Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) Administration Workshop and Its Effects on Job Motivation and Burnout of Pediatric Occupational Therapists

The presence of skilled, motivated therapists is critical to meet the rehabilitation needs of children with disability. This study aimed to determine whether on-the-job training on applying goal attainment scaling (GAS) affects pediatric occupational therapists' burnout and job motivation.

This study was quasi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design. After signing the informed consent, 35 pediatric occupational therapists at a child rehabilitation center attended a course of five 1.5-2 h workshop sessions during 5 consequent weeks on applying GAS in their workplace. Through the workshop, the trainees practiced setting goals and making 5-point scales to measure the degree of reaching those goals. The participant asked to bring some of their client's descriptions (anonymous) to the workshop as samples to talk about them. Afterward, they were asked to fill in the GAS documentation form as part of their rehabilitation records. Participants' job motivation and burnout scores were measured by the Maslach questionnaire and Loudahel Kitchener's Job Motivation Scale, respectively, before the workshop and 30 and 60 days later. The paired t-test and Wilcoxon test were used for comparisons. 

The Mean±SD job motivation scores, which were 42.37±6.73 before the intervention, rose to 52.82±8.51 and 56±7.59 at the end of the workshop (day 30) and on follow-up measurement (day 60), respectively (P<0.001). The effect size was 0.556. The burnout scores slightly decreased from 58±12.86 before the intervention to 55.37±12.07, with an effect size of 0.117 on day 60 measurements.

A short on-the-job training workshop on applying GAS in the formal assessment of achievements in different aspects of child life by rehabilitation practices could help in enhancing therapists' job motivation. Positive effects of GAS administration on motivation and burnout in therapists should take into account along with the client benefits for judging the usefulness of the GAS.