Bridging the gap: national virtual education programme for professionals caring for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities at the time of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the mental health of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). During this period of uncertainty and need for up-to-date information, various virtual training programmes demonstrated the role of tele-mentoring programmes. AIM: The aim of this paper is to describe the educational evaluation of the National Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes - Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ECHO-AIDD), a programme for service providers working with adults with IDD during COVID-19. METHOD: The programme consisted of six sessions, conducted weekly, over two cycles. Each session included didactic teaching by hub team members, COVID-19 news updates, wellness check-ins and a brief mindfulness activity, followed by a 30 to 45 min case-based discussion. The hub structure had an inter-professional approach to team expertise. Those with lived experience were an integral part of the content experts' hub. Pre-, post- and follow-up evaluation data were collected. RESULTS: Care providers from health and social care sectors (n = 230) participated in the programme. High levels of engagement and satisfaction were reported. Self-efficacy ratings improved from pre- to post-, and were maintained at 8-week follow-up; improvement from pre- to post- was significant (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Exposure to National ECHO-AIDD educational intervention led to improvement in perceived competencies. This study also shows the valuable role of people with lived experience in fostering adaptive expertise in learners. The outreach and scalability support the feasibility of building a national virtual community of practice for IDD service providers. Future studies should focus on studying the impact of these programmes on the health outcomes of people with IDD.

Exploring the Impact of ECHO Ontario Integrated Mental and Physical Health on Participants' Approach and Attitude Toward the Care of Patients With Complex Needs.

OBJECTIVE: To examine how project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes-Integrated Mental and Physical Health (ECHO-IMPH) influences the attitudes and approaches of primary care providers and other participants towards patients. METHODS: An exploratory qualitative approach was undertaken using semistructured interviews conducted between August 2020 and March 2021. One hundred and sixty-four individuals from two cycles of ECHO-IMPH were invited to participate, and 22 (n = 22) agreed to participate. Data were analyzed using the Braun and Clarke method for thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three major themes were identified: 1) enhanced knowledge and skills; 2) changes in attitude and approach; 3) space for reflection and exploration. When participants were asked about areas for improvement, suggestions were focused on the structure of the sessions. Participants identified that ECHO-IMPH helped them to view patients more holistically, which led to greater patient-centered care in their practice. Additionally, skills gained in ECHO-IMPH gave participants the concrete tools needed to have more empathetic interactions with patients with complex needs. CONCLUSIONS: ECHO-IMPH created a safe space for participants to reflect on their practice with patients with complex needs. Participants applied newly acquired knowledge and skills to provide more empathetic and patient-centered care for patients with complex needs. Based on the shift in perspectives described by participants, transformative learning theory was proposed as a model for how ECHO-IMPH created change in participants' practice.

A questionnaire survey of students' perceptions of nurse tutor teaching in a clinical skills learning programme.

Changes in medical education and in the environments in which students learn have brought about new ways of learning in undergraduate medical curricula. Amongst these have been the establishment of courses in clinical skills learning to address concerns of deficient skills amongst newly qualified doctors. Curriculum reform at Liverpool, UK, included extensive and early learning of clinical skills. Nurse tutors provide full-time teaching support in a single Clinical Skills Resource Centre. They work alongside medically qualified tutors in delivering a clinical skills learning programme. This study aimed to explore students' opinion of nurses teaching clinical skills and to compare that to their opinion of teaching by medically qualified clinicians. A questionnaire survey was used to gain the views of 206 first-year medical students. Overall, students were strongly supportive in their opinion of nurse tutors. Some small statistically significant differences are probably of little or no educational significance. This role for nurses stresses the importance of interprofessional teachers in undergraduate healthcare education.