In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the Office of Developmental Disabilities has designed a medication administration "Train the Trainer Program" that certifies non-medical personnel to administer oral medications in designated regulated programs in Pennsylvania. The program specific to this dissertation is Community Living Arrangements (CLAs), which are programs that serve individuals with intellectual disability in residential community settings. To date there has been no documented research exploring the effectiveness or efficacy of this program in addition to the analysis of the medication error rate.

Medication errors are a continual problem and challenge in any setting; therefore, this mixed methods study will explore how has the revised version of the Pennsylvania Medication Administration Course impacted medication error rates. In addition qualitative discussion includes supplemental information surrounding the medication administration context.

Quantitative data from a paired t-test (p = .028) significance and ANOVA (p = .027) significance concluded that over time, the medication error rate has decreased with statistically significant difference detected. However, in closer examination although a nonparametric Binomial test resulted in statistical significance at ( p = .0176), the test revealed some confusing data. The qualitative data obtained from two focus groups discussed the context of the medication course, in addition to Trainer and Practicum Observer perceptions, which resulted in recommendations for training program improvements at the organizational, as well as state levels.