Feasibility of Virtual Focus Groups in Program Impact Evaluation

Effective factors in planning, implementation, and management of educational program evaluation in medical sciences: A practical guide

BACKGROUND

Educational program evaluation is a complex issue, and it is essential to have knowledge of the potential challenges and solutions during the whole process. The present study aimed to identify the influential components in planning, implementation, and evaluation management of educational programs in medical sciences and then provide an applied guide to guarantee the best possible evaluation by evaluators of educational programs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This descriptive study was conducted in three steps. First, the effective components in planning, implementation, and evaluation management of educational programs in medical sciences were reviewed. Second, experts' opinion was asked through a focus group discussion regarding the mentioned components. Third, regarding the complied applied guide, the opinions of 40 medical educationist and program evaluation experts were investigated using a checklist.

RESULTS

An applied guide for planning, implementation, and evaluation management of educational programs in medical sciences consists of eight stages: determining the evaluation questions and standards, determining the type of information required, determining resources to collect information, determining methods and tools to collect information, determining data analysis methods, determining the timing and frequency of reporting, determining the appropriate ways of reporting, and determining strategies to maintain the cooperation of data sources.

CONCLUSION

The spread of educational programs in medical sciences universities leads to an increasing need for program evaluation to provide evidence of their effectiveness and improvement. The present research provided an applied guide to make the evaluation of educational programs feasible by using a set of concepts, principles, methods, theories, and models.

Stakeholders' Perspective on the Key Features of Printed Educational Resources to Improve the Quality of Clinical Communication

Social and healthcare professionals often feel ill equipped to effectively engage in difficult conversations with patients, and poor proficiency negatively affects the quality of patient care. Printed educational resources (PERs) that provide guidance on sustaining complex clinical communication may be a source of support if thoughtfully designed. This study aimed to describe the key features of PERs in order to improve the quality of clinical communication according to the perspective of meaningful stakeholders. This was a descriptive secondary analysis of data collected by three remote focus group discussions that involved 15 stakeholders in the context of developing an educational booklet to support professionals in complex communication scenarios. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and an inductive thematic analysis was performed. Three key features of PERs that aim toward quality improvement in clinical communication were identified: (1) having the potential to provide benefits in clinical practice; (2) facilitating, encouraging, and enticing reading; and (3) meeting the need of professionals to improve or update their knowledge. These findings suggest that PERs relevant to professionals' clinical priorities and learning needs may make their efforts to apply learning in practice more likely and consequently result in improved healthcare quality.

Developing criteria for a profession to be considered as profession of allied health in Malaysia: a qualitative study from the Malaysian perspective

BACKGROUND

The Malaysian Allied Health Profession Act (Act 774) regulates the practice of allied health practitioners in Malaysia, with two described professions viz. allied health profession (AHP) and profession of allied health (PAH). While AHPs have been clearly identified by the law, comprehensive implementation of the act requires development of specific criteria in defining any profession as PAH in the Malaysian context. Hence, the research aims to explore and identify the criteria for defining such professions for healthcare policy direction in Malaysia.

METHODS

This research utilised two methods of qualitative research (document review and focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 25 participants from four stakeholders (higher education providers, employers, associations and regulatory bodies). Both deductive and inductive thematic content analysis were used to explore, develop and define emergent codes, examined along with existing knowledge on the subject matter.

RESULTS

Sixteen codes emerged from the FGDs, with risk of harm, set of competency and skills, formal qualification, defined scope of practice, relevant training and professional working within the healthcare team being the six most frequent codes. The frequencies for these six codes were 62, 46, 40, 37, 36 and 18, correspondingly. The risk of harm towards patients was directly or indirectly involved with patient handling and also relates to the potential harms that may implicate the practitioners themselves in performing their responsibilities as the important criterion highlighted in the present research, followed by set of competency and skills.

CONCLUSIONS

For defining the PAH in Malaysia, the emerged criteria appear interrelated and co-exist in milieu, especially for the risk of harm and set of competency and skills, with no single criterion that can define PAH fully. Hence, the integration of all the empirically identified criteria must be considered to adequately define the PAH. As such, the findings must be duly considered by policymakers in performing suitable consolidation of healthcare governance to formulate the appropriate regulations and policies for promoting the enhanced framework of allied health practitioners in Malaysia.

Let's Learn Together! A Mixed-Methods Study to Assess Readiness for Interprofessional Education on Total Worker Health® Practice

BACKGROUND

Occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals increasingly need interdisciplinary collaborative practice competencies to respond to complex worker safety, health, and well-being risks. Effective collaboration with non-OSH-trained professionals (e.g., health promotion, human resources) is critical for planning integrated interventions that address work and non-work risks, consistent with a "Total Worker Health" (TWH) approach. Interprofessional education (IPE) pedagogy offers skill-building for interdisciplinary collaboration, but little attention has been given to IPE in OSH education and training literature. The goal of this study was to assess OSH professionals' perceptions about IPE to guide application in postgraduate TWH education.

METHODS

The mixed-methods study involved 210 U.S. professionals in safety (31%), industrial hygiene (16%), occupational nursing (12%) and medicine (11%), and related disciplines (30%). Participants completed a 12-item Readiness for Interprofessional Education Scale (RIPLS) adapted for TWH. Nineteen survey-takers also participated in virtual focus groups to share opinions about IPE benefits, barriers, and desirable course features.

FINDINGS

Occupational safety and health professionals reported high overall readiness for IPE (RIPLS, 4.45 ± 0.47), endorsing IPE for interdisciplinary skill-building. Salient IPE motivators were learning new perspectives from diverse disciplines and industries; gaining new subject expertise; developing common ground across disciplines; and learning TWH best practices. Participants recommended case studies to practice interdisciplinary problem-solving through group work.

CONCLUSIONS/APPLICATION TO PRACTICE

Interprofessional education is a promising pedagogy for OSH continuing education to promote interdisciplinary collaboration skills needed for TWH practice in the workplace. Occupational safety and health educators need to build competency in IPE pedagogical theory and practice to ensure effective training design and evaluation.

"I guess it's quite trendy": A qualitative insight into young meat-eaters' sustainable food consumption habits and perceptions towards current and future protein alternatives

As the market for sustainable food continues to expand, there is a need to understand how consumers' consumption habits and perceptions are changing. Targeting the younger populations is of interest as they arguably will shape the future of food. Therefore, the present study aimed to provide in-depth consumer insights on a range of topics from current consumption habits (i.e., meat reduction, plant-based meat/seafood (PBM/S)), towards future protein alternatives (i.e., cell-based meat/seafood (CBM/S), precision fermented dairy (PFD)). Online focus groups were conducted in the UK with meat-eaters (n = 38) aged 18-34. Codebook thematic analysis was applied using the Framework Matrix as a tool for data analysis. Key themes were presented using the COM-B model (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation), which identified areas of behavioural change. Results found a trend towards meat reduction, partially initiated by moving away from home and limited food budgets. Overall, participants acknowledged the environmental impact of food, but a notable knowledge gap was apparent when quantifying the effect, especially for dairy and seafood. Compared to PBM, few participants had tried PBS products, partially due to lower availability and familiarity. Enablers for PBM/S included convenience, positive sensory experiences and the influence of others, whilst barriers related to negative health connotations and over-processing. For CBM/S and PFD, animal welfare, curiosity and optimised nutrition acted as enablers, whilst barriers related to wider consumer acceptance, affordability and unnaturalness. In general, participants felt changing food consumption habits can have an impact on climate change and were optimistic about novel technologies supporting future protein transitions. Increasing public understanding around the environmental impact of food, especially seafood and dairy, and prioritising the affordability of sustainable food are suggested as intervention strategies to encourage sustainable food consumption.

Dematerialized participation challenges: Methods and practices for online focus groups

This study explores the limitations and benefits of different approaches to conducting online focus groups and illustrates an online focus group protocol used within the Value for Schools project in Italy. According to the project evaluation design, 13 online focus groups were organized, with the participation of 101 teachers and 37 school principals. The protocol setup, incorporation, and reorganization of the indications have been discussed in the literature, addressing the methodological and practical issues, such as the selection of participants and preliminary communication with them; the web conference platform (Zoom Business); timing, as well as access times and mode; the roles of the researchers involved (moderator, co-host technical assistant, co-host-observer, co-host-animator) and their integration spaces; technological support; and animation tools. The recording and transcription tools and subsequent analysis of the textual corpus are presented. Finally, the authors discuss the validation and reliability of online focus group protocols.

Framing the futures of animal-free dairy: Using focus groups to explore early-adopter perceptions of the precision fermentation process

This paper reports on the findings from a series of virtual focus groups that explored consumer perceptions of animal-free dairy (AFD), an emerging type of animal product alternative produced using the tools of synthetic biology and precision fermentation. Focus group participants came from an international sample of potential "early adopters." To stimulate conversation, participants were presented with a series of visual "moodboards" that framed key arguments both in favor of and in opposition to AFD. Three primary thematic clusters emerged from the discussion. The first focused on issues of "process, safety, and regulation," centered on the general reaction of participants to the concept of AFD, their primary concerns, key questions, and the assurances they would need in order to support its advancement. The second focused on issues of "consumer preferences and priorities," highlighted by the often complicated, and sometimes outright contradictory, stated consumer interests of the participants. The third focused on issues of "food technology and the future," wherein participants expressed broader views on the role of food technology in society, generally speaking, and the potential futures of AFD, specifically. The general consensus among participants was a cautious openness to the idea of AFD. Outright opposition to the concept was rare, but so too was unabashed enthusiasm. Instead, respondents had a number of questions about the nature of the technological process, its overall safety and regulatory standards, its potential contributions to individual health and climate change mitigation, as well as its organoleptic qualities and price to consumers. Among the positive frames, claims about animal welfare were deemed the most pertinent and convincing. Among the negative frames, concerns about messing with nature and creating potential health risks to individuals were seen as the strongest arguments against AFD. The findings suggest that the key to AFD's future as a viable market option will depend in large part on the extent to which it can clearly demonstrate that it is preferable to conventional dairy or its plant-based competitors, particularly in the arena of taste, but also across considerations of health and safety, nutrition, environmental effects, and animal well-being.

Virtual OSCE Delivery and Quality Assurance During a Pandemic: Implications for the Future

Background

During 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused worldwide disruption to the delivery of clinical assessments, requiring medicals schools to rapidly adjust their design of established tools. Derived from the traditional face-to-face Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), the virtual OSCE (vOSCE) was delivered online, using a range of school-dependent designs. The quality of these new formats was evaluated remotely through virtual quality assurance (vQA). This study synthesizes the vOSCE and vQA experiences of stakeholders from participating Australian medical schools based on a Quality framework.

Methods

This study utilized a descriptive phenomenological qualitative design. Focus group discussions (FGD) were held with 23 stakeholders, including examiners, academics, simulated patients, professional staff, students and quality assurance examiners. The data was analyzed using a theory-driven conceptual Quality framework.

Results

The vOSCE was perceived as a relatively fit-for purpose assessment during pandemic physical distancing mandates. Additionally, the vOSCE was identified as being value-for-money and was noted to provide procedural benefits which lead to an enhanced experience for those involved. However, despite being largely delivered fault-free, the current designs are considered limited in the scope of skills they can assess, and thus do not meet the established quality of the traditional OSCE.

Conclusions

Whilst virtual clinical assessments are limited in their scope of assessing clinical competency when compared with the traditional OSCE, their integration into programs of assessment does, in fact, have significant potential. Scholarly review of stakeholder experiences has elucidated quality aspects that can inform iterative improvements to the design and implementation of future vOSCEs.