167 - Analyzing Differences in Participant Satisfaction for Synchronous vs Asynchronous Professional Development Trainings for the Behavioral Health Workforce to Evaluate Participant Feedback

Abstract Information: A grant-funded center that provides training to the behavioral health workforce undertook creating an annual report covering all grants for the first time. In compiling the data, it was noticed that one program had lower satisfaction scores than others. This also coincided in timing with the agency completing a self-assessment based on the CDC’s “Is My Evaluation Practice Culturally Responsive?” to assess how their evaluation practices surrounding data collection and analysis were meeting best practices. To understand why scores are lower and to understand the factors that might impact scores, additional analyses were conducted on the data. The program provides training, in-person or virtually, synchronously and asynchronously. The virtual and asynchronous training options expand reach by improving access, providing convenience, and increasing equity by better serving rural communities, but may not meet the needs of providers. The Mann-Whitney U Test (Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test) was applied to analyze the satisfaction data for the 3134 respondents and found the differences in satisfaction for both synchronous vs asynchronous trainings and in-person vs virtual trainings to be statistically significant, with participants favoring the in-person and synchronous trainings. Results will be used to determine if changes should be made to training delivery and whether questions should be added to the evaluation instrument to better capture participant feedback.