Advocacy competencies of rehabilitation counselor trainees in core-accredited rehabilitation counselor education programs

[摘要] The purpose of this study was to investigate how well rehabilitation counselor trainees in CORE accredited rehabilitation counseling programs are prepared to advocate clients. In order to seek an answer to this research question, this study (a) measured the rehabilitation counselor trainees' self-reported preparedness to advocate for their clients, (b) assessed the rehabilitation counselor educators' perceptions of their students' preparedness to advocate for their clients, (c) explored the relationship between rehabilitation counselor trainees' self-reported preparedness to advocate for their clients and their educational experiences as well as their demographic information, (d) investigated whether there was a significant difference between rehabilitation counselor educators' perception of their students' preparedness to advocate for their clients and the rehabilitation counselor trainees' self-reported preparedness. The results indicated that rehabilitation counseling students developed advocacy competencies in some areas. However, it was also found that rehabilitation counseling students have lower advocacy competencies in the community and public level domains than in the individual level. Rehabilitation counseling students reported that rehabilitation counseling course work and their prior experiences with persons with disabilities were most substantial factors in the process of developing advocacy competencies.

[发布机构] University of Iowa