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Virtual Education Program to Support Providers Caring for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Development and Evaluation Study

BACKGROUND: People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at increased health-related risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual training programs that support providers in caring for the physical and mental health needs of this population, as well provide psychological support to the...

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Autores principales: Thakur, Anupam, Pereira, Cheryl, Hardy, Jenny, Bobbette, Nicole, Sockalingam, Sanjeev, Lunsky, Yona
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8500346/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34617917
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/28933
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author Thakur, Anupam
Pereira, Cheryl
Hardy, Jenny
Bobbette, Nicole
Sockalingam, Sanjeev
Lunsky, Yona
author_facet Thakur, Anupam
Pereira, Cheryl
Hardy, Jenny
Bobbette, Nicole
Sockalingam, Sanjeev
Lunsky, Yona
author_sort Thakur, Anupam
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at increased health-related risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual training programs that support providers in caring for the physical and mental health needs of this population, as well provide psychological support to the providers themselves, are needed during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the design, delivery, and evaluation of a virtual educational COVID-19–focused Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes program to support providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in caring for the mental health of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. METHODS: A rapid design thinking approach was used to develop a 6-session program that incorporates mindfulness practice, a wellness check, COVID-19–related research and policy updates, a didactic presentation on a combination mental health and COVID-19 related topic, and a case-based discussion to encourage practical learning. We used the first 5 outcome levels of Moore’s evaluation framework—focusing on participation, satisfaction, learning, self-efficacy, and change in practice—which were rated (out of 5) by care providers from health and disability service sectors, as well as additional reflection measures about innovations to the program. Qualitative feedback from open-text responses from participants were analyzed using modified manifest content analysis. RESULTS: A total of 104 care providers from health and disability service sectors participated in the program. High levels of engagement (81 participants per session on average) and satisfaction (overall satisfaction score: mean 4.31, SD 0.17) were observed. Self-efficacy (score improvement: 19.8%), support, and coping improved. Participants also rated the newly developed COVID-19 program and its innovative components highly. Open text feedback showed participants felt that the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes program expanded their knowledge and competency and created a sense of being part of a community of practice; provided value for the COVID-19 innovations; supported resource-sharing within and beyond program participants; and facilitated changes to participants’ approaches to client care in practice and increased participants’ confidence in supporting clients and families. CONCLUSIONS: The Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes program is an effective model for capacity-building programs with a shared-learning approach. Future iterations should include targeted evaluation of long-term outcomes such as staff burnout.
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spelling pubmed-85003462021-11-01 Virtual Education Program to Support Providers Caring for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Development and Evaluation Study Thakur, Anupam Pereira, Cheryl Hardy, Jenny Bobbette, Nicole Sockalingam, Sanjeev Lunsky, Yona JMIR Ment Health Original Paper BACKGROUND: People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at increased health-related risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual training programs that support providers in caring for the physical and mental health needs of this population, as well provide psychological support to the providers themselves, are needed during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the design, delivery, and evaluation of a virtual educational COVID-19–focused Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes program to support providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in caring for the mental health of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. METHODS: A rapid design thinking approach was used to develop a 6-session program that incorporates mindfulness practice, a wellness check, COVID-19–related research and policy updates, a didactic presentation on a combination mental health and COVID-19 related topic, and a case-based discussion to encourage practical learning. We used the first 5 outcome levels of Moore’s evaluation framework—focusing on participation, satisfaction, learning, self-efficacy, and change in practice—which were rated (out of 5) by care providers from health and disability service sectors, as well as additional reflection measures about innovations to the program. Qualitative feedback from open-text responses from participants were analyzed using modified manifest content analysis. RESULTS: A total of 104 care providers from health and disability service sectors participated in the program. High levels of engagement (81 participants per session on average) and satisfaction (overall satisfaction score: mean 4.31, SD 0.17) were observed. Self-efficacy (score improvement: 19.8%), support, and coping improved. Participants also rated the newly developed COVID-19 program and its innovative components highly. Open text feedback showed participants felt that the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes program expanded their knowledge and competency and created a sense of being part of a community of practice; provided value for the COVID-19 innovations; supported resource-sharing within and beyond program participants; and facilitated changes to participants’ approaches to client care in practice and increased participants’ confidence in supporting clients and families. CONCLUSIONS: The Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes program is an effective model for capacity-building programs with a shared-learning approach. Future iterations should include targeted evaluation of long-term outcomes such as staff burnout. JMIR Publications 2021-10-07 /pmc/articles/PMC8500346/ /pubmed/34617917 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/28933 Text en ©Anupam Thakur, Cheryl Pereira, Jenny Hardy, Nicole Bobbette, Sanjeev Sockalingam, Yona Lunsky. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (https://mental.jmir.org), 07.10.2021. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Mental Health, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://mental.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Thakur, Anupam
Pereira, Cheryl
Hardy, Jenny
Bobbette, Nicole
Sockalingam, Sanjeev
Lunsky, Yona
Virtual Education Program to Support Providers Caring for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Development and Evaluation Study
title Virtual Education Program to Support Providers Caring for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Development and Evaluation Study
title_full Virtual Education Program to Support Providers Caring for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Development and Evaluation Study
title_fullStr Virtual Education Program to Support Providers Caring for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Development and Evaluation Study
title_full_unstemmed Virtual Education Program to Support Providers Caring for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Development and Evaluation Study
title_short Virtual Education Program to Support Providers Caring for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rapid Development and Evaluation Study
title_sort virtual education program to support providers caring for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities during the covid-19 pandemic: rapid development and evaluation study
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8500346/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34617917
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/28933
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