Suen Michelle Man Tung, Lai Agnes Yuen Kwan, Wang Man Ping, Ho Daniel Sai Yin, Lam Tai Hing
School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong).
School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong).
JMIR Form Res. 2022 Apr 28;6(4):e32894. doi: 10.2196/32894.
Information and communication technology (ICT) use may enhance social work practice and continuous professional development. Under the Hong Kong Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project, we developed an innovative web-based training, learning, and sharing platform (i-TLS) to support not only ICT and other learning needs of Hong Kong social workers but also their practice.
We developed i-TLS with 3 major components (i-Training, i-Learning, and i-Sharing) and assessed its acceptability and impact on facilitating ICT use in family services.
We described the i-TLS development based on a 4-phase model and evaluated i-TLS using the platform database, Google Analytics, a self-administered survey, and individual phone interviews 1 year after launching.
i-TLS was launched in 12 nongovernmental organizations on July 1, 2019. The COVID-19 outbreak in December 2019 limited face-to-face services, which galvanized digital transformation in social work practice. By July 31, 2020, 313 social workers had registered with i-TLS. Approximately 79.6% (249/313) of users accessed i-TLS at least once in the past 28 days, averaging 3.2 (SD 1.35) platform visits per day and viewing 4.8 (SD 1.42) pages per visit. i-Training provided 41 mini-modules on applying ICT to family services, with 730 enrollments. Approximately 70% (511/730) of users completed the mini-modules and obtained digital mini-certificates. i-Learning provided 112 items of learning resources centered on ICT use in family services, with nearly 4000 page views. i-Sharing had 25 discussion threads with 59 posts. Approximately 53.7% (168/313) of users completed the 1-year evaluation survey, including 7.1% (12/168) who were phone interviewed. The mean i-TLS satisfaction score (out of 10) increased from light (4.99, SD 1.54) to occasional (6.15, SD 1.34) and frequent (6.31, SD 2.29) users. Frequent users showed higher scores (out of 10) than light users for an increase in knowledge (5.84, SD 1.34 vs 4.09, SD 1.74; P<.001), self-efficacy (5.23, SD 1.92 vs 3.96, SD 1.77; P=.02), and knowledge application (6.46, SD 1.33 vs 1.91, SD 1.40; P<.001). Interviewees reported increased ICT use in services and considered i-TLS an acceptable and supportive tool for learning and practice, especially during the pandemic.
i-TLS is acceptable to social workers and enhances their learning and use of ICT in family services. This was achieved through access to self-directed and collaborative learning and sharing of experiences within their practice. Further research on enhancing web-based platforms is needed to expand participation and capacity building among social workers and other health and social care professionals.
信息通信技术（ICT）的使用可能会促进社会工作实践和持续专业发展。在香港赛马会“智能家庭联系”项目下，我们开发了一个创新的基于网络的培训、学习和分享平台（i-TLS），不仅支持香港社会工作者的ICT及其他学习需求，还支持他们的实践。
我们开发了具有三个主要组件（i-培训、i-学习和i-分享）的i-TLS，并评估了其在家庭服务中促进ICT使用的可接受性和影响。
我们基于一个四阶段模型描述了i-TLS的开发过程，并在推出一年后使用平台数据库、谷歌分析、一份自我管理的调查问卷和个人电话访谈对i-TLS进行了评估。
i-TLS于2019年7月1日在12个非政府组织中推出。2019年12月新冠疫情的爆发限制了面对面服务，这推动了社会工作实践中的数字化转型。到2020年7月31日，已有313名社会工作者注册使用i-TLS。在过去28天里，约79.6%（249/313）的用户至少访问过一次i-TLS，平均每天访问平台3.2次（标准差1.35），每次访问浏览4.8页（标准差1.42）。i-培训提供了41个关于将ICT应用于家庭服务的迷你模块，共有730人报名参加。约70%（511/730）的用户完成了这些迷你模块并获得了数字迷你证书。i-学习提供了112项以家庭服务中ICT使用为中心的学习资源，页面浏览量近4000次。i-分享有25个讨论线程和59个帖子。约53.7%（168/313）的用户完成了为期一年的评估调查，其中7.1%（12/168）接受了电话访谈。i-TLS的平均满意度得分（满分10分）从轻用户（4.99，标准差1.54）提升到偶尔使用用户（6.15，标准差1.34）和频繁使用用户（6.31，标准差2.29）。频繁使用用户在知识提升（满分10分，5.84，标准差1.34对4.09，标准差1.74；P<0.001）、自我效能感（5.23，标准差1.92对3.96，标准差1.77；P=0.02）和知识应用（6.46，标准差1.33对1.91，标准差1.40；P<0.001）方面的得分高于轻用户。受访者报告在服务中增加了ICT的使用，并认为i-TLS是学习和实践中一个可接受且有支持作用的工具，尤其是在疫情期间。
i-TLS为社会工作者所接受，并增强了他们在家庭服务中对ICT的学习和使用。这是通过提供自主学习和协作学习的机会以及在实践中分享经验来实现的。需要进一步研究如何改进基于网络的平台，以扩大社会工作者以及其他健康和社会护理专业人员的参与度和能力建设。
