Ladur Alice Norah, Egere Uzochukwu, Ravit Marion, Mgawadere Florence, Murray Christopher, White Sarah Ann, Hauwa Mohammed, Mutai Rael, Nyaga Lucy, Duncan Shikuku, Bashir Issak, Ayinde Olubunmi Olufunmilola, Bakar Rukia, Katalambula Leonard, Federici Carlo, Torbica Aleksandra, Furtado Nicholas, Kumah Elizabeth Adjoa, Ameh Charles
Department of International Public Health, Emergency Obstetric and Quality of Care Unit, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembrooke Place, L3, 5QA, Liverpool, UK.
LSTM Nigeria office, Zankli Medical Centre, No 1 Ibrahim Tahir Street, Lane, Abuja, 900108, Nigeria.
BMC Med Educ. 2025 Jan 8;25(1):35. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-06633-2.
The blended learning (BL) approach to training health care professionals is increasingly adopted in many countries because of high costs and disruption to service delivery in the light of severe human resource shortage in low resource settings. The Covid-19 pandemic increased the urgency to identify alternatives to traditional face-to-face (f2f) education approach. A four-day f2f antenatal care (ANC) and postnatal care (PNC) continuous professional development course (CPD) was repackaged into a 3-part BL course; (1) self-directed learning (16 h) (2) facilitated virtual sessions (2.5 h over 3 days) and (3) 2-day f2f sessions. This study assessed the feasibility, change in healthcare providers' knowledge and costs of the BL package in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Kenya.
A mixed methods design was used. A total of 89 healthcare professionals, were purposively selected. Quantitative data was collected through an online questionnaire and skills assessments, analyzed using STATA 12 software. Qualitative data was collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions, analysed using thematic analysis.
Majority of participants (86%) accessed the online sessions using a mobile phone from home and health facilities. The median (IQR) time of completing the self-directed component was 16 h, IQR (8, 30). A multi-disciplinary team comprising of 42% nurse-midwives, 28% doctors, 20% clinical officers and 10% other healthcare professionals completed the BL course. Participants liked the BL approach due to its flexibility in learning, highly educative/relevant content, mixing of health worker cadres and CPD points. Aspects that were noted as challenging were related to personal log-in details and network connectivity issues during the self-directed learning and facilitated virtual sessions respectively.
The blended learning approach to ANC-PNC in-service training was found to be acceptable, feasible and cost less to implement compared to face-to-face training approach in the study settings. The BL training approach was effective in improving the knowledge and skills of healthcare providers who participated in the training.
鉴于资源匮乏地区人力资源严重短缺，培训医疗保健专业人员的混合式学习（BL）方法因成本高昂且扰乱服务提供，在许多国家越来越多地被采用。2019年冠状病毒病疫情增加了寻找传统面对面（f2f）教育方法替代方案的紧迫性。一个为期四天的面对面产前护理（ANC）和产后护理（PNC）持续专业发展课程（CPD）被重新包装成一个由三部分组成的混合式学习课程；（1）自主学习（16小时）（2）辅助虚拟课程（三天共2.5小时）和（3）为期两天的面对面课程。本研究评估了在尼日利亚、坦桑尼亚和肯尼亚混合式学习方案的可行性、医疗保健提供者知识的变化以及成本。
采用混合方法设计。共 purposively 挑选了89名医疗保健专业人员。通过在线问卷和技能评估收集定量数据，使用STATA 12软件进行分析。通过关键信息访谈和焦点小组讨论收集定性数据，使用主题分析进行分析。
大多数参与者（86%）在家中和卫生设施使用手机参加在线课程。完成自主学习部分的中位（IQR）时间为16小时，IQR（8，30）。一个由42%的助产士、28%的医生、20%的临床官员和10%的其他医疗保健专业人员组成的多学科团队完成了混合式学习课程。参与者喜欢混合式学习方法，因为它在学习上具有灵活性、内容极具教育性/相关性、医护人员干部混合以及有持续专业发展学分。被指出具有挑战性的方面分别与自主学习和辅助虚拟课程期间的个人登录细节和网络连接问题有关。
在研究环境中，与面对面培训方法相比，发现混合式学习方法用于产前护理-产后护理在职培训是可接受的、可行的且实施成本较低。混合式学习培训方法有效地提高了参加培训的医疗保健提供者的知识和技能。
