Open Collections

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

Rapid Implementation and Evaluation of Virtual Health Training in a Subspecialty Hospital in British Columbia, in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Hassani, Kasra; McElroy, Theresa; Coop, Melissa; Pellegrin, Joelle; Wu, Wan Ling; Janke, Rita; Johnson, L. Kit

Abstract

Introduction: Adoption of virtual health (VH) solutions in healthcare has been challenging; this changed rapidly after implementation of physical distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, British Columbia’s Children’s and Women’s sub-specialty hospitals rapidly trained and scaled up support to equip staff and clinicians to use VH. Methods: Ninety-minute live online training workshops and frequently updated online support materials were offered for 6 weeks. Training was monitored via feedback collected at training sessions and a brief post-training survey. After training completion, a second survey was circulated to measure utilization outcomes and experiences with VH. Results: Eight hundred and ninety-five participants representing 82% of staff requiring support were trained through 101 sessions; 348 (38.9%) and 272 (30.4%) responses were collected for the monitoring and outcome surveys, respectively. Overall, 89% agreed that training was relevant to their needs; participants indicated average 58.1% (SD = 26.6) and 60.6% (SD = 25.2) increase in knowledge and confidence in VH after training; 90.1% had booked or conducted VH sessions. Increase in confidence was more pronounced in participants with lesser previous exposure to VH, but number of sessions conducted post-training and percentage of successful sessions were independent of previous exposure. For future training and support, participants suggested subject-tailored trainings, asynchronous trainings, and availability of experienced users. Discussion: Training is key to success of VH implementation. Moving forward, core competencies in VH should be developed to support standardization and allow for evaluation and quality improvement. Incorporation of VH training in continuous professional development and onboarding is also highly recommended.

Item Metadata

Title
Rapid Implementation and Evaluation of Virtual Health Training in a Subspecialty Hospital in British Columbia, in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Creator
Hassani, Kasra; McElroy, Theresa; Coop, Melissa; Pellegrin, Joelle; Wu, Wan Ling; Janke, Rita; Johnson, L. Kit
Contributor
Provincial Health Services Authority (B.C.); Children's Hospital (Vancouver, B.C.). Research Institute
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Date Issued
2021-05-19
Description
Introduction: Adoption of virtual health (VH) solutions in healthcare has been challenging; this changed rapidly after implementation of physical distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, British Columbia’s Children’s and Women’s sub-specialty hospitals rapidly trained and scaled up support to equip staff and clinicians to use VH. Methods: Ninety-minute live online training workshops and frequently updated online support materials were offered for 6 weeks. Training was monitored via feedback collected at training sessions and a brief post-training survey. After training completion, a second survey was circulated to measure utilization outcomes and experiences with VH. Results: Eight hundred and ninety-five participants representing 82% of staff requiring support were trained through 101 sessions; 348 (38.9%) and 272 (30.4%) responses were collected for the monitoring and outcome surveys, respectively. Overall, 89% agreed that training was relevant to their needs; participants indicated average 58.1% (SD = 26.6) and 60.6% (SD = 25.2) increase in knowledge and confidence in VH after training; 90.1% had booked or conducted VH sessions. Increase in confidence was more pronounced in participants with lesser previous exposure to VH, but number of sessions conducted post-training and percentage of successful sessions were independent of previous exposure. For future training and support, participants suggested subject-tailored trainings, asynchronous trainings, and availability of experienced users. Discussion: Training is key to success of VH implementation. Moving forward, core competencies in VH should be developed to support standardization and allow for evaluation and quality improvement. Incorporation of VH training in continuous professional development and onboarding is also highly recommended.
Subject
Implementation; Evaluation; Telehealth; Training; Capacity building; Virtual health
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2021-06-21
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0398477
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/78739
Affiliation
Medicine, Faculty of; Non UBC; Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Department of
Citation
Hassani, K., McElroy, T., Coop, M., Pellegrin, J., Wu, W. L., Janke, R. D., & Johnson, L. K. (2021). Rapid implementation and evaluation of virtual health training in a subspecialty hospital in British Columbia, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 9, 638070-638070.
Publisher DOI
10.3389/fped.2021.638070
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Copyright Holder
Authors
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

Item Media

Item Citations and Data

Rights

Attribution 4.0 International