Online communities of practice as a communication resource for community health nurses working with homeless persons

Valaitis, Ruta; Akhtar–Danesh, Noori; Brooks, Fiona; Binks, Sally; Semogas, Dyanne

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05582.x

Cited by 46 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Communication options in most studies included an asynchronous method, either by email or discussion boards [23,24,26,28,34,37,39,42], while some studies used these with a mix of features including chat, content sharing and synchronous web-meetings [23,34,35,39]. Email reminders were also suggested to be useful [26,37,41].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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General practice training and virtual communities of practice - a review of the literature

et al. 2012

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BackgroundGood General Practice is essential for an effective health system. Good General Practice training is essential to sustain the workforce, however training for General Practice can be hampered by a number of pressures, including professional, structural and social isolation. General Practice trainees may be under more pressure than fully registered General Practitioners, and yet isolation can lead doctors to reduce hours and move away from rural practice. Virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) in business have been shown to be effective in improving knowledge sharing, thus reducing professional and structural isolation. This literature review will critically examine the current evidence relevant to virtual communities of practice in General Practice training, identify evidence-based principles that might guide their construction and suggest further avenues for research.MethodsMajor online databases Scopus, Psychlit and Pubmed were searched for the terms “Community of Practice” (CoP) AND (Online OR Virtual OR Electronic) AND (health OR healthcare OR medicine OR “Allied Health”). Only peer-reviewed journal articles in English were selected. A total of 76 articles were identified, with 23 meeting the inclusion criteria. There were no studies on CoP or VCoP in General Practice training. The review was structured using a framework of six themes for establishing communities of practice, derived from a key study from the business literature. This framework has been used to analyse the literature to determine whether similar themes are present in the health literature and to identify evidence in support of virtual communities of practice for General Practice training.ResultsThe framework developed by Probst is mirrored in the health literature, albeit with some variations. In particular the roles of facilitator or moderator and leader whilst overlapping, are different. VCoPs are usually collaborations between stakeholders rather than single company VCoPs. Specific goals are important, but in specialised health fields sometimes less important than in business. Boundary spanning can involve the interactions of different professional groups, as well as using external experts seen in business VCoPs. There was less use of measurement in health VCoPs. Environments must be supportive as well as risk free. Additional findings were that ease of use of technology is paramount and it is desirable for VCoPs to blend online and face-to-face involvement.ConclusionsThe business themes of leadership, sponsorship, objectives and goals, boundary spanning, risk-free environment and measurements become, in the health literature, facilitation, champion and support, objectives and goals, a broad church, supportive environment, measurement benchmarking and feedback, and technology and community.General Practice training is under pressure from isolation and virtual communities of practice may be a way of overcoming isolation. The health literature supports, with some variation, the business CoP framework developed by Probst. Further re...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies used passwords [28,42] though lost passwords and online delivery created barriers for others [37,39,40]. The online environment was of real benefit to most [24,27,35], though one study found that the culture of face-to-face interaction amongst nurses was a barrier to use of online environments [30].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

General practice training and virtual communities of practice - a review of the literature

et al. 2012

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“…The increased connectedness that results from information and communication technologies (ICT) has overcome geographic barriers of rural or widely dispersed health practitioners, with variable access to peers, specialists, and information resources in other disciplines [6-8]. These tools can facilitate the evolution of virtual “communities of practice” (VCoP) [9], groups of individuals who share interests and expertise through online collaboration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Value of Technology to Stimulate Interprofessional Discussion and Education: A Needs Assessment of Emergency Medicine Professionals

Riley¹,

McGowan²,

Rozmovits³

2014

J Med Internet Res

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BackgroundThe emergency department (ED) is an environment fraught with increasing patient volumes, competing priorities, fluctuating information, and ad hoc interprofessional clinical teams. Limited time is available to reflect on and discuss clinical experiences, policies, or research with others on the involved team. Online resources, such as webcasts and blogs, offer an accessible platform for emergency shift workers to engage in interprofessional discussion and education.ObjectiveOur objective was to explore the current opportunities for shared learning and discussion and to discover the potential of online resources to foster and facilitate interprofessional education within an academic tertiary emergency department community.MethodsA qualitative study using semistructured interviews was conducted to solicit participants’ views of the current culture of IPE in the ED, the potential value of introducing new online resources and technology in support of IPE, and possible barriers to uptake. Participation was voluntary and participants provided verbal informed consent.ResultsOnline resources discussed included webcasts, interactive discussion forums, websites, and dashboard with links to central repositories. Identified barriers to uptake of new online resources were an unwillingness to “work” off-shift, a dislike of static one-directional communication, concerns with confidentiality, and the suggestion that new resources would be used by only a select few.ConclusionsOwing to the sensitive dynamics of emergency medicine—and the preference among its professional staff to foster interprofessional discussion and education through personal engagement, in an unhurried, non-stressful environment—introducing and investing in online resources should be undertaken with caution.

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“…This was done to understand key elements about the role that online CoPs had played in other related health contexts. Studies in community health nursing [10],m e n t a lh e a l t h research [32], orthopaedic surgery [33],i d e n t i fied that online CoPs help to promote dialogue and networking among health professionals online without needing face-to face commitments. Therefore participating in online discussion saved time and strengthened peer support that would otherwise be unavailable to practitioners who worked in isolated circumstances.…”

Section: Stage 1: Developing a Middle Range Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the health context, CoPs that allow health practitioners share best practices virtually have become an important mechanism for supporting practice among those who may be geographically dispersed in nursing, community health nursing, psychiatry, among others [8][9][10][11][12].A d v a n c e si ni n t e r n e t and intranet based applications have facilitated the conversion of tacit-explicit knowledge by allowing practitioners to express their own everyday experiences, key issues, ideas and reflections of practice through online forums, blogs and discussion forums [13]. Members participate in these online CoPs by reading or posting, sharing and adapting, applying and improving, reflecting and sharing their reflection, collaborating and assisting others [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformation of health visiting services in England using an Online Community of Practice

Ikioda

Kendall

2016

Health Policy and Technology

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At the heart of health visiting practice has been the emphasis on ensuring that healthcare services transferred to and commissioned by local authorities, deliver successfully on the Healthy Child programme. And while part of that focus has been on increasing numbers in the health visiting workforce, there has also been a renewed strategy in health policy to enhance continued professional development (CPD) of the workforce through innovative tools that will transform, improve and deliver services in response to the six high impact areas. This paper describes the use and evaluation of such a tool that was developed in the form of an Online Community of Practice to enhance and support practitioners to share issues, resolve recurring problems and collaborate to share best practices and robust evidence around the six high impact areas. The posts of 250 health visitors who shared, managed and co-produced knowledge online over a 2-year period were explored using realist evaluation techniques. Results showed that the success of online CoPs as interventions to improve and transform healthcare practice around the six high impact areas is promising. Participating in online discussion saved time and strengthened and improved support from peers that would otherwise be unavailable to geographically distributed practitioners. The advantage of a secure virtual environment allowed health visitors to discuss key issues arising from everyday practice as a coherent professional group, which in turn produced peer reviewed knowledge that prioritised clients' needs in relation to local community needs.

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Online communities of practice as a communication resource for community health nurses working with homeless persons

Cited by 46 publications

References 48 publications

General practice training and virtual communities of practice - a review of the literature

General practice training and virtual communities of practice - a review of the literature

Exploring the Value of Technology to Stimulate Interprofessional Discussion and Education: A Needs Assessment of Emergency Medicine Professionals

Transformation of health visiting services in England using an Online Community of Practice

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