Implementation of the hybrid course on basic wheelchair service provision for Colombian wheelchair service providers

Abstract

IntroductionPeople with mobility impairments often rely on wheelchairs as their primary means of mobility. Untrained wheelchair service providers may provide inappropriate wheelchairs and services which result in negative consequences in wheelchair users’ health, quality of life, safety, and social participation. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the Spanish Hybrid Course on Basic Wheelchair Service Provision, a training based on the World Health Organization’s Wheelchair Service Training Program-Basic Level, to increase knowledge in basic level wheelchair service provision among a group of wheelchair service providers from Colombia. In addition, we developed a satisfaction survey which participants completed after the training to understand levels of satisfaction with the training intervention.MethodsA quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate changes in basic level wheelchair knowledge using the Wheelchair Service Provision–Basic Test. Paired sample t tests were used to assess pre-and post-training changes in basic level wheelchair knowledge. The Hybrid Satisfaction Survey was developed in collaboration with a multidisciplinary, international stakeholders’ group. The survey’s construct of interest was level of satisfaction determined by interaction, instructor, instruction methodology, content, and technology, using a five-point Likert scale (0 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree). The survey was completed anonymously after the training intervention and analyzed using frequencies and percentages.ResultsFifteen wheelchair service providers in Colombia completed the Spanish Hybrid Course. Mean post-scores were significantly higher (Mean (M) = 56.13, Standard Deviation (SD) = 7.8), than pre-assessment scores (M = 50.07, SD = 8.38, t(14) = 4.923, p = <0.0001). Participants who completed the surveys (N = 15) reported that the Spanish Hybrid Course was well received, with 98.66% of responses distributed in favorable levels (>3).ConclusionsThe Spanish Hybrid Course proved to be effective in increasing basic level wheelchair knowledge with a high satisfaction level among participants. Further testing is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this course across different individuals and countries as a potential tool to build professional capacity in basic level wheelchair provision.

Final Year Students’ Knowledge on Basic Manual Wheelchair Provision: The State of Occupational Therapy Programs in Colombia

“…In addition, the university professors could base the strengthening of the content and learning activities, on the Seating and Mobility Academic Resource Toolkit (SMART; http:// smart.wheelchairnetwork.org/) and its Academic Training Partners community offered by the ISWP which has some resources in Spanish [10,36,37]. Instructors and programs can consider integrating the new content using blended methodologies (online + in − person), which have been proven to have an increase in knowledge for manual wheelchair training [17,18,38]. Last, other resources freely available in Spanish include the WHO Wheelchair Service Training Package series that includes a Training of Trainers package with useful teaching methodologies [39][40][41][42][43].…”

“…Occupational therapists (OTs) are recognized as professionals for whom "assistive technology provision is a core competency" and thus should receive adequate training to meet the mobility needs of people with disabilities through adequate provision [11]. However, global evidence suggests that wheelchair-related content currently taught is not consistent and may be limited, both in high-income [12,13] and LMIC countries alike [14,15], albeit facing different challenges, despite development and dissemination of open-source capacity-building resources for wheelchair services [10,[16][17][18]. Nonetheless, some progress has been reported by rehabilitation training programs including occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and prosthetics and orthotics (P&O) training in certain regions [19,20].…”

Comparing the effectiveness of a hybrid and in-person courses of wheelchair service provision knowledge: A controlled quasi-experimental study in India and Mexico

“…This group followed the methodology implemented in previous studies [22, 31] that consisted of the completion of baseline assessments, two consecutive weeks of online training followed by three days of in-person training and the collection of follow-up assessments (Table 2). During the online training, participants reviewed the content and completed all required activities asynchronously that have been described elsewhere (e.g., discussion boards, case studies, short quizzes, videos, interactive activities) [22].…”

“…This type of learning has proved to be as effective as in-person learning in medical education [24, 27–29] and a feasible solution to overcome knowledge dissemination barriers in less-resourced areas [30]. In 2016, ISWP developed a Hybrid Course based on the WHO WSTP-B in English and Spanish with the scope to support efficient content delivery, decrease cost associated with leading the training, and increase access [22, 31]. The Hybrid Course uses a blended learning methodology that combines 9 online modules designed for low-bandwidth internet access which reduces the in-person training exposure to 3 days, making it easier to scale and more adaptable to different training environments such as conferences and continue educational programs at universities) [22].…”

“…The Hybrid Course uses a blended learning methodology that combines 9 online modules designed for low-bandwidth internet access which reduces the in-person training exposure to 3 days, making it easier to scale and more adaptable to different training environments such as conferences and continue educational programs at universities) [22]. The Hybrid Course has been tested in English [22] and Spanish [31] reporting a statistically significant increase on the Basic Test total score in both languages [22, 31]. While these results offer some evidence of the potential effectiveness of the Hybrid Course to train wheelchair service providers, the course has not been compared with the standard methodology of in-person training recommended by the WHO WSTP-B, nor is there evidence of the effectiveness of the in-person training approach.…”