Coutts researching distance technology delivery of intervention to rural communities

07 Aug 2013    

Miles or megabytes? Speed limits or bandwidth? Country roads or fiber optics?
For years, reaching out to families and schools in rural communities has meant long hours of costly travel. This reality has made distance technology an appealing alternative – and the focus of Michael Coutts, a CYFS doctoral student affiliate.

Coutts grasped the significant investments involved in supporting rural communities while contributing to several studies of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, a family-school partnership approach co-developed by CYFS director Susan Sheridan.

With grant support from the Society for the Study of School Psychology, he's now investigating whether delivering CBC via distance technology yields the same success and acceptance as the model's traditional face-to-face structure – in a fraction of the time and for pennies on the dollar.

The CBC approach typically calls for trained consultants to visit homes and schools, where they coordinate the efforts of parents and teachers to address children's troublesome behavior across both environments. Though ongoing research has suggested promise for CBC's effectiveness in rural settings, Coutts' study represents the first look into whether technology serves as a viable delivery method, he said.