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Grieve, Natalie

University of British Columbia

Small Steps for Big Changes (SSBC) is a community-based diabetes prevention program. SSBC utilizes a motivational interviewing (MI) counselling style and a structured diet and exercise curriculum which aims to empower healthy behavioural modifications and prevent type 2 diabetes (T2D). SSBC coaches (ie., YMCA staff and volunteers) require specific training to deliver the program to clients with high fidelity. An electronic learning (e-learning) platform to deliver training to SSBC coaches was developed to improve flexibility, reach, and accessibility of the program. While e-learning has shown to be an effective mode of teaching content to health professionals, less is known in the context of diabetes prevention coaches. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the SSBC e-learning platform. Twenty coaches were recruited through existing fitness facilities to participate in the online SSBC coach training which included completing pre- and post-training questionnaires, seven online modules of content and a mock client session. Knowledge regarding MI (Mpre=3.30±1.95, Mpost=5.90±1.29; p < 0.01), SSBC content (Mpre= 5.15±2.23, Mpost =8.60±0.94; p < 0.01), and T2D (Mpre =6.95±1.57, Mpost =8.25±0.72; p < 0.01), in addition to self-efficacy to deliver the program (Mpre =7.93±1.51, Mpost=9.01±1.00; p < 0.01) all significantly increased from pre- to post e-learning training. Participants reported positively on the user satisfaction and feedback questionnaire with a mean score of 4.58/5 (SD = 0.36) across the five levels of satisfaction. These findings suggest e-learning platforms are a promising mode of training to teach diabetes prevention program knowledge, counselling skills, and to bolster confidence to deliver diabetes prevention programs, with high levels of satisfaction among users. This e-learning platform will allow SSBC to effectively train coaches and permit feasible expansion of SSBC, ultimately reaching more adults living with prediabetes.

Text

2022-08-17

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82385

Health and Exercise Sciences

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/