Caring for Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: A Mixed Study Evaluation of eLearning Modules Designed for Family Physicians
Keywords:
spinal cord injury; eLearning; family medicine; residents; curriculumAbstract
Family physicians often do not feel comfortable or have the
knowledge or experience to adequately treat and manage the needs of
persons with Spinal Cord Injury. An eLearning resource was designed
to provide family physicians with accessible information to facilitate
their treatment of persons with Spinal Cord Injury. Methods: This study
evaluated the effectiveness of eLearning modules with regard to
meeting the learning needs of family medicine residents treating
individuals with spinal cord injury. A mixed methods approach,
involved collecting and analyzing data from post module quantitative
surveys and qualitative interviews. The constructs of the W(e)Learn
framework guided data analysis. Findings: Family medicine residents
reported they enjoyed the learning experience, learned new information and raised their awareness of specific health care needs with regard to
treating and managing persons with spinal cord injury. Residents
confirmed designing the resource to be accessed anytime and anywhere
will enable them to retrieve information on a need to know basis. A few
residents provided examples of how they applied information they
learned as a result of completing the resource. Conclusion: Effectively
designed eLearning modules that address learner needs can be a viable
approach to providing information to physicians regarding treating and
managing persons with spinal cord injury.
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Copyright (c) 2015 Colla J. MacDonald, Jamie Milligan, Tara Jeji, Kaitlin Mathias, Hugh Kellam, Jane Gaffney
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