E Berggren
Stockholm County Council, Sweden
Title: A continuing inter-professional educational intervention tailored for primary health care professionals that use the ConPrim model
Biography
Biography: E Berggren
Abstract
Primary health care professionals can find it difficult to participate in continuing education despite their need for up-to-date knowledge. Suitable models for addressing this problem are rare. Th is study aimed to evaluate a continuing educational model tailored for primary health care circumstances (ConPrim). Th e model considers the need for inter-professional education to facilitate teamwork; pedagogical theory and methods to achieve a deeper level of understanding; and content adapted to the circumstances of primary health care to help fi ll knowledge gaps and make attendance more attractive. ConPrim consists of three steps that build on each other: a web-based program, a practical exercise, and a case seminar. Th is study tested ConPrim by using it to develop and evaluate an intervention in the subject “Nutritional care of patients cared for at home.” District nurses/registered nurses and general practitioners/physicians (n=87) working with home care at 10 primary health care centers in Stockholm, Sweden, completed a post-intervention questionnaire about the model. Th e professionals found the design attractive and user-friendly and the pedagogical methods to promote inter-professional and interactive learning. They rated the time spent as acceptable for all parts except the practical exercise; found the design suitable to primary health care; and thought the intervention increased their knowledge about a subject they viewed as useful and relevant to their work. ConPrim seems well-suited for continuing inter-professional education in primary health care. Future studies could test the model in other subject areas where there is a gap between evidence-based knowledge and practice.