassment or questioning of others’ treatment suggestions
• Administrators overwhelmed with questions about how to use Facebook
groups, and member lack of knowledge on how to use the group
• Can be difficult to search specifics on group page
For additional comments or questions, contact Catherine at catherinewhiting@gmail.com
or Cheryl at chcrow@gmail.com
NICU 2%
Birth to
3 12%
Preschool /
Head Start
13%
Private
practice 33%
Public school
42%
Private
school 8%
Inpatient 6%
Outpatient 9%
Researcher 1%
Instructor 3%
Professional
speaker 2%
Home health
7%
JOB SETTING
Australia/NZ
3%
North and
South
America, not
USA 6%
USA 85%
Europe 5%
Asia 1%
Africa 0.30%
LOCATION
Male 4%
Female
96%
GENDER