Evaluation of three population health capacity building projects delivered by videoconferencing in NSW

Abstract

Three population health projects in falls prevention, smoking cessation and refugee health secured funding through the NSW Telehealth Initiative. All were capacity building projects delivered through live videoconferencing sessions between April and August 2007. Videoconferencing as a mode of delivery was evaluated from the perspective of those who delivered the projects. Method: Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 12 key informants explored for each project: the organisation and delivery of the education sessions; the utility of videoconferencing for delivering training programs; and the perceived potential to apply videoconferencing to other functions. Results: The projects were all delivered successfully through live videoconferencing. The main benefits observed were: the ability to deliver training to large numbers of people across multiple locations within a relatively short time and for reasonable costs; and the ability to improve access to high quality professional development for rural and remote workers. Technical difficulties were minor. The support required for these kinds of e-learning projects to succeed were identified. Conclusion: The evaluation confirmed the value of videoconferencing as a vehicle through which equity of access to learning opportunities for population health workers across NSW can be achieved. In 2005, the NSW Telehealth Initiative called for submissions for innovation projects through the Telehealth Innovation Fund, and for the first time sought applications for population health interventions. Three population health projects were subsequently successful in securing funding. These projects sought to build the capacity of the health workforce to provide population health interventions and were delivered through live videoconferencing sessions between April and August 2007. Videoconferencing is a technology that involves the transmission of images, voice and data between two or more sites using telecommunication channels; through the extensive Telehealth network hundreds of videoconference sites have been established across the eight area health services (AHSs) in New South Wales (NSW) for the delivery of clinical services and administrative and professional development activities. 1,2 A condition of funding was that videoconferencing as a mode of delivery was evaluated from the perspective of those who delivered the projects. This article describes the findings of the evaluation. Jacq Hackett The three projects Preventing falls and harm from falls in older peopleFall injury is a major cause of preventable injury-related hospitalisation and loss of independence among people aged 65 years and over in NSW. The NSW Clinical Excellence Commission implemented the Falls Prevention Telehealth Project to assist hospitals in rural AHSs to implement the National Guidelines (Preventing falls and harm from falls in older people. Best practice guidelines for Australian hospitals and residential aged care facilities) developed by the Australian Council for Safety and Quality ...

Enhancing Access to Cancer Education for Rural Healthcare Providers via Telehealth

“…This finding was similar to those of other studies evaluating the use of videoconferencing in delivering professional continuing education to rural healthcare providers [8–11]. …”

“…Telehealth videoconferencing is a viable alternative to attending educational programs presented at distant locations. As indicated by other professional educational programs [11–14], videoconferencing technology offers rural healthcare providers a cost-effective alternative for continuing education, and eliminates geographic disincentives to attending distant programs.…”

“…Technical difficulties with videoconference delivery of education to rural healthcare providers are typically be minor [9, 11]. However, seating participants so that they are all visible to the speaker is important [9].…”

Capacitação em saúde auditiva: avaliação da ferramenta no Programa de Telessaúde Brasil

“…When asked about their impression of the training program on health hearing, there was almost a draw between satisfied and very satisfied ACS (51 to 48%).International studies 16,17 show that this method is useful and broadly used in health care, which shows participants satisfaction in general terms. In Brazil, a 2010 18 study showed that ACS's opinion about videoconference for health hearing training was welcome and met the Ministry of Health's requirements, which has taken measures to assist Family Health teams to provide full and quality care to the Brazilian population.…”

Opinião dos agentes comunitários de saúde sobre o uso da videoconferência na capacitação em saúde auditiva infantil

“…Conclusão: a videoconferência foi uma ferramenta válida e aceita pelos profissionais estudados para ser utilizada em programas de capacitação em saúde auditiva infantil. A videoconferência como instrumento frente às atividades de educação permanente em saúde é recente no país [4][5] , mas experiências internacionais acumuladas até o presente momento evidenciaram não somente resultados positivos, com a mudança do comportamento do profissional após a capacitação, como também grande aceitação do recurso tecnológico para estas atividades [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . Na Portaria SAS n o .…”